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[Episcopal News Service] Two years after a magnitude-6.3 earthquake decimated Christchurch, New Zealand, and its suburbs on Feb. 22, 2011, the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch helped the community remember the 185 people who died and look to the future.

The building under construction that has been dubbed the Cardboard Cathedral was the backdrop to the ecumenical civic memorial service in Latimer Square.

A possible glimpse of the future of the city and the diocese, the six-story building earned its nickname because it is being made of cardboard tubes about 23.5 inches wide and as long as 75.5 feet, timber, steel and plastic. It sits on a concrete pad or raft embedded with about 131,000 feet of steel that is designed to keep the building solid if the land underneath becomes compromised during a quake.

At night, the light from inside the Diocese of Christchurch’s Transitional Cathedral will make the building appear to glow through the polycarbonate roof from the gaps between the cardboard tubes. Photo/Christchurch Cathedral

The building is expected to cost about US$4.34 million. By the time construction is complete, more than 17 suppliers and contractors will have donated an additional US$832,000 worth of time, labor and materials to its construction. Plans call for the building to be ready for Easter.

The officially named Transitional Cathedral is meant to be a temporary building, but in this case “temporary means” it is designed to be used for 20 years or more. The cathedral was designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who is known for such buildings and, especially, for developing effective, low-cost disaster-relief shelters. He and his firm are donating their time to the project, the largest he has designed. The cathedral will seat 700 and be used for civic events as well as worship.

“It will be an iconic structure in its own right,” the Rev. Craig Dixon, cathedral marketing and development manager, told ENS during an interview on the site in early November 2012. “I think it’s going to be hugely important for the city just in terms of helping the city get back on its feet.”

Work is progressing toward an Easter completion of the Diocese of Christchurch’s Transitional Cathedral on Latimer Square in central Christchurch. Workers are placing the cardboard tubes that will serve as the structure’s roof beams. Photo/Transitional Cathedral site webcam

The cathedral also may become symbolic of the South Island diocese’s multi-year journey towards recovery that includes rebuilding churches and restructuring the shape of the diocese itself, even as the city and surrounding suburbs are reshaping themselves. For instance, nearly 7,000 homes in the Canterbury Region have been or will be demolished and “whole suburbs are being wiped off the map,” according to The Press newspaper. Another report says 18,500 homes need repairs but only 20 percent have been fixed or had their loss covered with an insurance settlement. Some people are still living in garages and converted buses.

“For most of us the earthquake has stopped being a human tragedy and now persists at the level of a civic problem,” newspaper columnist Philip Matthews wrote on the second anniversary.

While there are clear guidelines and traditions for mourning the human tragedy, he wrote, there are none for “mourning for the lost city, or fearing for its future, or even feeling hopeful.”

“How long will the rebuild take? What shape will the city be in? It’s impossible to guess,” he said. “Who would have imagined that large parts of the central city will continue to be cordoned off from the public a full two years after the disaster?”

It is estimated that Christchurch’s central business district may not be able to be occupied for five to 10 more years. Buildings are still being demolished and debris piles predominate on some blocks.

When the quake struck at 12:51 p.m. local time, the city of Christchurch and its suburbs were still recovering from a series of earthquakes and aftershocks that had begun when a magnitude-7.1 quake struck on Sept. 4, 2010, followed by a magnitude-4.9 temblor on Dec. 26, 2010. The February 2011 quake fatally crippled the diocese’s cathedral in the heart of the city. Further damage to the city and the cathedral occurred from a series of aftershocks on June 23, 2011, and then a magnitude-5.8 quake hit 16 miles east of the city on Dec. 23, 2012. A city official discusses the damage caused by that latter quake here. In all, there have been 11,000 earthquakes of a magnitude 2 or more since the September 2010 quake. And a magnitude-3.8 quake rattled the city early in the morning of the commemoration activities.

The Cardboard Cathedral will be the temporary home of Christchurch Cathedral while plans move forward for returning to Cathedral Square. “It’s been somewhat controversial in the city,” Dixon said of the Transitional Cathedral. “Because of the love of the building in the square, people feel the focus should be on that and not on this.”

Rebuilding the 130-year-old cathedral in the heart of the city has been the subject of a court case between the diocese, which wanted to deconstruct the building to make way for a new cathedral, and Great Christchurch Buildings Trust, which wanted to ensure that the cathedral would be rebuilt using much of the old building. The court ruled that the terms of the legal trust framework governing the property required that there be a cathedral in Cathedral Square. The building does not have to replicate the pre-quake Gothic Revival structure.

However, the legal battle has at least temporarily halted the diocese’s plan to demolish the cathedral to between 6.5 to 10 feet and make the area a prayer garden in the interim. The delay, Christchurch Bishop Victoria Matthews said Feb. 20, makes it “gutting and upsetting to see that due to the ongoing legal process we are unable to retrieve treasured items from inside the cathedral and make it safe.”

“What is occurring now is an act of violence against a building and the stories and history that it contains of Canterbury and of the Christian faith,” she said, adding that the building is “wasting away [in] a slow death.”

Matthews has not been able to enter the deconsecrated cathedral in about a year but on Feb. 20 she got a remote tour via a small camera drone sent into the broken building by a local television station. The remote-controlled miniature helicopter filmed the interior, and transmitted the footage to an iPad. A two-minute video is here.

A full report from 3News includes comments from Matthews during the drone exercise. The station said a survey of Christchurch residents it conducted showed that 38 percent favor demolition, 30 percent want the building restored and 27 percent favor Mayor Bob Parker’s call for the ruins to be encased in glass. The latter proposal would allow worshipers and visitors to be back inside, according to the mayor, who said the cost would be far less than building a new cathedral.

