By Julian Coman in Washington The Telegraph 3/21/2004 The fierce battle over same-sex unions, which has split American public opinion during the past month, has now pitched the Vatican into an unlikely alliance with Islamic countries against officials of the United Nations. A proposal by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to extend spousal benefits to the partners of gay UN officials has outraged representatives of the organisation's 51 Islamic nations, some of which outla

COMMENTARY By Kevin Myers The Telegraph Dr. Williams has made an art of imprecision. The conversation between Phillip Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, published in The Daily Telegraph last week, like almost anything emanating from the leader of the Church of England, reads like a master-class in ecclesiastical imprecision. I have read the exchange many times, and it remains as clear as porridge. Chew this: "And if th

By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent The TIMES 3/20/2004 THE Church of England could disappear "within a generation of two" without an immediate change of direction, according to a senior bishop. The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt. Rev. Nigel McCulloch, said that the Established Church was in danger of becoming a minority sect. "We will, unless there is a turn in the tide, be a church that gradually disappears from this land," he said. Bishop McCulloch said clergy were bein

By Peter C. Moore The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's blockbuster novel, gives us a hauntingly mystical view of Christ. In The Code, Jesus is married to Mary Magdalene and has children with her. Along the way, he also spawns a cult of secret goddess worshippers. According to the novel, in the modern age, the rigidly orthodox Catholic order of Opus Dei fanatically suppresses a group of cultists who keep alive Jesus' ancient and "true" vision of Christianity. If you suspect that thi

By Jan Nunley 3/25/2004 [ENS] The Rt. Rev. Neptali Larrea Moreno, Bishop of Ecuador Central, has been deposed from the ministry by a unanimous vote of the House of Bishops, meeting at Camp Allen, Texas, on March 23. According to the resolution, the deposition was made on the ground that Larrea abandoned the communion of the Episcopal Church by "an open renunciation of the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship" of the church under canon IV.9(1). On January 21, Presiding Bishop Fran

March 15, 2004 A Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese of Oregon My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As you well know, many churches and communities in our diocese continue to struggle with issues coming out of our recent General Convention. In recent weeks, the Massachusetts state legislature and the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners here in Oregon have made it possible for persons of the same gender to be married. Both of these prescriptive actions continue to be di

EXCLUSIVE REPORT By David W. Virtue 3/20/2004 LONDON, UK- The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Frank Griswold, has received a letter from Rowan Williams the Archbishop of Canterbury telling him to make significant compromises for ECUSA's orthodox, or face the possible of schism without his support. The letter, which Griswold received on the eve of the Camp Allen meeting of the House of Bishops was described by a Lambeth Palace source as "too hot to leak". The strongl

By Robert M. Moody To the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Oklahoma: On Sunday, March 14, 2004, five retired bishops of the Episcopal Church and a bishop of the Episcopal Church of Brazil, in the words of the Presiding Bishop, "arrogated to themselves the right to perform episcopal and sacramental acts without the permission of the diocesan bishop." In an act of Constitutional and Canonical disobedience planned by the American Anglican Council, Bishops C. FitzSimons Allison

To: Rectors and Vicars of the Diocese of Washington Dear Friends in Christ: I am writing to give you advanced notice that I have appointed a Task Force on the Blessing of Relationships. The Task Force will be meeting from now until the end of May when they hope to have a rite prepared for use in the Diocese of Washington for those persons for whom the Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage in the Book of Common Prayer is not appropriate or not available for optional use. In s

By the Associated Press 3/18/2004 The Episcopal Church's bishops begin a closed-door meeting Friday in Texas, where they'll try to quiet the discord that has torn at the denomination since the consecration of an openly gay bishop New Hampshire's Gene Robinson. Robinson is attending his first meeting as part of a hierarchy in which 41% of bishops who head dioceses voted against his consecration and 28 of the bishops have refused to recognize him as a colleague. Episcopal headq

