Archives

By David Bedein FrontPageMagazine.com December 26, 2003     This is the first Christmas since the Palestinian Authority adopted an   official constitution based on Koranic Sharia Law, which means that   all Christians who live under the PA are now subject to Islamic LawOver the past three years, while attention has focused on Israeli and Palestinian casualties of the current war, at least one hundred Christians who live in areas ruled by the Palestinian Authority have been arrested and imprisoned for holding church services or conducting public Christian practices without authorization.     Some of these Christians were set free when the Israeli army liberated the jails in the Palestinian Authority at the time of the Israeli army incursion into Palestinian cities in April, 2002.     Those freed Christian prisoners from the Palestinian jails now take refuge by hiding throughout Israel, as they surreptitiously work to try to get their families out of Palestinian cities to join them and emigrate to any safe haven they can find in the West.     I have met with a few of these Christian Palestinians. One of them, whom I shall call Joseph to protect the confidentiality of his identity, described the ordeal that he has experienced. He and his brother live in hiding while badgering the US consulate for help to try to get US visas for their families, and have done so ever since their liberation by Israel more than 18 months ago. Joseph described to meow his family cannot openly practice Christian holidays in Bethlehem under the watchful eyes of the PLO Islamic police force. After all, the only place in the West Bank where the PLO army currently operates is in the Bethlehem area. Joseph also described how the US-funded Palestinian public school system has become Islamicized, and how his late nephew was literally tortured to death at age 12 by his schoolmates because he expressed love and respect for his uncle as a practicing Christian.   Last Spring, the Vatican Ambassador to the Holy Land, Archbishop Msgr. Pietro Sambi, known as the Papal Nuncio, warned a US Congressional delegation that the new Palestinian Authority approved state constitution, funded by US AID, provided no juridical status whatsoever for any religion other than Islam in the emerging Palestinian Arab entity. The Papal Nuncio also expressed his concern to visiting US lawmakers that the PA had adopted Sharia Islamic Law, based on the model of the Sharia from Koranic edicts as practiced in Iran or in Saudi Arabia.     Article (5) of the official Palestinian State Constitution reads as follows Arabic and Islam are the official Palestinian language and religion. Christianity and all other monotheistic religions shall be equally revered and respected.     In other words, As Archbishop Sambi noted, other religions such as Christianity, let alone Judaism, are only to be respected, while being denied any juridical status under the new Palestinian State Constitution.     The status of Islam as the official religion of any future Palestinian Arab entity is also expressed in Article (7) of the official Palestinian State Constitution which states that The principles of Islamic Sharia are a major source for legislation. Civil and religious matters of the followers of monotheistic religions shall be organized in accordance with their religious teachings and denominations within the framework of law, while preserving the unity and independence of the Palestinian people.     The constitutional translation can be accessed on the home page of the website www.israelbehindthenews.com     Islamic nations which have adopted the Sharia law, have mandated the absolute supremacy of Muslims over non-Muslims as matter of law, more than of simply of attitude.   What worried the Archbishop was that all Christian churches and all Christian schools will be placed under the arbitrary authority of Islamic Fundamental Law, which allows nothing more than tolerance of other religions at best.     For the past seven months, the US embassy has been asked to comment on the US-funded Palestinian State Constitution. No response has been forthcoming from anyone in the US government, except for denials that it exists. Yet the author of the PA State Constitution, Mr. Nabil Shaath, affirms the existence of the PA State Constitution, as presented by the Vatican’s ambassador.     The PA state constitution’s imposition of Sharia Islamic Law is most certainly in effect.     Calls to the US embassy and US consulate to determine whether the US government is looking into the situation of Christians under the rule of the Palestinian National Authority have not been answered.     After all, it was USAID which financed the creation of the PA State Constitution, which meant the imposition of the Islamic Law throughout the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.     Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran which have adopted Sharia Islamic Law, have made life quite difficult for Christians. Under Sharia Islamic Law, Christians are considered dhimmis, second class citizens.     A research study released last Christmas by the Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs entitled The Beleaguered Christians, notes that in Egypt, Muslim, but not Christian, schools receive state funding....It is nearly impossible to restore or build new churches....Christians are frequently ostracized or insulted in public, and laws prohibit Muslim conversions to Christianity.     That same study notes that Saudi Arabia is one of the most oppressive countries for Christians. There are no churches in the whole country.   Foreign workers make up one-third of the population, many of whom are Christians. For their entire stay, which may be years, they are forbidden to display any Christian symbols or Bibles, or even meet together publicly to worship and pray. Some have watched their personal Bibles put through a shredder when they entered the country. In Iran, the printing of Christian literature is illegal, converts from Islam are liable to be killed, and most evangelical churches must function underground.     Bethlehem is understood by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus. When Israel retook control of Bethlehem in 1967, the majority of Bethlehem residents practiced various denominations of the Christian faith. However, with Israel withdrawal due to the Oslo Accords and after less than ten years of Palestinian Authority rule the Middle East has witnessed a dramatic exodus of Christians from the city. This Christmas, less than 5% in the city of Jesus birthplace is Christian.   The mainstream media have hesitated to report that fact. President George W. Bush administration has envisioned a democratic Palestinian entity that is devoid of terror. Instead, officials of US AID have fostered a constitution which envisions creation of the Islamic totalitarian state of Palestine, completely devoid of religious freedom and human rights.     This Christmas, an Islamic army occupies Bethlehem. This Christmas, no Church can operate in Bethlehem without Islamic approval.   And Christians in the Palestinian Authority are not seeing a Merry Christmas as a result.     This is the legacy of what the US AID has facilitated, with or without the knowledge of the White House.     David Bedein is the bureau chief of the Israel Resource News Agency, located at the Beit Agron International Press Center in Jerusalem.     *****