“We do need to keep something, a symbol that shows the story of what happened here, connects us to the past, can still in a sense be a memorial to that event but equally can offer something new,” Parker said, who added that his main goal is to get the issue settled because the cathedral’s current state “reminds us of a lot of pain, a lot of negativity” and has become “pigeon central” as birds have taken to roosting in the ruins.

In early December, the diocese’s Church Property Trustees filed a memorandum with the court outlining an approximate timetable and decision-making process on the new permanent cathedral. It suggests that the trustees will make “the final decision … on the future of the cathedral building” by the end of February. Trustees said they will consider the options of retaining as much as possible of the old cathedral and building a replica, partial deconstruction leading to a new building that mixes old and new around the same footprint or extensive demolition leading to a building that has more new elements than old.

In its ruling, the court noted that “the cathedral began life as the spiritual and geographical heart” of what would eventually became the city of Christchurch. That status, and the cathedral’s role in the civic as well as religious life of the city, means there have been fiercely held opinions about a future building on Cathedral Square.

Matthews said during an ENS interview in late October, just before the court ruled, that there was an ongoing debate between two “educated opinions” about how the reconstruction should be handled. She said she and others felt that the preservation-restoration proposals would endanger the workers who would be involved.

As part of the planning process for a new cathedral, Matthews and a small study group visited cathedrals and churches in California, Europe and the United Kingdom. The group blogged about its experiences here and included discussion questions for members of the diocese to consider.

Matthews said the group looked at the 15 buildings in terms of beauty, awe and wonder. In each building the members pondered “how much were we caught up into the mystery and glory of God.”

And they consider the relationship between the building and the wider community, and who in the city thought that the building was their cathedral. “Was it only the rich and famous? Is it only the poor and out? Is it the middle class? Is it only people who are interested in the arts?” she said.

Meanwhile, Matthews said, the decision to build a transitional building is “incredibly practical” because of the rebuilding challenges facing the central business district. In addition, only one church remained in that area and it is not big enough for cathedral services or those times when the community needed to gather for what Matthews called “civic service.”

Other damaged buildings were too near the old cathedral to allow for any immediate building there, but still, she said, the cathedral congregation needed to stay together.

The decision to build the Transitional Cathedral in Latimer Square, about three blocks east of Cathedral Square, is significant for a number of reasons. The square was a makeshift triage center for people injured by the February 2011 quake. It is also across the street from what had been the Canterbury Television building, which collapsed during the quake, killing 115 people. And the square was home to the Anglican St. John’s Church, which was irreparably damaged by the quakes.

The two congregations will share the church building and some other structures planned for the site, including offices, a chapel and a commercial building. Matthews called that arrangement “the best part of all” because it will bring together “the most evangelical, conservative congregation parish in the diocese” with the “liberal Catholic” cathedral congregation. When the cathedral members return to Cathedral Square, St. John’s will take over the Cardboard Cathedral.

The cathedral saga is not the least of the challenges facing the diocese; 31 parishes are shown on the most-recent list of major repair work needed. There are 70 parishes in the diocese.

“I realize it has been a tough and frustrating year for many of you,” Liz Clarke, property manager of the Church Property Trustees, said in a newsletter to churches in late 2012. “We still find ourselves in quite extraordinary times and while progress is being made, these repair works are going to go on for some time yet.”

She noted that numerous aftershocks have resulted in multiple insurance claims on some buildings.

In late September 2012, the diocese published design guidelines for both repairing and rebuilding damaged church buildings and for new buildings. The 84-page document considers the issues of sacred space, community engagement, transcendence and intimacy, sustainability, biculturalism and envisioning a future.

The developers of the guidelines say that the opportunity of rebuilding “is to lead in the short term in innovative ways, using technology and design, [while] at the same time acting in the long term to secure an enduring outcome.”

“The church has the opportunity to respond to the earthquake in fresh, positive, and unexpected ways in order to achieve visibility and newly relevant connections with the community,” they said. “Importantly, alongside this, the expected response of rebuilding substantial landmark spaces for worship and supporting the community needs to also occur.”

Beyond specific building repairs, the diocese is also considering its future structure. In late September 2012, the diocese appointed that Structural Review Group “to prayerfully consider, review and recommend the future shape of the Diocese of Christchurch giving glory to God and a sure foundation for the future.”

The group is considering, among other information, maps of existing and new subdivisions, and of population movements; demographic trends; parish boundaries, finances and attendance figures; current costs of supporting clergy; and building stock, including those prone to earthquake damage. The members are also considering how their findings fit with a strategic plan, adopted in March 2009, that envisioned the diocese through the end of 2012.

This month, the members are visiting every “ministry unit” in Christchurch and surrounding commuter towns, with the aim of presenting a draft report to the annual diocesan synod in April.

“Our prayer is that as we work and consult together, the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit will be upon us all,” the members said recently.

– The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is an editor/reporter for the Episcopal News Service.

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] At the invitation of Bishop Gregory Brewer, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will visit the Diocese of Central Florida March 3 – 5.

“I am eager to visit the people of Central Florida, to learn more about their diverse and engaged ministries, and to spend time with the clergy of the diocese,” Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori said. “I am aware of significant engagement with God’s mission both locally and globally, bringing healing and transformation to people within and beyond the diocese, and I look forward to seeing and hearing more.”

Among her activities, the Presiding Bishop will celebrate and preach at Church of the Resurrection, Longwood.  She will visit and hear about the mission and ministries of various churches, including St. Gabriel’s in Titusville, Grace Church in Port Orange, and St. James, Leesburg.  She will also address the diocesan clergy at a morning conference.

“It is both our responsibility and our privilege to welcome the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori to the Diocese of Central Florida.” Bishop Brewer noted. “It will be an opportunity for our diocese to be a witness for Christ as we showcase a number of our vital ministries that are making a difference in people’s lives here in Central Florida.”

