ragon
THE
P RTAL
September 2011
Page 8
Riots
Three
weeks ago, I was in Manchester. The sun was shining, the cafes were bulging with
customers, the festival week was in full swing. We jumped on one of the free buses that circle
the city, and arrived at Salford cathedral for The Revd Dr Andrew Starkie’s ordination.
An uplifting service with 70 or so
clergy supporting this new Ordinariate
priest, and such refreshments
afterwards for all the congregation -
lavish, and in the cloisters and lovely
garden to the rear of the cathedral - all
quite perfect. So today’s pictures of
Manchester and Salford are a shock.
colleagues of Bishop Graham Leonard. What a reunion
for the three of them in the heavens!
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet
He is the new chairman of Forward in Faith. Three
cheers! The Right Reverend Jonathan Baker is a man
of prayer, scholarship and discretion. He has been
supportive, not only of those Anglican priests who
are not contemplating a move at this time, but also of
Who to blame? The police, the parents, the schools, those who have already moved into the Ordinariate.
the community workers? A book came out of America
in the 60s. It had the title “Whatever became of sin?”
Asked a direct question at last year’s National
Maybe this theological small word needs resurrecting, Assembly about the possibility of sharing resources,
for recent events
so that Ordinariate
priests
could
clearly show that
be given future
those who have no
financial
help,
reverence for the
he made it clear
things of God have
that during his
little reverence for
Secretary-ship (as
anyone else.
he had just been
The Bishop
appointed to that
who knitted
office) there would
be fair and equitable
his own mitre
allocation.
Bishops are wont
to make statements
So now he is in the
about matters on
chair, the promise
which they have no
he made looks even
expert knowledge.
more likely to be
H o w e v e r ,
kept. It will be such
Monsignor Richard Rutt
Monsignor Richard
good news to have
Rutt, who died recently, was an acknowledged expert no repeat of the C.B.S. brouhaha. Let charity (of both
on Korean literature, geraniums - and knitting! He kinds) be shared.
started knitting at the age of eight, and produced not
only home-made garments for his wife, but a knitted Bed-time reading
I recommend a small book that has come out of the
mitre and stole as well. He wrote books on the art
British Museum: Called simply “The British Museum
which became authoritative.
CHRIST” it is published by the museum press. The
A catholic Anglican bishop, first in Korea, then as text by Rowena Loverance is refreshingly precise and
Bishop of Leicester, and finally St Germans, he was informative of the various illustrations which are the
little interested in the establishment, but gave himself joy of the book.
to the poor. After the vote in 1992 he entered the
There are 40 or so beautifully presented objects in
Catholic Church, and ministered as an assistant priest
the museum’s care that cover two millennia of church
in a parish in Cornwall.
artefacts, and each object is given its theological and
Both he and Conrad Meyer (sometime Bishop of social context. At £9.99 it is a gift for those who wish
Dorchester) who also died in the past month, were to use it for meditation.