Ai Lin Choo, Vancouver Sun Friday, December 26, 2003   ABBOTSFORD Surrounded by Christmas wrappings, presents and excited children, about 20 members of Abbotsford newly terminated Church of the Holy Cross gathered in their priest’s  living room for Christmas service Thursday.   While the gathering was mostly upbeat and included the usual Christmas songs and nativity stories, the reasons behind the domestic gathering were still on the minds of many.     We as a church community will continue as we always have. It unfortunate that the diocese has felt the need to close down the mission, said Dave Chapman, who has been a member of the church since it opened in 2001.     Thursday was the first time parishioners had met for a service since hearing that Bishop Michael Ingham had decided to terminate their mission. The small church has been battling Ingham ever since he decided to sanction same-sex marriages in the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster.     Reverend James Wagner said the service renewed his commitment to his congregation, adding, we will continue to worship, even though were apparently not recognized formally.     The makeshift church looked like any other Christmas-morning household.   Children ran around excitedly displaying and playing with their new toys. But for the parishioners, the atmosphere reiterated a sense of loss -- of not feeling like they belong to a larger community.     We hear a lot about tolerance and diversity and that diverse views should be respected. It seems to me a strange way to resolve conflict, said Chapman.   He said he has been feeling frustrated and disappointed since hearing that the church has been cut off from the New Westminster diocese. He finds it ironic that a church is closing down a mission when, in his view, churches are supposed to be about opening new missions.     There’s just something strangely ironic and surreal about all this.     And although the mission church is only three years old, member Rachel Weiland said she is very hurt by the closure.     We follow the minority these days and we stick to the word of God and the diocese doesn’t, so they just cut us off, she said.     While the New Westminster diocese does not place an obligation on priests to perform same-sex marriages, Wagner says the issue is only part of the fight with the diocese. Members of the mission church say they differ from their diocese in their belief that gays and lesbians can be cured of their sexual orientation.     Wagner says the controversy is now being looked at by a task force at the Canadian House of Bishops for dissenting parishes and hopes the decision to terminate the church will be overturned. Beyond that, he says, he has no plans for what he will do next. I haven’t thought that far yet.   Because the New Westminster diocese withdrew funding to the church in October, Wagner doubts the congregation will be able to continue to meet in the location where it has been holding services lately – a seniors room at the Matsqui Recreational Centre.     But Jeremy Smyth, who described the mood Thursday as quiet and reflective, said that doesn’t mean it lacked joy. In a strange way, I am joyful because as a Christian I find it a joy to be persecuted for Jesus sake -- especially at Christmas time when were caught up in the stress and activities of preparing for it, he said.     END

Michael Higgins National Post December 23, 2003   An Anglican church defying its bishop by refusing to support same-sex unions has been terminated only days before Christmas.     The decision by Bishop Michael Ingham to close Holy Cross in Abbotsford, B.C., is the latest action in a dispute that is threatening to split the Anglican church worldwide. Despite the closure, the priest at Holy Cross, the Rev. James Wagner, vowed yesterday to celebrate mass on Christmas Day with parishioners.     As far as the diocese is concerned we do not exist. We are a non- entity, Mr. Wagner said yesterday. But I will not abandon these people. I will continue to pastor and pray for them in the midst of this crisis.     He said the decision to close the church was a surprise because it is so close to Christmas.     Ronald Harrison, executive archdeacon of the Diocese of New Westminster, said Holy Cross brought the closure upon itself by seeking episcopal oversight from another bishop. He said that as a result of the church declaring itself independent was that its funds had been stopped and eventually the bishop was forced to close it.     The decision by Bishop Ingham to sanction same-sex unions and the broader issue of homosexuality are dividing Anglicans. In October, church leaders met at a crisis conference in London called in part because of Bishop Ingham approval of same-sex unions. The Canadian House of Bishops has also set up a task force to look at parishes opposed to Bishop Ingham decision.     Holy Cross, a mission church that relies on its funding from the diocese, is part of a group of breakaway churches in New Westminster that was seeking episcopal oversight by Bishop Terry Buckle of the Yukon.     In October, the Diocesan Council of New Westminster voted to close Holy Cross but needed Bishop Ingham approval. However, funding was withdrawn from the church.     In a letter dated Dec. 18, Bishop Ingham informed Mr. Wagner that he had decided to close the church.     Mr. Wagner said he told parishioners the news on Sunday.   They were shocked and surprised that it would come at this time. When they got the news it was four days before Christmas. None of the other churches in the breakaway group has been closed.   Because they are incorporated individually, and dont rely on funding from the diocese, they have been able to carry on.     Mr. Wagner said his church was being ostracized within the diocese though it is aligned with Anglican thinking worldwide.   Substantially we are right in step with Anglicans throughout the world and that has great consolation for them [the parishioners] because they very much want to be Anglicans. They are not doing things rebelliously and very much want to be a part of the family of Anglicans throughout the world, Mr. Wagner said.     The termination of the church meant they were like sheep without a shepherd, he said.     He said although they would celebrate Mass on Christmas Day, they would not be recognized as Anglicans. It not just that the Diocese of New Westminster will not recognize us as Anglicans, the really sad thing is that, unofficially, there are many Anglicans who want to recognize us, but, officially, there is no one that will recognize us as such.     Mr. Wagner had already had his pay cut off by the diocese and said he now needed to consult with his lawyer to see what his position is.     I don’t regret what I am doing or the circumstances I find myself in. I think that Jesus often talked about his disciples having to count the cost and having to take up their cross, he said.     He called on the Canadian House of Bishops and primates internationally for clear leadership.   Mr. Wagner said the parish had already been in discussion with the House of Bishops task force. The task force was set up to establish adequate provision for Episcopal oversight of dissenting minorities.     It followed a call from Dr. Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, who warned the Anglican Church was in danger of splintering over the issue of homosexuality.     After the task force was set up, Bishop Ingham wrote to Holy Cross offering to restore its funding if it accepted his authority.     Mr. Harrison said the bishop had never had a satisfactory reply except from Mr. Wagner, who said he was consulting his lawyer.     We support and fund all kinds of things, including mission initiatives, but if they have openly declared their hostility to the diocese and the diocesan bishop and will not rescind that even when the bishop has stepped back from the plate, the question is Why would we fund that?     The decision was made months ago and the bishop withheld his decision while he waited for the parish to respond favourably. They didn’t correspond with him. It has nothing to do with Christmas. We have been waiting for their response for some time.     +++

News Analysis   By UWE SIEMON-NETTO UPI Religion Writer January 2004   The following question is of course highly speculative and may sound slightly off the wall, but it still makes some sense Could 2004 be a Nigerian year? Consider the following Chances are that pope John Paul II, who is very ill and tired, will not last for another 12 months. Who will take his place?  One of the likely prospects is Cardinal Francis Arinze, 71, an Ibo from Nigeria and now prefect of the Vatican Congregation on Divine worship. He is tough, energetic knows how to handle youth -- and most importantly perhaps - - is an expert on Islam.   Then consider another branch of Christianity -- the Anglicans. The most powerful traditionalist voice is that of archbishop Peter Akinola, primate of the Anglican province of Nigeria with 17 million-18 million faithful.     His see, Abuja, may well become the Canterbury of the 21st century, just as Constantinople once proclaimed itself the second and Moscow the third Rome. As conjecture in Anglican circles goes, the current archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will continue to waffle on the crisis in the Episcopal Church USA.     But time is running out. Ten out of the 11 African primates want to cut ties with the tiny American offshoot of Anglicanism, or at least the diocese of t he first openly homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson. Most Asians and Latin Americans feel the same way. And Peter Jensen, archbishop of Sydney in Australia, has already mused aloud about the possibility of shifting his allegiance from Canterbury to Abuja, Nigeria capital.     