 

[Anglican Communion News Service] Renowned Bangladeshi diplomat Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury will be telling Anglican women from around the world that the end of violence against women is only one step in ensuring gender equality.

The former Permanent Representative to the United Nations and United Nations Under-Secretary General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, will be the keynote speaker for an event held at the Episcopal Church Center chapel on March 5.

The title of his speech is “End of Violence is not the End – Ensure Women’s Equality”.

The event will form part of a packed programme put together by the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations in New York for an international delegation of Anglican women present in New York for the 57th meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women taking place at the UN Headquarters from March 1 to 15.

Rachel Chardon of the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations in New York said, “Ambassador Chowdhury has been a tireless spokesperson for peace, women, children, and the poorest segment of humanity – and we look forward to hearing his insights.”

The Ambassador’s biography is long and distinguished, but he is perhaps most notably accredited for work on development in struggling nations, global peace, and the rights of women and children.

The Anglican delegation of women from around the Communion will be engaging with this year’s priority theme for the Commission on the Status of Women: the “Elimination and Prevention of all Forms of Violence Against Women and Girls.”

They will share experiences and highlight issues of concern as well as the progress that has been made for women in their respective regions. Each delegate will represent her own Anglican Province and bring local knowledge and insights from many countries including Australia, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, Sri Lanka, South Sudan, England, Scotland, the United States, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

They will return to their countries with advocacy training skills facilitated by the Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations, new knowledge, and fresh resolve to continue advocacy at home, with the help of others.

For more information about the Anglican Communion delegation at the UN Commission on the Status of Women or to attend the keynote speech by Ambassador Chowdhury, please contact Rachel Chardon by phone at +1-212-716-6262 or via e-mail at unoffice@anglicancommunion.org

Follow the latest about the Anglican women’s involvement at www.anglicancommunion.org/acns and via #anglicanCSW on Twitter.

Members of the F.A.I.T.H. Liturgical Dancers from Bethel AME Church in Morristown, New Jersey, perform during a combined service at nearby Church of the Redeemer. The service launched a six-month celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation at the Morristown Episcopal church. Photo/Randy Johnson

[Episcopal News Service] Emancipation “is in our DNA” at Church of the Redeemer  in Morristown, New Jersey, says the Rev. Cynthia Black, rector. “We talk about liberation. We live liberation.”

So when it came time to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the church that calls itself “a Christian liberation community in the Episcopal tradition” planned far more than a one-day or Black History Month event.

Starting on Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday, and ending June 16 with a “Juneteenth” celebration of the end of slavery, Redeemer is hosting a series of guest speakers and preachers, exhibits and liturgies in a program called “Forever Free: Reclaiming the Emancipation Proclamation.”

The idea for the six-month commemoration emerged after last year’s Easter Vigil, where as part of the liturgy a church member told the story of Redeemer’s origin, when members of a neighboring Morristown church left over theological differences to start their own congregation. Soon after, parishioner Chuck Dickerson, who teaches history at the county college, approached Black and said, “You know, that’s one version of the story. Here’s another.”

“He talked about the divisions at the time over slavery and how his understanding was that, as the two churches chose to go separate ways … it was those who were involved in emancipation and abolitionist kinds of activities who formed Redeemer,” she recalled. They had a long conversation, and he mentioned the proclamation’s approaching 150th anniversary. “I said, ‘It seems like this is too good an opportunity to pass up. What do you want to do?’”

They first envisioned inviting a prominent speaker but then realized they didn’t want to limit themselves to one event. “It would be too hard to capture with just one event,” Black said.

Organizers expanded the program to three and finally to six months and still found they had more possible events than room in the schedule. They hope retired Diocese of Massachusetts Bishop Suffragan Barbara Harris, an African-American who was the first woman to become a bishop in the Anglican Communion, will be able to preach during the commemoration, Black said. Following the program, in September, a special screening is planned of “Traces of the Trade,” with Director Katrina Brown sharing insights from her family’s history as slaveholders in Rhode Island.

The commemoration began during Redeemer’s annual “reconciliation season,” stretching from Martin Luther King Sunday to Absalom Jones Sunday honoring the Episcopal Church’s first African-American priest. At the beginning and end of the season, Redeemer traditionally worships with Morristown’s Bethel AME Church.

This year, Bethel’s pastor preached during the combined Jan. 20 service at Redeemer, where his church’s liturgical dancers performed, the two church choirs sang together and the readings included portions of the 1936 Federal Writers’ Project’s “Slave Narratives.” On Feb. 10, Black preached at a combined jazz worship service at Bethel a few blocks away.

Music is playing a prominent role in the commemoration. Dickerson led three adult forums on a social history of jazz, and the church’s Lenten series features meditations on five Negro spirituals.

Other artists are participating as well.

During a reception on April 7, abstract painter Nell Irvin Painter, emerita professor of American history at Princeton University, will present perspectives on global human trafficking as depicted in her artwork. The following week, Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, associate professor of American Art at the University of Pennsylvania, will give an illustrated talk on portraits of African Americans in the 19th century and how they shed light on the understanding of interracial communities of the time.

Painter’s presentation falls on the church’s annual Holocaust/genocide remembrance. Likewise, other speakers were chosen to bring together emancipation themes with annual commemorations: the Rev. Nan Peete, sharing insights about being one of the church’s first female African-American clergy members, at the May 12 Women’s Journeys service; interracial couple Ernest and Louie Clay-Crew preaching on race and sexuality on LGBT Pride Sunday June 2; and the Rev. Canon Edward Rodman addressing the intersection of race and maleness during the June 16 Men’s Journeys service.

The confluence of emancipation and other issues is in keeping with Redeemer’s mission.

