“The future is female” according to one feminist slogan. In the Anglican Church, it looks as though that is very much the case: there’s been a rise of 17 per cent of women in the Church of England training to be ordained.
The consecration of Libby Lane as the Cof E’s first female bishop has been one of the wellsprings of this surge, according to its head of discipleship and vocation (also, unsurprisingly, a woman), Catherine Nancekievill. There are now 10 female bishops in the Cof E.
Whatever would that Scottish Protestant reformer John Knox think of this “monstrous regiment of women”, as he described women in any authority?
What would St Paul have said – he who averred that it was not a woman’s place to raise her voice in church? Or Dr Samuel Johnson, who compared a woman preaching to a dog walking on its hind legs: “It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.”
But times move on, religious texts are reinterpreted and practices evolve. If the Anglican Church comes to have a majority of women in ministry, or even a 50-50 split, it will represent an extraordinary revolution.
And yet if we are truly to respect “diversity”, it’s for the best that different Christian churches still have different approaches. I know women who support a female clergy; but I also know women who vehemently prefer to see the priesthood as a male preserve, as being a more faithful adherence to the Gospel.
I don’t imagine the Catholic (or Orthodox) Church will be following the Anglicans trend any time soon: but there certainly should be more women involved in other ecclesiastical and pastoral structures, and, where appropriate, in doing that dog-on-its-hind-legs act – preaching.
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St Francis of Assisi Church in Pottery Lane was among the most active of the west London churches after the Grenfell Tower tragedy. It’s a little gem of a Catholic church which, as I recall from my days living in W11, always had wonderful choral music – probably because so many Afro-Caribbeans were among the congregation. Pottery Lane caters for more than 60 nationalities in the neighbourhood.
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The exceptionally hot weather has brought forth an artefact that is both useful and elegant: the hand-held fan. Fans, which go back to the early Egyptians, are decorative, easily portable and very practical.
They are also wholly environmental and kind to the planet. A hand-held fan does not need to be plugged into an electrical socket for energy. Nor does it make a whirring noise.
I have several fans. One was brought from Lourdes by a friend, and shows Our Lady’s grotto. Perhaps a little incongruous to have what is, in effect, a holy picture on a fan, but interesting.
Spanish fans, with a little lacing around the edges, are often very pretty. I also have a beautiful Turkish fan, with an 18th-century watercolour of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, made of plastic and cloth, and an effective cooler-downer.
A simple paper fan – I just purchased one for £3 – is the easiest to carry, fans well and is least intrusive to others. There is a Fan Museum in Greenwich in south London: definitely something for the bucket list (and perhaps the acquisition of more fans).
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At a very well-attended (and glamorously attired) Pro Life Campaign dinner in Dublin last weekend, the Gaelic football personality Mickey Harte told the following story.
A police official came to inspect a farmer’s property in a bossy manner. The farmer said: “Go right ahead, but don’t enter that last barn in the middle field.”
The official said: “I have my badge – I can enter anywhere I deem appropriate.”
Ten minutes later, the official was seen running for his life with an especially fierce bull in pursuit.
“Show him your badge!” shouted the farmer.
Ah, nature doesn’t always respect man-made structures of authority!
Mickey Harte is a Co Tyrone celebrity who has worked for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. His daughter, Michaela, was tragically murdered on her honeymoon in Mauritius in 2011 and he set up a caring foundation in her name. He is an unstinting supporter of the pro-life cause.
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