Akinola has already made clear that he will not let America’s wealth persuade him to make doctrinal concessions to what he considers the Western heresies.     In other words, there’ll be a split in world Anglicanism.     Now let’s guess on Nigeria is not only home to two of the most powerful Christian prelates involved in the lesser clash of cultures -- the one pitting Scripture against false doctrine. Nigeria is also the place where the big culture war is being fought -- the conflict between radical Islam and Christianity, both growing rapidly.     Chances are, then, that Nigeria may become the main focus of religion reporters in the New Year -- or perhaps not. To begin with, nobody can predict when the pope will die, and who will take his place. Given the Church2,000-year history it is very likely that after the polish pope25-year reign, it will once again be an Italianturn.     It could be that Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna will succeed him, or Cardinal Phillippe Barbarin, archbishop of Lyon and a man of great personal holiness, or maybe even the ageing Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, the German prefect of the Pontifical Congregation for the doctrine of Faith, who might bring theological order back into the Roman Church.     Or it could be anybody. Suffice it to say the biggest religion story of 2004 will presumably come from Rome, and that five things can be considered a given about the new man on St. Peter’s throne.     1. He is a disciplinarian, which John Paul II is not, which accounts for a considerable theological chaos in the Church.     2. He has John Paul’s passion for the young.     3. He is, like John Paul, able to garner the respect of representative of other faiths, especially Islam.     4. He shares his commitment to ecumenism, without which it would be hard t o accomplish the next pontiff perhaps most important task     5. He must continue John Paul’s strategy of re-evangelizing Europe and thus strengthen the Christian Church against the potential onslaught of Islamic radicalism.     There are many small signs pointing to Europe’s slow spiritual recovery There is the fact that 70 percent of the new ordinands in the Church of England are evangelical. There is the reawakening of Christian intellectual life in France -- and the missionary zeal of the Catholic and Protestant churches in that most secularized of all European nations.     There is substantial evidence for a reawakening of religious interests in Germany, where pastors suddenly rank second-highest in the publicestimation of various professions, and where on regional television religious programs are the most popular. Another sign is that the American feature film Luther is a resounding success in the land of Luther, where only 20 years ago Protestant theologians called the Reformer passe.     These developments tend to be subtle -- less obvious than bloody acts of terrorism committed by terrorists in the name of Islam, or conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslims dominating the television news from Iraq.     But for the moment, sociologists of religion from both sides of the Atlantic agree, it looks as if in 2004 vibrant Christianity will be the most powerful faith in the world. Meanwhile, Islam may well provide bigger headlines, but has yet to find the ground it has lost 1,000 years ago.     Unless, of course, you consider militant Islamism the true voice of that religion. In that case, most Christian, Muslim and Jewish theologians would beg to disagree.     END     ***

EDITORIAL   The TELEGRAPH 28/12/2003     It is a regrettable aspect of modern life, as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, asserted in his Christmas Day sermon, that those who show religious faith should sometimes be treated as figures of fun. The nervous sniggering about the Prime Minister religious faith which ripples over the surface of the media from time to time, he asserted, is part of the same fear and unease towards religion that manifests itself in the proposal to ban the wearing of Muslim headscarves in French schools. Dr Williams would be wrong, however, to assume that when people show irreverence towards religious figures it is necessarily a scornful response to their faith. If Dr Williams feels personally the object of mirth, he should reflect on some of the secular aspects of his work. The leaking of his Christmas Day sermon, much of which was trailed in a newspaper last Sunday, is typical of the tawdrier political practices developed by the New Labour spin machine but is unworthy of the office of Archbishop of Canterbury. A sermon is supposed to be a private communion between the priest and his congregation, not a media event, leaked and spun in advance to favoured journalists.     Dr Williams has become adept at using the media to his own ends. Yet he does so not to offer spiritual guidance but to advance a soft-Left political agenda. A full page of the Daily Mail last week was devoted to a piece by Dr Williams proffering family financial advice. The credit explosion has made life a lot easier in all sorts of good ways, he wrote. But it is in danger of slipping out of control unless we have some better regulation and some new attitudes. The Archbishop would more likely find himself being taken seriously were he to render unto the Government the business of financial regulation and concentrate a little more on spiritual leadership.     Since Dr Williams became Archbishop of Canterbury the Anglican Church has been riven by the debate over homosexual clergy. It is not easy to see how politically-correct Episcopalians from Virginia can be reconciled with fundamentalists from central Africa who are driven to preach blood and hellfire whenever the word homosexuality is mentioned, nor to see how schisms can be prevented. Dr Williams approach to the problem, however, seems to be not even to try.     In June, during the controversy over the abortive appointment of Dr Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading, Dr Williams secretary for public affairs, Jeremy Harris, penned a memo worthy of Alistair Campbell. The issue of homosexuality, suggested the memo, has to be managed in media terms by seeking to take the sting out of it and displacing it in the public mind. The memo went on to suggest a number of attractive alternative stories by which the media might be deflected from the issue of Dr John. ABC, as the memo referred to the Archbishop, was advised to deliver a reading of his own poems, make a high-profile Lord’s intervention or announce a theological prize.     Unfortunately for Jeremy Harris, a former BBC journalist, the media turned out to be less gullible and less trivia-obsessed than Lambeth Palace imagined. Most newspapers stuck to the real story, the disquiet over the appointment of Dr John and into the circumstances of Dr John’s late decision to step down.     Dr Williams has been no less morally flabby on the issue of Islamic terrorism. On Christmas Day the Pope appealed to God to rid the world of the scourge of terrorism. The Archbishop of Canterbury, on the other hand, reserved his clearest condemnation for the Westcounter-terrorism campaign. Imprisoning terrorist suspects in Guantanamo Bay and Belmarsh prison, he complained, sends out the wrong message to Muslim societies. Those of the Christian faith, he said, should show themselves to be on the side of humanity by making sacrifices for the sake of justice.       The sacrifices to which Dr Williams refers presumably involve risking another terrorist attack on the scale of September 11. So far, the counter-terrorist campaign has been remarkably successful in preventing al-Qaeda attacks in Europe and America, in spite of that organization strikes elsewhere in the world. Moreover, this has been achieved without any curtailment of the rights of ordinary Muslims in Britain and America, who are free to practise their faith with a degree of freedom of which Christians in many parts of the Islamic world can only dream. Does Dr Williams really suggest that humanity would better be served by refusing to imprison those who, given the chance, would delight in making a nuclear attack on a Western city?     Dr Williams has yet to deliver a poetry reading in the manner suggested in the Lambeth Palace memo. But if he does treat us to his poetry we hope it will give us greater reason to take him seriously than many of his public pronouncements, which, thus far, have echoed Edward Lear rather than Alfred Lord Tennyson.       END