“We talk about ourselves as a Christian liberation community in the Episcopal tradition. We take that very seriously,” Black said. “The diversity that we’re proud of is not any one identifiable kind of diversity.

“We’re very clear that the interlocking systems of oppression have not done the church any good and that the way to change that is to model something else. And so [in] everything we do, from our worship to our education … we try to live our diversity out.

“I think people here get that,” she said. “We have a very large LGBT population. We have a very large population of people in recovery. But anybody who’s kind of a single-issue person doesn’t last here very long. We’re really clear that all of those things are related.”

Through participating in “Forever Free,” she said, “I hope people have a better sense of history, a better sense of where we as a culture and a nation need to go and maybe even one thing they can do to help us get there.”

– Sharon Sheridan is an ENS correspondent.

Prime Bishop Edward Malacdan of the Philippines celebrates Thanksgiving Mass at Trinity University of Asia’s Golden Jubilee Feb. 4 in Quezon City. The Rev. Canon James G. Callaway, General Secretary of the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion, sixth from right, preached during the service. Photo/Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion

[Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion] Fifty years ago, the Philippine Independent Church and the Philippine Episcopal Church drafted a concordat that envisioned developing an educational institution to nurture the nation’s youth in academic excellence and help them grow as responsible citizens.

In 1963, Bishop Lyman Ogilby, the last American bishop of the Philippine Episcopal Church, used seed money donated by Bishop Paul Matthews of New Jersey, and by Elsie Proctor, granddaughter of the founder of Proctor and Gamble Company, to purchase the former Capitol City College in order to establish Trinity College Quezon City. It was named after another Episcopal College, Trinity College of Hartford, Connecticut USA whose president was Bishop Olgiby’s father, who had served as a missionary in the Philippines before him.

A week of festivities for the school’s 50th Anniversary was highlighted on Feb. 5 by a Thanksgiving Eucharist in the new University Chapel with the Most Rev. Edward Malecdan, Prime Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, as celebrant. The Rev. Canon James G. Callaway, General Secretary of the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion (CUAC) was the preacher, drawing on the Gospel reading from Matthew, known as “the Parable of the Talents.”

Referring to Bishop Ogilby’s decision to invest the Procter legacy in founding Trinity, he said: “In the life of the young republic, then seventeen years old, the bishop chose to launch a Christian College of high standards as the most urgent opportunity the church had to prepare for the future of the country and her citizens.”

Mr. Sam Macdonald, Deputy Chief Operating Officer of The Episcopal Church, gave greetings from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Trinity’s destiny was presaged by the boldly-carved Latin motto over its main entrance: Pro Deo et Patria, “For God and Country.” Trinity’s first president, Dr. Arthur L. Carson, took this as a challenge to build a solid, strong foundation that could grow into the vital national resource the young nation would need. His successors each built upon that foundation, and Trinity’s current president, Dr. Josefina S. Sumaya, has developed the institution’s potential even further. More than a decade of Dr. Sumaya’s leadership has seen the school achieve university status as Trinity University of Asia in 2006, followed in 2008 by “Autonomous” status and an ISO certification by Societae Generale de Surveilance.

Dr. Sumaya, who currently serves as president of the Federation of Asia-Pacific Colleges to which Trinity belongs, noted, “I knew that only by achieving the highest recognition of excellence could Trinity University live out its mission to the country and the future.”

In pursuit of that mission, Trinity has expanded its capacity through the years in ways that broadened its ability to serve the people of the Philippines. Examples include its early merger with the adjacent St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing; the introduction of a medical technology course in 1966-67; and the opening of its Graduate School in 1985. Trinity’s original three academic courses in the 1960s—Liberal Arts, Education, and Business Administration—have grown and broadened into eight fields of study today: Broadcasting, Media Communication, Biology, Psychology, Medical Technology, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Tourism Management, and Computer and Information Science. Today over 5,000 students on two campuses engage in studies ranging from basic education to graduate-level research.

These academic improvements are being bolstered both by enhancements to the physical plant and by resources for character development of the students. Bequests from American Episcopalians built Mary Niven Alston Hall in 2000 to house Trinity’s pre-school; in 2006 it was renovated and repurposed as a hostel—making it an on-site laboratory for the College of Hospitality and Tourism Management. And the Brown Fellow Foundation and Ann Keim Barsam gave Trinity seed money to launch a series of lectures on value formation: individuals distinguished in their chosen fields of specialization take up a week-long residency to dialogue with faculty, students, and staff.

This rich heritage of history and continuing service offered much to celebrate in the service designed by the university’s chaplain, the Rev. Edwin J. Ayabo, with the theme “TUA@50: Achieving our Golden Dreams.” Highlighting the Thanksgiving Eucharist was the presentation of seventy-five faculty and staff members honored for their loyal, dedicated service to the University, culminating with the recognition of Dr. Sumaya’s own fifty years at Trinity. The week’s other varied activities included a Float Parade in downtown Manila, homecomings, exhibits, field demonstrations of the types of outreach undertaken by Trinity students, and a Battle of Student Bands. Earlier in the week, a “Celebration of Gratitude” program paid tribute to the many organizations and people who paved the way for the growth and success of Trinity University of Asia. One of the organizations so honored was CUAC, in which Trinity has been active from the days of its founding by the Episcopal Church, along with its American chapter, the Association of Episcopal Colleges (AEC).

Long known as a pioneer for engaging students in Service Learning, the breadth and depth of Trinity University of Asia’s own service “For God and Country” earns it a respected spot, not only in the Philippines, but also in Asia and the Pacific—and in the hearts of all whose lives it touches.

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] The Office of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has notified the Diocese of Eau Claire that Bishop-Elect William Jay Lambert has received the required majority of consents in the canonical consent process.

