Bishop of Oxford instructs lawyers to censor Archbishop Cranmer
The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev'd Steven Croft, has instructed lawyers to demand that a post on this site be taken down. Never in its 16-year history has the…
Pastoral care
In the case of the Bishop of Oxford v Archbishop Cranmer
On 10th May, the Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev’d Steven Croft, instructed his lawyers to demand that a post on this site be taken down. The letter from Birketts LLP was published in full, and a response was sent…
Bishop of Oxford “colluded with the forces of darkness”, and is considered by some to be a safeguarding risk
Liberated from the purgatorial shackles of Christ Church, Oxford, Martyn Percy is now free to speak, and he has done so. Andrew Billen in The Times Magazine recounts the tortuous…
The Prime Minister partied while clergy lamented
"Could the Minister advise those of us on these benches," ventured Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, "how we should respond to clergy who took an enormous personal toll in having…
Bramble Welby introduces her human on a BBC Newscast
Bramble Welby upstaged her human on a BBC Newcast this week. "Lie down. Can you lie down. That's a good girl," said the Archbishop of Canterbury. "Nope," thought Bramble. "Not…
When does talking or praying about sexuality become conversion therapy?
As the Government's consultation on their Conversion Therapy (Prohibition) Bill nears its end, there is a sense of confusion and exasperation, if not of fear and despair. Not among those…
Euthanasia: New Zealand Catholic Bishops make priests complicit
Euthanasia (/Assisted Dying/Assisted Suicide) is now legal in New Zealand. If you want to die there today, there is now someone to help you along your way with all the…
Former archbishops split on assisted suicide, and there’s no Anglican via media
In the red corner is George, Lord Carey of Clifton, Archbishop of Canterbury 1991-2002. He favours the legalisation of assisted suicide (or assisted dying, if you prefer) because "there is…
What if Nottingham University were right to ‘cancel’ its Catholic chaplain?
TRIGGER WARNING: The following blog post includes a discussion of the harsh treatment experienced by a Roman Catholic chaplain, and issues of religious liberty, common sense and Christian compassion. Its…
Safeguarding suicide: ‘there is a crisis of trust within the Diocese of London’
Following the comments and demands made by the Coroner in the wake of the suicide of Fr Alan Griffin, the Diocese of London and Lambeth Palace have accepted responsibility for…
The LGBT+ bigotry which bludgeoned Starmer into apologising for visiting a church
When Sir Keir Starmer visited a church on Good Friday and thank them for all their good and faithful works, he attracted some criticism. His visit caused such offence to…
Care in a covid climate: in defence of Justin Welby
"The Archbishop of Canterbury has been secretly volunteering as a chaplain at St Thomas’s Hospital during the coronavirus lockdown, the Telegraph has learned." The Telegraph learned this when the rest…
PM to Archbishop: ‘Prepare for your pulpits’ (which you never needed to vacate)
The Prime Minister's speech to the nation (of England) has set out a path toward normality following the period of enforced isolation and social distancing deemed necessary by the coronavirus.…
Canon Simon Butler responds to Archbishop Cranmer & Fr Marcus Walker
This is a guest post from Canon Simon Butler, vicar of St Mary's, Battersea. ____________ I’m grateful for being given a right of reply to the article about an exchange…
Whisky Priests Galore
I have a sense that many clerics today find themselves no less confused and variously out of sorts than their widely dispersed flocks. Some report being frazzled with too much…
CofE insurers Ecclesiastical attempt to impede pastoral care
It has been known for some time that Ecclesiastical Insurance (EIG), the favoured insurance company of the Church of England, has a tendency toward callousness, obstruction and indifference in their…
Child sexual abuse: the Blackburn Pastoral Letter is game-changer for the Church of England
When St Paul began writing his letters I doubt he expected them to become as copied, shared, dissected and analysed as they are today. He wrote to help and support…
What bishop would tell a vicar: ‘You’re no longer welcome in the Church of England’?
It made the pages of the Daily Mail, so it's serious: 'Vicar resigns after being 'silenced' over a Church of England school's plan to keep an eight-year-old pupil's sex change…
Emotional abuse in the Church: Bishops need psychological help
There is a Jewish proverb that a good name is worth more than precious stones. In this reflective and penitential season of Lent, members of the Church of England House…
Church in Wonderland: the Clergy Discipline Measure shoves victims down a rabbit hole
On 22nd November 2017 the Rt Rev'd Peter Burrows, Bishop of Doncaster, was having lunch in a cafe when his chaplain began a discussion about the case of Fr Matt…