December 2003 Dear Friend of Ekklesia, The decision of the Presiding Bishop and others to proceed to consecrate V. Gene Robinson despite the unanimous voice of opposition from other Anglican provinces, the Archbishop of Canterbury, other denominations, and even other faiths has wounded the Christian faith around the globe and isolated the Episcopal Church. Approximately 52 million Anglicans are in church each Sunday around the world. Already, the leaders of 50 million have declared impaired communion. Some have even gone beyond that. Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, West Africa, Rwanda, Central Africa, South East Asia, and Tanzania have formally broken communion. Those provinces represent about 35 million Anglicans. I have been dispatched with a diplomatic pouch of documents to consult with Anglican Primates and Archbishops about finding their way forward. They are deeply committed to Biblical faith. They are also committed to those of us who maintain historic teaching and have rejected the actions of the Presiding Bishop and the General Convention.     Working with faithful Anglican primates is a two-way street. There is no question that we need their leadership and help, but they also live in circumstances of great need. To help address that in recent months your gifts to Ekklesia have helped accomplish many vitally important-even lifesaving-projects. Together this year we have     Provided more than twenty tons of grain for famine relief in Central Africa     * Bought and outfitted a small fleet of commercial fishing boats for Lake Malawi. These boats will provide food for starving people, jobs, and income to the diocese for ministry.     * Been building two radio stations in Tanzania that should be going on the air-any day. They will provide Christian teaching, English classes, health education information, and advertising income for ministry from advertising revenue. Helped primates travel to critically important Anglican Communion meetings.                                    * Provided bicycles for all the clergy in Antsiranana Diocese m Madagascar as a memorial gift in thanksgiving for the ministry of Bishop Keith Benzies who died in office last year.     * Helped replace grants, scholarships, and other gifts that have been withdrawn or refused as a result of the crisis.     * Played a critical role in bringing continuing Anglicans together and helping to facilitate an emerging federation of jurisdictions.     Though the situation is grave, there is cause for rejoicing. Not only is Ekklesia working closely with the American Anglican Council, Forward in Faith, and Anglicans United, we are actually bearing fruit. Our labor has helped provide a spiritually secure future. Many questions remain about institutional life an d property, but faithful primates have committed to provide Episcopal oversight for those of us who remain committed to the Anglican Way in America. Ekklesia has been at the center of the conversations and commitments to provide faithful oversight for you. To go on, though, we need your help.     We must raise about $100,000 by Easter in order to operate, travel, and answer the poignant and urgent requests that come to us almost daily from overseas. Obviously, we do not receive any support from the national church. Overseas primates are deeply committed, but do not have financial resources. It is partners like you that that have helped us accomplish miracles over the last  eight years. Now, a Biblically faithful Anglican church in North America is within reach! Will you help?     Yours in Christ,     The Rev. Canon Bill Atwood, D. Min. General Secretary       PS. Please check out our web site ( www.ekk.org ) and order my new book about the crisis. Wild Vine-Fruitful Vine Crisis in the Anglican Communion. You can order them through Forward in Faith at 1-800-225-3661.20     ***

by David G. Duggan © Special to VIRTUEONLINE www.virtueonline.org April 30, 2025   For 36 years I’ve lived halfway between two pillars of Chicago’s German community: St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic church and St. Luke Lutheran. Both have bell towers which call out the hour; perhaps because the parishes pre-dated time zones, and one is a tenth of a mile west of the other, there is a slight offset when they begin their chimes.   Both parishes were started in the latter part of the 19th century when Chicago had more German-born residents than any city west of the Rhine. For most of those 130-plus years St. Alphonsus was owned by a German order of monks: the Redemptorists, and for most of the last 60 years, it offered a mass said in German. St. Luke had been a Missouri Synod parish with strict instruction in German.   I offer these observations in light of the recent death of Jorge Bergoglio, the first pope from an immigrant community, and the first who was ordained to the priesthood after Vatican II which introduced the mass in the vernacular language of the worshipers. Though Spanish was his mother tongue, and Latin the language of the Vatican, in normal discourse he conversed in Italian. When in Rome ... And for whatever reason, he quietly put the kibosh on the Latin Mass, which had been making inroads under his two predecessors.   Language is the way God communicates with us. Commandments and Torah, prophets and proverbs, chronicles and case studies all point not only to God’s glory, but to His purpose.   But that wasn’t enough. Language, particularly in translation has slippage. As a lawyer who made his living from the imprecision of language, I can attest to how people want words to mean what they think they mean.   So God sent His Son, the Word made Flesh, to dwell among us. Knowing that wouldn’t be enough, after Christ’s death and resurrection, God the Father sent His Holy Spirit, breathed into the disciples as the guardians of the Word until His coming again. Word is just breath, wrapped around tongue, blown through teeth and pursed through lips, but it is our connection to God.   END

Theologian and pastor Leonardo De Chirico, a world specialist on Roman Catholicism, analyses the Pope's legacy.   By Daniel Hofkamp EVANGELICAL FOCUS 21 APRIL 2025   ROME : The death of Pope Francis is causing a cascade of reactions and opinions around the world, as he is a figure of global influence.   The evangelical world is no stranger to this. He is perhaps the Pope who has been closest to evangelicals, so it is important to consider his legacy carefully.   Leonardo de Chirico, an Italian pastor and theologian, has studied contemporary Roman Catholicism for three decades, writing and speaking internationally on the relationship with Catholicism and its theology.   His reflections are translated into several languages and published in various media around the world. In Protestante Digital, his articles are published in the Sunday magazine 'Desde Roma'.   Spanish news website Protestante Digital contacted Leonardo de Chirico to get his first reaction to the death of Jorge Mario Bergoglio.   Question. What do you consider to be the most important doctrinal legacy of Pope Francis for the Roman Catholic Church?   Answer. He was not a doctrinal Pope he didn’t like professional theologians. He thought that doctrine is an evil device and a waste of time if it becomes a check to admit some and reject others.   His own theology can be summed up with the slogan: “all all all”: catholics of every strip, non-catholics, Jews, Muslims, people of no faith, we are all brothers and sisters.   “All brothers” is the encyclical that perhaps will mark the Roman Catholic church for some time. Francis stretched the catholicity (inclusion) and minimized the Romanity (traditional outlook) of Roman Catholicism.   Having said that, he had his own doctrinal agenda that was twofold: first, giving the impression of not changing the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church (e.g. on women priests); second, introducing all kinds of ambiguities that obscured catholic teaching and practices.   Do all religions lead to God? Can you be a Catholic the way you want (divorced, having sex outside of marriage, non-practicing, not caring much)? Do magisterial and canonical boundaries still matter? Is sacramental repentance necessary or it is a commodity for Catholics?   To these questions Francis’s answers were purposely clumsy. His desire was to affirm all, wanting his Church to be the “field hospitaly” where we are “all brothers”. Q. How has the emphasis on fraternity and interreligious dialogue transformed Catholic identity during his pontificate?   