By David Virtue LONDON, UK--There is a sign in the London Underground subway (tube) that reads, "Delays expected on the Northern Line, there are unresolved problems, as a result of previous problems." In many ways this is a humorous, if not understated reflection on the current state of affairs in the Episcopal Church, (not to mention British Rail). The ECUSA's current problems are a direct result of previous problems not only unresolved, but continuing and growing and gettin

The Ohio confirmations mark a turning point in the Episcopal Church’s internal crisis, signaling a shift from protest to structural defiance. Five retired U.S. bishops and one from Brazil crossed diocesan lines without permission—citing “impaired communion” with liberal leadership. Details reveal careful planning: the service was held at an Orthodox church to prevent Bishop Grew from blocking it; priests from the six parishes were excluded to emphasize episcopal authority; Bi

Multiple traditionalist Anglican groups—including Anglicans United, Forward in Faith/North America (FIF/NA), and the American Anglican Council—expressed strong support for the Ohio confirmations, framing them as a necessary act of compassion amid decades of theological drift. Canon Kendall Harmon (Diocese of South Carolina) called the move “an act offered out of deep pastoral concern” for Episcopalians alienated by liberal leadership, adding: “Religious authorities often stru

V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, stated it is “pretty clear” that five retired bishops breached their ordination vows by conducting a confirmation service in Ohio without local diocesan approval. The event, held at an Orthodox church in Akron and attended by ~800 people, confirmed 110 individuals from six conservative congregations opposed to Robinson’s 2003 consecration. These congregations rejected Ohio Bishop J. Clark Grew II, who had suppo

Philip Pullman, the acclaimed children’s author and prominent atheist, revealed he might include Jesus in his next book during a high-profile debate with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, at London’s National Theatre. Pullman, whose His Dark Materials trilogy famously concludes with the death of an aged, weakened God, declined to elaborate on Jesus’s potential role. Though some anticipated conflict over Pullman’s anti-theistic worldview, Archbishop Williams de

The Ohio confirmations mark a turning point in the Episcopal Church’s internal crisis, signaling a shift from protest to structural defiance. Five retired U.S. bishops and one from Brazil crossed diocesan lines without permission—citing “impaired communion” with liberal leadership. Details reveal careful planning: the service was held at an Orthodox church to prevent Bishop Grew from blocking it; priests from the six parishes were excluded to emphasize episcopal authority; Bi

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice jointly denounced the Ohio confirmations as violations of the Episcopal Church’s Constitution and Canons. Griswold emphasized that any provision for dissenting minorities “must be consistent with the constitutional and canonical structures of ECUSA.” Canon III.9 requires outside bishops to obtain explicit permission before exercising ministry in another diocese. Both cited the October 2003 Primates’

Multiple traditionalist Anglican groups—including Anglicans United, Forward in Faith/North America (FIF/NA), and the American Anglican Council—expressed strong support for the Ohio confirmations, framing them as a necessary act of compassion amid decades of theological drift. Canon Kendall Harmon (Diocese of South Carolina) called the move “an act offered out of deep pastoral concern” for Episcopalians alienated by liberal leadership, adding: “Religious authorities often stru

V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop, stated it is “pretty clear” that five retired bishops breached their ordination vows by conducting a confirmation service in Ohio without local diocesan approval. The event, held at an Orthodox church in Akron and attended by ~800 people, confirmed 110 individuals from six conservative congregations opposed to Robinson’s 2003 consecration. These congregations rejected Ohio Bishop J. Clark Grew II, who had suppo

Philip Pullman, the acclaimed children’s author and prominent atheist, revealed he might include Jesus in his next book during a high-profile debate with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, at London’s National Theatre. Pullman, whose His Dark Materials trilogy famously concludes with the death of an aged, weakened God, declined to elaborate on Jesus’s potential role. Though some anticipated conflict over Pullman’s anti-theistic worldview, Archbishop Williams de