As outlined under Canon III.11.4 (a), the Presiding Bishop confirmed the receipt of consents from a majority of bishops with jurisdiction, and has also reviewed the evidence of consents from a majority of standing committees of the Church sent to her by the diocesan standing committee.

In Canon III.11.4 (b), Standing Committees, in consenting to the ordination and consecration, attest they are “fully sensible of how important it is that the Sacred Order and Office of a Bishop should not be unworthily conferred, and firmly persuaded that it is our duty to bear testimony on this solemn occasion without partiality, do, in the presence of Almighty God, testify that we know of no impediment on account of which the Reverend A.B. ought not to be ordained to that Holy Office. We do, moreover, jointly and severally declare that we believe the Reverend A.B. to have been duly and lawfully elected and to be of such sufficiency in learning, of such soundness in the Faith, and of such godly character as to be able to exercise the Office of a Bishop to the honor of God and the edifying of the Church, and to be a wholesome example to the flock of Christ.”

The Rev. William Jay Lambert was elected on November 10, 2012.  His ordination and consecration service is slated for March 16; Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will officiate.

While Bishop-Elect Lambert has received the necessary majority of consents, consents will continue to be accepted up to and including the May 3 deadline date.

A recap of the process
Upon election, the successful candidate is a bishop-elect.  Following some procedural matters including physical and psychological examinations, formal notices are then sent by the Presiding Bishop’s office to bishops with jurisdiction (diocesan bishops only) with separate notices from the electing diocese to the standing committees of each of the dioceses in The Episcopal Church. These notices require their own actions and signatures.

In order for a bishop-elect to become a bishop, Canon III.11.4 (a) of The Episcopal Church mandates that a majority of diocesan bishops AND a majority of diocesan standing committees must consent to the bishop-elect’s ordination and consecration as bishop. These actions – done separately – must be completed within 120 days from the day notice of the election was sent to the proper parties.

If the bishop-elect receives a majority (at least 50% plus 1) of consents from the diocesan bishops as well as a majority from the standing committees, the bishop-elect is one step closer. Following a successful consent process, ordination and celebration are in order.

En la Escuela Episcopal Diurna de Jacksonville, Florida, se construye una plaza conmemorativa en honor de Dale Regan, la asesinada directora de ese plantel. La plaza protegerá las raíces de un roble centenario que era el árbol preferido de la educadora, quien trabajó en la escuela durante 34 años. Foto de la Escuela Episcopal de Jacksonville.

[Episcopal News Service] En los dos meses transcurridos desde la masacre ocurrida en una escuela primaria de Connecticut, donde murieron 26 personas, entre ellos 20 niños, las escuelas episcopales han estado examinando y revisando sus medidas de seguridad para mantener a sus estudiantes protegidos.

“En general, la reacción ha sido… una revisión de los métodos de seguridad”, dijo Ann Mellow, directora adjunta de la Asociación Nacional de Escuelas Episcopales (NAES, por su sigla en inglés). “En algunos casos, dependiendo de la escuela, no han cambiado nada porque se sienten confiados de que están haciendo lo mejor que pueden para reaccionar razonablemente ante las situaciones [que puedan presentarse], a sabiendas de que uno no puede estar preparado para todo, todo el tiempo.

“Otras escuelas pueden tener aún un campus relativamente abierto y tienen que añadir cosas. Y creo que en verdad todo el mundo se ha empeñado en las medidas de seguridad”, dijo Mellow. “Si ya no las tenían, las han añadido a sus muchas clases de entrenamientos que se practican en estos tiempos”.

En algunas escuelas previamente alcanzadas por la violencia, las  medidas de seguridad ya estaban debatiéndose antes del fatal tiroteo de la escuela primaria de Sandy Hook en Newtown, Connecticut, el 14 de diciembre de 2012.

El 6 de marzo de 2012, un maestro de español de la Escuela Episcopal de Jacksonville, Florida, que había sido despedido unas horas antes, mató a la directora Dale Reagan y luego se suicidó en el campus.

Después de ese violento episodio, dijo la Rda. Kate Moorehead, “la escuela ha hecho una serie de revisiones muy serias sobre sus medidas de seguridad”.

La escuela siempre está mejorando y atendiendo sus medidas de seguridad, y eso era cierto incluso antes de la tragedia, afirmó Moorehead, deana de la catedral de San Juan [St. John’s Cathedral] en Jacksonville, que comenzó  la escuela y es vicepresidente de los miembros de la junta escolar. “Tenemos guardias alrededor de la escuela como siempre los hemos tenido”. El agresor se coló, no entró por la puerta, recalcó ella. “Algunas cosas son sencillamente difíciles de evitar”.

En la Escuela Parroquial Diurna de San Juan [St. John’s Parish Day School] en Ellicott City, Maryland, la masacre de  Newtown provocó otra serie de revisiones de las medidas de seguridad que ya estaban siendo reevaluadas luego de una tragedia en esa comunidad siete meses antes.

La escuela y la iglesia episcopal de San Juan, con la cual comparte los terrenos, brindaron su apoyo luego de que, el 3 de mayo de 2012,  mataran a tiros a Brenda Brewington, e hirieran de gravedad a la Rda. Mary-Marguerite Kohn, asistente de administración y co-rectora respectivamente de la vecina iglesia de San Pedro [St. Peter’s Episcopal Church] y que el agresor se suicidara cerca de la iglesia. La Rda. Kohn murió dos días después.

“Eso fue una cosa sencillamente devastadora para toda la comunidad. El personal de la iglesia [en San Juan] ciertamente se sintió vulnerable en ese momento”, dijo Steve Harrison, director de la escuela. “Nos hizo muy conscientes de los problemas de seguridad aquí en el campus”.