A. When the Pope spoke of “unity”, he did not have in mind unity among Christians according to gospel criteria. He thought of the unity of mankind as a “polyhedron”.   For him, ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue were two ways of saying the same thing: “we are already one; let’s pray and walk together”, e.g. with non-Catholics, with Jews, with Muslims.   His pontificate began with the exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel” calling his church to mission, but mission for him was to go out and affirm all where they are. This global embracement was the gospel for him.   Q. What impact has the “shift towards the Global South” had on the politics and future of the Catholic Church?   A. Francis was elected to help Rome grow in the Global South while the West is going through a tense relationship with the Roman Church.   His pastoral attention and international travels concentrated on it. Statistics say that, while decline is the reality in the West, Rome is growing in the Global South.   However, the Global South (especially Africa) is rather conservative in its moral theology and negatively reacted against some “openings” made by Francis on the blessing of same sex couples and the admission to the Eucharist to divorced couples.   If you see the number and the provenance of cardinals made during his pontificate, there is no doubt that Francis has made his Church more “global” and less “Western”. We will see what will happen in the upcoming conclave.   Q. Do you believe the synodal process initiated by Francis will truly change the Church’s power structure, or is it more symbolic than effective?   A. As a Jesuit, Francis liked to initiate “processes”, not really knowing what the outcomes would be. After encouraging the German synodal path, he became scared of the predictable results (e.g. ordination of women priests, same-sex marriages) and stopped it.   At the same time, he began a synodal process for the whole Church using big words (e.g. “an upside down authority structure”) very much up in the air. Up to now, it looks more about a bureaucratic conundrum than anything else.   Q. How do you assess Francis' gestures of rapprochement with evangelicals? Have they led to real change or were they mainly diplomatic gestures?   A. Francis showed kindness towards evangelicals. The same attitude was expressed to liberals, eastern orthodox, and other religious groups. He seemed to come close to everybody and gave the impression to all that he was close to them.   He knew the “evangelical” language and practices (e.g. “conversion”, spontaneous prayer). Some evangelicals were impressed by this attitude and exchanged it with an “evangelical” ethos.   In fact, he did the same with all other people, always repeating the same message: “we are already brothers and sisters, let’s walk together and pray together; formal and perfect unity will come”. He seemed so close, yet he was so far away from the gospel.   END

AS EYE SEE IT:     Dear Bishop Lee;   Please read this carefully through until the end.  This is a hard e-mail, tough love, and I know that you have been getting many hard e-mails, sadly even hateful e-mails.  This message is not one of hate but words of one man speaking straight to another.  I have labored long on this message in love believing that you are an adult and old enough to take hard truth.  Please prayerfully consider what I have said.  Time is short. Much has happened in the life of the church since I shook your hand at Olivet Episcopal Churchs 150-year anniversary earlier in 2003. As part of our familys ministry to historic re-enactors (see www.historicfaith.net www.historicfaith.net/> ; ), Rev. Harper had asked us to help with preparations and we were there in 1850 clothing (I have attached a photo from the event).  I was touched when you stated that you found a power in the old (1845 vice 1928) liturgy, but was not convinced.  There has been twenty years for me to judge your words by.   In 1984 as bishop, you received me into the Episcopal Church. I believe that this confirmation service at Truro was your first confirmation service as bishop of the Diocese of Virginia.  Later, you were the Bishop that licensed me as a lay preacher when my family and I were at Christ the Redeemer.  You were the bishop who I looked to when I began the local discernment process for ordination.  While talking with you at a dozen after-church receptions does not make a deep friendship, you have been my bishop since you became bishop in Virginia.     As you have been my bishop, I have carefully read much of what you have written and listened carefully to what you have said.   You are an intelligent and articulate man and I believe that you have some love for the Episcopal Church.  From what I have read, heard, and seen, I am deeply concerned for your soul.  It seems clear that you have valued the game of church politics and opinions of fellow bishops over your sworn duty to uphold the faith outlined in scripture and our catholic tradition.   I shook your hand at Olivet but I was a little guarded for I believed that when the clear decision point came to choose between the Apostolic faith and the progressive, world loving, rationalistic apostasy that has come into vogue within ECUSA, you would choose the latter.  I was right.   Years ago, you wrote in the Virginia Episcopalian that you saw your duty as Bishop to avoid clarity (what I call fuzzing up) on issues that would divide, such as the immorality of homosexual acts.   This is not the position of a bishop defending the faith.  Your duty is to make spiritual truth clear not to obscure it.  You have acted like a shepherd that will not divide wolves from sheep.  I could give you many scriptural references including the words of Jesus that show that light should not unite with darkness.  Lovingly, and actively, we are to engage the world so that those who sin are come from darkness to light but that is not to have common cause with them.  Scripture set a different course for those who are believers and even higher standards for those who are leaders among Christians.   Some time after that article on your commitment to be fuzzy in the Virginia Episcopalian, I believe around 1997, you instituted the Call to Holy Life at Virginia Theological Seminary to open the school to active homosexual partnerships in lieu of the previous policy that forbade sexual intercourse outside the bonds of marriage, adulterous relationships, and the practice of homosexuality.  By this action (and actions do speak louder than words) you clearly demonstrated that even within your own diocese, you would be go with the flow even it that meant jettisoning the moral teachings of Jesus.  You used your skill at turning phrases to fuzz up this issue.  At the time you instituted the Call to Holy Life you stated you were seeking a policy more in keeping with Anglican comprehensiveness than the previous statement and more in keeping with the biblical balance of the Christian tradition.   Fine words, as I would expect from a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke Law School, but VTS, since your action and under your leadership, has become a hotbed of homosexual activism.   VTS is the place in your Diocese where church leaders are  training and you are responsible for the type of leaders you train there.  At the time of A Call to Holy Life, in my deep concern and as part of my discernment process, I exchanged a series of e-mails with you in an attempt to find out where you stood on the authority of scripture and the nature of sin, in particular on the sexual sin, which was being promoted by the apostate.  It was not easy to get a clear answer from you to this fundamental question - did you believe that homosexual practice was sin.  I was at first hopeful when you read my e-mails and took time to reply.   The ongoing exchanges with you, as courteous as they were, eventually convinced me that you did not have a moral compass that would enable me to seek ordination under your leadership.  In my heart, I knew then that when a vote on accepting same-sex immorality would come, you would choose Sodom rather than Zion.  Thus, I left off the ordination process and after subsequent statements and actions by you, left off active life in a local Episcopal Church for a couple of years, moving instead to support our non-denominational ministry.  Recent actions of yours has shown that I made the right decision.  Since you put The Call to   Holy Life into place, VTS students who hold the orthodox faith have told me repeatedly how they feel under siege for their beliefs.   Your recent vote and past actions are clearly destroying our diocese.  Unless you publicly and proximately repent for your part in this apostasy, the diocese you claim to love will fall to pieces, to the despair of the many faithful priest and laity who have stood by you through your past moral fuzziness.  Through your actions, the Episcopal Church, USA has become a scandal within the historic, orthodox, catholic faith.  You stated that in your recent votes:   I had a difficult, even wrenching time deciding. I prayed a lot. I consulted widely, with clergy and lay colleagues, with other professionals, more formally with the deans of the regions, and the Standing Committee. I studied scripture anew.  I was particularly struck by the 15th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles where the apostles and elders of the church in Jerusalem adapted the requirements of Jewish law to the reality of the situation of gentile converts in Antioch.  My reading of scripture convinces me that the Gospel is ever-increasing its power to erase the barriers that we human beings erect among ourselves.   Did you prayerfully read what the Apostles decided in Acts 15:20?  One of the minimum requirements that the Apostles placed on the Gentiles was to avoid sexual sins - no compromise, no fuzziness.  The requirement for the gentiles was a beginning not the end.  The Apostles decision also had the assumption that Gods ministers would teach the Gentiles to live a life of increasing righteousness through faith, not a life of wantonness masquerading as righteousness.  Again, in your reading of scripture as in past actions as bishop, you cling to the politics and ignore the requirements of faith.  You also stated, I was also struck anew by the centrality of a theology based more on grace than on law.  In Philippians 3:8-14, Paul wrote to the Philippians yearning for a righteousness that comes not from the law but for a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.  Paul continues, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.   Phillippians 4:9 states, The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you.  Do you, a bishop, understand the grace that Paul preached? Do you understand how repentance, the complete turning away from Sin, and Grace are related in Pauls teaching?  Romans 6:1-7 shows this clearly:   What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid.  We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?  Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin; for he that hath died is justified from sin.   God Forbid indeed!, and you should have done all in your power to forbid the consecration of Vickie Gene Robinson and the acceptance of same-sex blessings.  What did Paul tell Titus that a Bishop should do? Holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching, that he may be able to exhort in the sound doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers (Titus 1:9).  As a bishop you took the vows, and have been supported comfortably by the Church as bishop, but you are NOT holding to the faithful word and 2000 years of church doctrine. You are undermining, not defending the faith.  You seemed to stated with pride:   Since I was consecrated in 1984, I have consented to the consecration of nearly 200 bishops.  I have not voted against a single one, not those who were divorced and remarried, not the poor administrators and preachers, not even those bishops who now threaten to leave the church.   I believe strongly that the people of a local diocese, when the election is properly and fairly held, are the best people to determine who will best lead their diocese.  Just as the apostles respected the local circumstances of the people of Antioch, so the General Convention respected the circumstances of the people of New Hampshire.   The apostles clearly set limits and conditions (faith and repentance) on Gods grace and even stricter conditions for Church leadership.  Why cant you?  The Church gave you the vote of consent to defend the faith as a faithful steward.  The pride you have in never having shown leadership, not once since 1984, in the consecration of 200 bishops is shameful.     If, in 1984, you found that you did not have the judgment or moral fortitude to vote down unworthy candidates for bishops, then you should have stepped down then.  If you cannot see the problem with your actions now, you should step down now.  A sea captain whom never steers a ship or a medical board than never denies a medical license to a medical student is acting criminally, even murderously.  Your action or in this case inaction is killing the Episcopal Church and more importantly hindering the work of the Gospel to turn people from death to life.  Do you so disrespect the Church and your calling that you believe that anyone who walks in the door will do as a bishop?  Even the non-spiritual, political wisdom of the business world understands the concept of checks and balances, and of the criticality of selecting competent leaders.     Do you understand what apostasy is?  Do you realize that you are joining with those who are actively seeking to turn the Church away from the authority of scripture and the faith delivered by the Apostles? Second Peter Chapter Two clearly talks about people wedded to apostasy. Verses 18-21 (Message version) is especially clear: They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still theyre dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction. They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if theyre addicted to corruption--and they are--theyre enslaved.  If theyve escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again.

Special Report     By David W. Virtue   RECIFE, BRAZIL--The Evangelical Diocese of Recife has terminated its companion relationship with the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania over the consecration of V. Gene Robinson an activist homosexual to the ECUSA episcopacy. The diocese recently voted three resolutions one of which was to terminate its relationships with the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania and its bishop, the Rt. Rev. Michael W. Creighton, because they voted yes to the consecration of Robinson with the bishop, lay and 2 of the 3 clergy in favor of Gene Robinsons election.   The Brazilian diocese is led by the orthodox Rt. Rev. Edward Robinson Cavilcanti.     The resolution kept open the possibility of any parish church or individuals in the Central PA diocese staying in relationship with the Diocese of Recife if they did not support the resolutions of GC2003, said The Rev. Miguel Uchoa, a priest in the diocese who sent the news to Virtuosity.     Our actions officially put us in the position of mainstream Anglicans around the globe, he said.     The first resolution decided to break communion with the two dioceses of New Hampshire and New Westminster and clarifies our position with the biblical understanding of sexuality. A second resolution states that we are not going to have communion, companionship or any kind of relationship with any diocese, bishop, clergy or institution that supported GC2003 resolutions on sexuality.     Fr. Uchoa said the climate of the Church in Brazil was still the same. Sometimes even it is even more aggressive against our diocese [Recife] positions and it is very aggressive against our bishops decisions, he wrote.     The priest said the passing of these resolutions was not easy, as there was a group in the diocese speaking out and asking the province to come with the primate to pastorally intervene in our diocese. Those clergy and some lay people made a lot of noise, people, who once supported the bishop and called themselves evangelicals, he said.     The priest said that in recent discussions with the Evangelical bishop and he is taking a position with two clergy that were licensed because and were assumed to be homosexuals.     Our canons say that no one can be ordained if they are gay or even support the normalization of the behavior. Bishop Robinson also licensed rectors after the convention in different churches in the diocese.     Uchoa noted that opposition in the diocese did not come from a majority, but it is hard to deal with the province coming against us all the time. We ask for your prayers. The good news is that we are taking back the diocesan structure, the seminary and other commissions.   Furthermore the other good news is that our plans to make the dioceses into two dioceses did not result in any prejudice. The churches who are working in the north of Recife (Deanery of north) and they are totally orthodox and the project goes on.     The bishop has already installed a new Dean in the new pro cathedral and there is a new dean of the area, he said.     Uchoa said that by the Year 2006 there will be a new diocese, formed in time for the general synod. We are working hard to plant and to strengthen churches in the area. It requires a lot of hard work and needs much help.   Our hope for Anglicanism in Brazil, comes from the Northeast now more then ever. We need to expand the church here to be a future province, a second province in the country.     Uchoa said the Diocese of Recife was looking for a new companion relationship with an orthodox diocese in the US. We have not cut any links with orthodox churches, dioceses and organizations.     We have the passion for evangelism, church growth, new evangelistic methods...a real passion for the lost. We want to share and be in connection with all orthodox believers. Anglicanism will flourish in the spiritually arid wilderness of Brazil as orthodox and biblical churches are born. God is helping us.     The province was, till recently, in the revisionist grip of  Glauco Soares de Lima. The new orthodox Primate is the Most Rev. Orlando Santos de Oliveira.   END