Si bien la iglesia reaccionó instalando cámaras de seguridad en algunos edificios, el personal administrativo “no sentía la misma inquietud, ni sentían realmente que querían tener una cámara instalada en la entrada” de su edificio, dijo Harrison. “De manera que no lo hicimos”.

Sin embargo, después de la tragedia de Newtown “todo cambió”.

Hace varios años, la escuela había examinado lo de las cámaras de seguridad y había decidido que “era una intrusión demasiado grande”, explicó él. “Los padres creían que era una estrategia demasiado al estilo del Gran Hermano , y lo rechazaron. Desde lo de Sandy Hook, hemos sostenido numerosos debates en toda la comunidad del campus para tratar de determinar el sentimiento de la gente, cómo perciben ahora nuestras necesidades. Gran parte ha dado un giro de 180 grados.

En la escuela primaria, donde las puertas que se abren dan directamente a las aulas, están adquiriendo “barras de seguridad” para atrancar las puertas cuando los alumnos estén confinados en las aulas, y andan buscando cobertores para cubrir los vidrios de las puertas durante esas horas. Las puertas que dan a las alas del pre-escolar y la primaria que se abren automáticamente permanecerán cerradas, y se abrirán manualmente durante las horas de confinamiento. Y se está instalando un nuevo sistema de comunicaciones, que permite hacer anuncios en las aulas, las cuales contaban con teléfonos, pero no con un sistema de altoparlantes interno.

“Todo esto estará funcionando para el comienzo de la escuela en septiembre, la mayor parte, antes de que terminé este curso académico”, dijo Harrison.

“Lo único que no tenemos y de lo que no nos hemos ocupado del todo aún es de lo concerniente a la entrada exterior del edificio” donde la escuela ha mantenido  el campus abierto con una puerta sin pestillo en el vestíbulo principal. Un equipo de seguridad está evaluando el asunto.

Harrison espera que se instale un sistema automático con un recepcionista que controle la entrada desde el vestíbulo, lo cual probablemente significará la instalación también de un control de audio y vídeo a la entrada y probablemente también en una entrada secundaria usada para el campamento de verano de la escuela. El presupuesto del año próximo incluye unos $35.000 para un recepcionista, añadió.

Si bien él preferiría dedicar ese dinero a contratar un especialista de apoyo al aprendizaje, “la necesidad y la realidad de la vida actual es que esto es una expectativa que tienen los padres… No está sólo en la mente de nuestros padres actuales, sino también en nuestra perspectiva como padres”.

Futuros padre han preguntado en foros abiertos sobre las medidas de seguridad en la escuela, dijo Harrison, “es triste, realmente, que hayamos tenido que llegar a este extremo, y sin embargo  al mismo tiempo es una crítica sobre el momento actual… Si no lo hiciéramos, creo que ciertamente excluiríamos a los estudiantes de la perspectiva”.

“Aunque somos una escuela episcopal —apuntó él— y tenemos, creo yo, un sentido de formación y de cuidado que de alguna manera trasciende lo que uno con frecuencia podría encontrar en algunas escuelas, no deja de haber inquietud entre los padres sobre lo que está pasando aquí o podría pasar aquí, porque se trata de sus hijos que son su orgullo y su alegría. Quieren estar seguros de que están protegidos, independientemente de cuan formativo y acogedor sea el ambiente. La seguridad está por encima”.

Equilibrio de intereses
Si bien las escuelas episcopales revisaron sus medidas de seguridad después de la masacre de Newtown, también respondieron de una manera pastoral.

“Ha habido un respuesta pastoral muy firme y la noción de que realmente recurrimos a la entereza de nuestra comunidad y a nuestros principios básicos como escuelas episcopales, que todo simplemente no se reduzca [a una reacción] al temor” dijo Mellow. “Se trata de una respuesta matizada”.

La atención de gran parte de las escuelas “se ha concentrado en el cuidado pastoral de las familias y los niños y los profesores y una especie de reflexión devota”, afirmó. “Lo que resulta maravilloso de las escuelas episcopales es que, como la capilla y el culto forman parte regular de la vida de la escuela y las escuelas tienen capellanes, éstas han incorporado modos de que las comunidades se reúnan y procesen, reflexionen, brinden apoyo y sinceramente sean muy piadosas al respecto”.

En su página web, la NAES ofrecía oraciones, liturgias y enlaces a recursos para ayudar a las familias a lidiar con la tragedia de Newtown. Del 7 al 9 de febrero, en Tampa, Florida, una conferencia que la NAES coauspicia anualmente con el Centro para la Educación Ética y Espiritual, cuya misión es “proporcionar medios de orientación, voces expertas y un foro activo para el desarrollo ético y el crecimiento espiritual en las escuelas”  se concentraba en “ayudar a las comunidades escolares en tiempos de tragedia”.

La conferencia fue planeada hace un año y abordaba lo mismo tragedias insólitas, como la de la masacre de Connecticut, como otras crisis más comunes que afectan a las comunidades escolares, tales como la muerte de un estudiante.

“Realmente creo que es mucho más común eso… el curso de la historia de una escuela pasa por el niño que muere de cáncer, por el suicidio de alguien que todo el mundo conoce”, dijo Mellow.

Los oradores principales fueron el Rdo. Malcolm Manson, director de la Escuela Episcopal de Oregón en los años 80 —cuando siete estudiantes y dos profesores murieron durante una excursión en Mount Hood—  y la Rda. Hope (“Hopie”) Jernagan, capellana de la Escuela Episcopal de Jacksonville.

“Cuando oímos las noticias de la masacre de Sandy Hook, se nos partió el corazón por ellos”, le dijo Jernagan a la conferencia a través de un correo electrónico. “Nos reunimos para orar en nuestra plaza, pidiendo por cada una de las víctimas y por el agresor, por sus nombres.  También, dijo Moorrehead, “los estudiantes hicieron una tarjeta gigantesca para  el pueblo de Newtown y para la escuela, en la que quisimos comunicarles nuestra compasión y expresarles que estábamos a la disposición del pueblo de Newtown si nos necesitaban.