Dear Brothers and Sisters, www.virtueonline.org December 2003     As this tumultuous year draws to a close in the life of the Anglican Communion we might well reflect for a moment on why it is necessary to uphold the Faith once delivered.     We are not playing word games here. Words have meaning and they change how we think and view the world. Think what Das Kapital and Mein Kampf did to a generation before us. Words matter. They change the way we think, influence our decisions and more. We act upon words every day of our life. We make decisions for good or ill on what we hear and learn, and words influence what directions we will take, what we support with our money and much more.     Virtuosity’s whole purpose is to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ as it is practiced within the context of the Anglican Way. There is nothing particularly new or startling about this, no mind-shattering revelations or illuminations, just the solid, defense of something that is true for us today as it was 2,000 years ago. It is a message that has not changed with time, the passage of history, passing cultural fashions, the findings of science, advances in education, the new morality, or more.     Human nature we now know has not changed appreciably over aeons of history. Regardless of how well-educated we might be, however advanced in our understanding of how the mind and body works; that intractable thing we call the ego rears its ugly head and we sin.   For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish, said the Great Apostle, and he is right. The pull of power, the urge of libidos, and the false security of money pulls us down to equalize us all. None of us is exempt, including this writer.   I love words. I love what they do, how they influence lives, and more. Perhaps one day when I come to die someone will carve on my tombstone; He used words well. I should be so lucky.     For most of you who have endured VIRTUOSITY for another year, will note that many of my writers and contributors, essayists and columnists have used words far better than me, for they are better writers than I am, and know their subjects better than I do.   I am truly grateful for each one of them. I suffer from the sin of envy (among other sins), that God has enabled them to put together sentences more illuminating than my own, more powerful in their ability to persuade, and so I sit in awe of them. Still we must press on.     Virtuosity is a calling and a ministry and it will go on into the New Year vigorously proclaiming, defending, and building up, at the same time pulling down strongholds of satanic influence. We will leave no stone unturned in the search for truth and exposing the lies and half- truths, the pomposity and venality of revisionist hegemony found in The Episcopal Church. We will reveal, expose and bring to the light, those things which we have done and those which we ought not to have done.     That does not mean that this writer comes covered in a mantle of perfection, far from it. I will make my own mistakes and hopefully you the reader will tell me so I can correct them. I expect that. I would be shocked if I did not hear from you.     IN TODAY’S LEAD STORY we continue to look at the implications of what a New World Anglican Order could look like if the Episcopal Church becomes, in effect, two churches. A church within a church or para-church, a church that is, that comes alongside the main body, drawing the good from it and leaving a dead carcass behind.     Events are shaping up fast. Two conflicting views over the future of the ECUSA is beginning to emerge and you can read the substance of that in today’s lead story.     TED MOLLEGEN, the point man for The Episcopal Church hoped for growth with General Convention20/20 has written a propaganda piece at those who opposed Vicki Gene’s consecration. I have taken this apart for your edification. This man has managed to turn truth so violently on its head that cranial damage has ensued and now seems permanent. His blasphemous attack on orthodoxy and those who defend it is exposed for all to read.   ONCE AGAIN, THE DIOCESE OF PENNSYLVANIA LEADS THE WAY.   The Rev. Douglas G. Scott, rector of St. Martin’s Church, Radnor has issued a Stirring call to action on page 28 of Episcopal Life. It is an outrage, he writes, that Christianity seems to have little tolerance for the suffering fat. We should ask the obese to share with their faith community what it means to be at the margins of societal acceptance and learn from them.   I kid you not. The obvious solution, Virtuosity believes is to consecrate an openly fat man who is in a committed relationship with his refrigerator. Do you Douglas take Kelvinator to be your awfully wedded significant other, to have and to hold, till high cholesterol do you part...Dear friends, it is utterly impossible to out-satirize this stuff. With the removal of the twin sins of gluttony and sodomy it just gets easier and easier to become an Episcopalian. Will we abandon the Prayer Book in time? Perhaps we will all live long enough to see a fat bisexual with bestial proclivities who has a hankering for non-neutered Dalmatians publicly consecrated in a NYC bathhouse. Frank Griswold will preside. ECUSA has become a lunatic asylum and the lunatics are in charge.     And our Bible reading today is taken from First Bennison (Pennsylvania Episcopalian Page B) chapter 1 verse 1: Moses smashed the tablets brought down off Mount Sinai to free the Word of God to be heard not seen. How long will the Standing Committee put up with this lunatic?     IN A RECENT NEWS ARTICLE THE PRESIDING BISHOP Frank Griswold gave some instructions to his Executive Council on the relationship between truth and community. This is what he said: Truth is discovered in communion.   Schism is the shattering of communion. In order to discover God’s  truth, everyone has to be at the table.     The Rev. Lawrence D. Bausch, rector of Holy Trinity Church, San Diego, begs to disagree. He argues the exact reverse. He offers four examples when leaving the table has occurred because truth had been discerned and not agreed to.   First, the calling out of Abraham and his descendants as followers of Yahweh, separating them from their neighbors. This is a recurrent theme throughout the Old Testament. Secondly, the separation of Christians from Jews over the identity of Jesus. Third, the conciliar definitions including the creeds and canon of Scripture which determined acceptable parameters for communion. And fourth, the English reform under Queen Elizabeth I, which resulted in separation from the Catholic Church. It is amazing how much rubbish Griswold manages to get away with unchallenged by his fellow bishops.     RECENT REPORTS in newspapers like the Church of England newspaper and on the Internet that Anglo-Catholics and groups like the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) are ready to run to Rome are exaggerated and premature. In discussions with various leaders in Episcopal Anglo-Catholic circles, word is that while talks and visits to Rome have been undertaken no one is going anywhere. The TAC under the leadership of Archbishop Falk and more recently the newly anointed Archbishop John Hepworth admit that while seeking unity to the fullest degree is desirable no one is going to abandon the Anglican tradition. Merger with Rome is not imminent. Furthermore Rome never acts in a hurry, even to embrace hurting Anglicans under siege from revisionist forces. All in good time.     THE REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH has had a defection. Bishop Gregory Hotchkiss has resigned over the REC’s stance against gay marriage. Even the most orthodox of jurisdictions are not immune, it would seem, from all this craziness over homo-erotic behavior.     SPRINGFIELD BISHOP PETER BECKWITH reports that no presentment Charges have been made against him despite coming under heavy fire from a Group of hard-line revisionist gay and lesbian priests and laity in his diocese who want him gone. (Virtuosity exposed their tricks in a secret chat room where they used anonymous names to blast the bishop). Beckwith wrote to VIRTUOSITY, I have heard there has been some interest/desire/attempt to present me for 1) Teaching against the doctrine of the Church; and 2) Abandoning the Sacrament of the Church. I’m told 1is because I will not recognize Gene Robinsons ministry, allow blessing of same sex relationships or likely to welcome clergy into the Diocese who would.  I’m told this is because I did not visit a new mission initiative in our Monroe County before I pulled the plug on it. After 15 months of preparation, we were aiming at having 200 at the first service.  20 showed up.  In the seven weeks of operation, it was reported between 13 and 20 people participated per service.  We had about 80K left to invest after which the congregation would have to raise the 100K annually to support the operation.  That seeming most unlikely led to my decision. Frankly I consider the efforts to present me laughable! Thank you Bishop.     AND IT WILL COME AS NO SURPRISE, that the Religious Newswriters Association picked the Gene Robinson consecration as the top news story of the year.   But it is very revealing that not one of the bishops who supported Robinson has expressed any concern that he accepted a Person of the Year award from a gay soft porn website, PlanetOut, and a gay magazine, The Advocate.     Second top story is Michael Ingham attempted slaughter of 11 godly parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster. They are still open for business and thriving.     And in the DIOCESE OF COLORADO the bishop there one Jerry Winterrowd now expresses regret for supporting the election of the nation first openly gay bishop. He says the church was not ready. Winterrowd, who retires on Dec. 31, said he went into August General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA intending to vote against the election of Gene Robinson as New Hampshire bishop. His rationale: Robinson election would fly in the face of the church desire to delay setting policy on blessing same-sex unions. But Winterrowd said he became convinced that each diocese had the right to elect its own bishop Subsequently, I would say that I am on very thin ice there, Winterrowd said. Indeed you are bishop. Very thin.     IN CANADA, the Bully of Vancouver, Michael Ingham closed down the fledgling mission parish of Holy Cross in Abbotsford, BC. The timing of the Anglican Bishoppre-Christmas closure of the church is ironic.   In attempting to include new ideas, the Anglican Church is making sure there is no room in the inn for traditionalist thinkers. The parishioners must defend their faith. If this was happening in another country, Holy Cross would be listed under the persecution of Christians. That it should be persecuted at the hands of its own infrastructure is alarming, wrote one priest.     The parish priest James Wagner remains committed to his congregation, saying, we will continue to worship, even though were apparently not recognized formally. We hear a lot about tolerance and diversity and how diverse views should be respected. It seems to me a strange way to resolve conflict, said a parish layman.     Holy Cross is a mission church, which is distinct from an incorporated parish. Holy Cross voted by overwhelming majority to accept the offer of Bishop Terry Buckle of Yukon to lead them. The Bishop later withdrew.   Ten years ago when the small parish of St. George Anglican Church in Hamilton, Ontario, was disestablished, it was re-born immediately as St George Reformed Episcopal Church and functions as a traditional Anglican parish. It is flourishing. There is hope.   And this from WASHINGTON BISHOP JOHN CHANE KORANIC CHRISTMAS MESSAGE:   And what was God thinking . . . when the Angel Gabriel was sent by God  to reveal the Law to Moses? And what was God thinking . . . when the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to reveal the sacred Quran to the prophet Muhammad? And what was God thinking . . . when the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to reveal the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God?     Virtuosity thinks that God thinks that Bishop Chane should be tossed out of his bishopric for talking rubbish.   DEMOCRATIC FRONT RUNNER HOWARD DEAN was once an Episcopalian in Vermont. But owing to a squabble about the construction of a pathway on a nine-mile stretch of land along Lake Champlain opposed by a group of Episcopalians, he left the Episcopal Church. Apparently the much vaunted Doctrine of Inclusion hit a snag and the wannabe next president left the ECUSA.     I WROTE TO CANON PATRICK MAUNEY, the Episcopal Church Director of Anglican and Global Relations this week asking if the Episcopal Church was still planning to go ahead and send money for the poor Guluin Uganda, even though Frank Griswold has been disinvited to attend the consecration of their new archbishop. I got no answer. Unless Virtuosity hears otherwise you can safely assume the gift will not be going out to these poor starving Ugandans, which goes to prove that money and politics are inextricably twined in The Episcopal Church.     THE BISHOP OF OHIO CLARK GREW went on the offensive this week about a group of parishioners who left a parish in Hudson, Ohio. This is what he said on radio WKSU: I think the tension I feel is, and I don’t want to devalue the authenticity of scripture claim that people make that this is a matter of scriptural authority, but I think, deep within that posture is a deep-seeded homophobia and an inability for people to see gay and lesbian people as children of God. Other members on the panel took him to task and you can read the he said/she said into today's digest. He has some very revealing thoughts about a parallel jurisdiction in the ECUSA.

At Christmastime in the remote mountain valleys of Fujian, it is possible to pick up the live sounds of a brassy approximation of Silent Night or Onward Christian Soldiers or even Jingle Bells.   Each year at this time, the 15-member brass band of the Hutou Christian Church are on the march. Farmers, construction workers, and small business owners temporarily leave their jobs to assemble the only brass band, amateur or professional, anyone in this region has heard about. They even have a new CD.   China is not known for participatory Christmas celebrations. But in these terraced Fujian mountain villages, where the lines between official and unofficial churches are blurred beyond recognition, well, Christians will be Christians when December rolls by.     The Hutou church was officially founded in 1983, though it started with more than a thousand Chinese unofficial believers. As pastor Li Qing Ling tells it, the band is a gift. The church considered what it could give to their city of 100,000 and decided it should be something different that everyone would enjoy.     We decided to have a brass band because in the countryside, you need a sound that people can hear. This is a very open area, he says.     Music plays a large role in Hutou services; members proudly point to a drum set and electronic keyboard in their 800-seat sanctuary. But to drum up, so to speak, a brass band - took nights of planning, months of fundraising, lining up the proper talent, and sewing uniforms.     After three years of work, the church sent a delegation in 1996 to a music shop in Quanzhou, on the coast. They purchased 12 instruments. Each year for the next five years, they bought another. Progress was slow since band members first needed to learn how to play the instruments they signed up for.     Yet now the Hutou Christian Church Brass Band tours with three trombones, two snare drums, a bass drum, two clarinets, three trumpets, a cymbal, and three alto horns. A saxophone was purchased this year, but you can’t hear it yet. The sax player is still learning how to blow his jazzy riffs.   END