En verdad, por lo que ellos pasaron fue de muchas maneras mucho más difícil porque murieron niños”, agregó.

Luego de que se produjera la agresión a tiros en la primavera pasada, la escuela se reunió inmediatamente para orar y para funcionar como comunidad, dijo Jernagan. “En los días que siguieron al hecho, cancelamos todas las clases y actividades, pero mantuvimos el campus abierto, sabiendo que estudiantes, padres, profesores y empleados querrían estar juntos. También buscamos ayuda de los clérigos y consejeros locales, que se personaron en el campus para brindar cuidado y asesoría pastoral.

“Una de las cosas que realmente me deslumbró fue ver cuántos episcopales acudieron a nuestro campus, sin que se los hubiésemos pedido, simplemente para estar con nosotros. Tuvimos clérigos que no sólo acudían de las iglesias locales, sino de lugares tan lejos como Tampa, Tallahassee y Palm Beach.

“La oración fue una parte muy importante de nuestra recuperación”, añadió ella. “Oramos y seguimos orando semanalmente por Dale Regan, por su familia y por Shane Schumerth [el agresor] y su familia”.

“Aunque seguimos lamentándonos y recuperándonos de la tragedia del año pasado, comenzamos este curso escolar con una nota de esperanza, prometiendo vivir cada día a la altura del legado de Dale Regan”, dijo Jernagan. “Recurrimos a nuestros oficios semanales de la capilla como la mejor manera de enfrentar las muchas interrogantes y emociones pendientes”.

Los profesores de la escuela quedaron “mucho más traumatizados por la tragedia”, dijo Moorehead. “Los estudiantes se recuperaron más rápidamente, especialmente los niños más pequeños. Los profesores, por otra parte, se sumergieron en un profundo proceso de duelo que en verdad todavía dura y que durará por unos cuantos años más”.

Regan había trabajado en la escuela durante 34 años, agregó. “Yo la conocí bien, y fue difícil para mí. Le echo de menos. Ella era mi amiga”.

Del mismo modo, el Rdo. D. Scott Russell, capellán episcopal de la Universidad Tecnológica de Virginia, se encontró pastoreando a personas que respondieron de manera diferente y reaccionaron con distintos grados de pesar luego de que un pistolero matara a 32 estudiante e hiriera a otras 17 personas en esa universidad secular el 16 de abril de 2007.

“El estudiantado se ha renovado casi dos veces desde entonces. Tenemos estudiantes que recuerdan [la masacre] de cuando estaban en la escuela intermedia”, dijo Russell, ministro del campus y rector asociado de la iglesia episcopal de Cristo [Christ Episcopal Church] en Blacksburg, Virginia. “En cuanto a ellos, saben lo que sucedió y tenemos  un oficio de recordación todos los años en el aniversario, pero se está convirtiendo en parte de la historia del plantel, más que un recordatorio de algo reciente. Para algunos de nosotros, en cambio, es como ayer”.

En los días y semanas que siguieron a la masacre, él tuvo que “dejar que la gente se manifestara espontáneamente en diferentes lugares” explicó. “Eso fue en gran medida un acto de malabarismo con mis estudiantes. Algunos de ellos estuvieron dispuestos a seguir adelante casi inmediatamente. Otro estudiantes apenas si iniciaban el duelo”.

Aunque han pasado casi seis años desde la masacre de Virginia Tech., la tragedia de Connecticut detonó rápidamente los recuerdos emocionales de “puro shock y horror y la sorpresa de cómo seguimos adelante”, afirmó Russell.

“Para algunos de nosotros que perdimos personas que conocíamos, [la tragedia] sigue estando muy fresca”.

Las noticias de Connecticut también suscitaron compasión y conmiseración hacia la comunidad de Newtown mientas trataba de enfrentar la situación y asumir su duelo siendo el foco de atención de la prensa, comentó él. Cuando los medios de prensa acudieron en masa a Virginia Tech. después de la masacre del 16 de abril de 2007, “un estudiante me dijo que se sentía como si estuviera en un funeral de la familia, pero con la prensa en la sala de casa”.

En Blacksburg, conversan acerca de la vida antes y después del 16 de abril. “Realmente fue un momento definitorio en nuestra comunidad que nos cambió para siempre”, dijo Russell. “Nunca volveremos a lo que era antes. Somos personas diferentes”.

Asimismo, la comunidad de Sandy Hook ha entrado en lo que los virginianos llaman “la nueva normalidad”.

Ajustándose a su propia “nueva normalidad”, la escuela de Jacksonville está construyendo una plaza de recordación para proteger y preservar las raíces de un “Gran Roble” centenario del campus que era el preferido de la directora asesinada.

Luego de mucha oración y meditación, la escuela convirtió la oficina donde mataron a Regan en un laboratorio de química, dijo Moorehead. “Decidieron que era importante recuperar el espacio, pero para algo diferente”.

“Pienso que la comunidad no sólo está creciendo y prosperando, sino que nos estamos convirtiendo en algo diferente debido a lo que nos pasó, lo cual es muy semejante a la Resurrección”, puntualizó. “Cuando Cristo volvió [después de la Resurrección], estaba cambiado”.

– Sharon Sheridan es corresponsal de ENS. Traducción de Vicente Echerri.

[Episcopal Public Policy Network] The season of Lent challenges Christians to repentance — a radical reordering of life — in order that we may more fully encounter God through worship and prayer; proclamation of the good news; and pursuit of justice, peace, and love toward our neighbors. Part of this process of repentance involves acknowledging our own habitual blindness to human suffering and need. On Ash Wednesday, we prayed:

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done:
for our blindness to human need and suffering,
and our indifference to injustice and cruelty.

Violence against women and girls is among our world’s most pervasive, and harmful forms of cruelty and human suffering. As Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and her fellow Primates of the Anglican Communion acknowledged in a 2011 letter, violence against women is a global phenomenon with devastating effects on individuals, families, and society. It occurs in all geographic regions, countries, cultures, and economic classes.

Gender-based violence takes many forms, including domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, female genital mutilation, forced child marriages, assault on the basis of sexual orientation, dowry crimes and honor killings, infanticide, and gender discrimination.

An estimated one in five women experiences rape or attempted rape and up to 70 percent of all women are believed to experience gender-based violence from men in their lifetime. Women in developing countries experience particularly high rates of violence, where cycles of poverty, hunger, and insecurity make them more vulnerable to violence and assault.

In Haiti, for example, more than 90 percent of women have suffered from some form of violence. In fact, gender-based violence is perhaps the most widespread and dangerous problem among Haiti’s makeshift “tent cities”, where hundreds of thousands of impoverished and internally displaced Haitians remain three years after the earthquake. Extreme poverty and lack of security allow violence against women to run rampant in these “tent cities.”

The cultural attitudes and stereotypes that perpetuate the cycles of gender-based violence shatter individuals, families, and society, impede the ability of women and girls to participate fully in and contribute to their communities, and ultimately separate us all from our relationship with God.

Last week, the U.S. Senate took an important stand against these pernicious, culturally-imbedded cycles of gender-based violence in this country by reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (which expired last year). The reauthorization included important provisions to extend services to those in the United States who are most vulnerable to gender-based violence and exploitation, including victims of human trafficking and persons of minority sexual orientations, immigrant families, and native communities ( where as many as three in five women experience assault in their lifetimes).

We invite you to urge your Representative to follow the Senate’s lead by swiftly reauthorizing the domestic Violence Against Women Act.

Lent is a fitting time for us to follow the Presiding Bishop’s lead by examining our underlying cultural attitudes toward violence-including violence against women-and confronting and working to dismantle the root causes of gender-based violence that claim so many lives and hold many more women, men, and children captive in their own homes or communities.

This Lent, let us resolve:

to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke (Isaiah 58:6)

[Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta] Bishop Rob Wright opened a session of the Georgia House of Representatives by speaking out on issues important to Episcopalians and other people of faith.

After meeting with House Speaker David Ralston and being introduced by Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, an Episcopalian from Decatur, Bishop Wright told lawmakers that he brought greetings from 56,000 Episcopalians in middle and north Georgia “men, women, children, teenagers and feisty seniors in 109 worshiping communities  ‒ Georgians from every walk of life, every political persuasion, every income level: your constituents.”

Wright said Episcopalians pray weekly at worship services for legislators “because you hold the public trust and enlarge the common good. We pray that you … will walk with the powerful but remember to keep the common touch, … and hold on to your souls and your most generous selves in the face of the insidious temptation to care narrowly for your own constituency.”

The real task of legislators, Wright said, is not “to mummify the Constitution with our fear but to revive its best hopes with our courage and compassion.”

He called upon Georgia representatives to provide “greater safety for her citizens ‒ greater safety for her children” by enacting universal background checks for gun purchases.

“It is hollow to respond to parents who have lost children to gun violence that their dead child is somehow just the price of keeping the Second Amendment intact.  And it is unseemly to bury our law enforcement men and women knowing we didn’t given them every advantage over the criminals they face.

“On what reasonable grounds can we argue against background checks before the purchase of a weapon?  To issue a weapon to someone without a modicum of scrutiny is not an exercise in liberty, it is an exercise in folly.  I urge this body: Lead the South again from this gold dome, provide for the law-abiding gun owner and sportsman while at the same time making Georgia more safe.”

He also called upon lawmakers to pass legislation providing for “the ignorant, the indigent and the immigrants of our state.”

“Step over your fears and do what is right on behalf of the elderly, the poor, the orphan, the veteran, the prisoner and those who love differently,” he said. “The time is always right to do right. This is what Jesus of Nazareth invites us to do.” Read full text of his remarks HERE.

Wright ended his time at the State Capitol by offering the following prayer, then leading representatives in the Pledge of Allegiance.

“Wonderful God, whom we know by many names, who is the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of all men and women: We know you to be good and faithful, gracious and full of mercy.
Look down on the state of Georgia and bless her richly.  Where she is corrupt, purify her.  Where she is in error, direct her; where she is right, strengthen her.  Where she is in want, provide for her; where she is divided, reunite her.  We ask all these things in the Name of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.”

Afterwards Wright and his wife, Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright, were greeted by scores of legislators, who thanked him for his message and words of encouragement.

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Women and men from the Episcopal Church and throughout the Anglican Communion will gather for the 57th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) in New York City March 4 to March 15.

The 2013 theme of UNCSW is the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls.

Twenty delegates from The Episcopal Church will participate, including a group of women and girls from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia; indigenous women led by Sarah Eagle Heart, Missioner for Indigenous Ministries; and a delegation with the Office of Global Relations.

Twenty provincial delegates will represent the Anglican Communion from 17 countries, including United States, Canada, Peru, Brazil, Scotland, United Kingdom, Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central Africa, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.  The Episcopal Church will be represented by Spencer Cantrell, a former Young Adult Service Corps missionary who served in Hong Kong and is now a law student in Virginia.

Of note for the event:

• The Episcopal Church will host an opening Eucharist on Monday, March 4 in the Chapel of Christ the Lord, as well a closing Eucharist on March 15.  Both services will incorporate the stories, songs and experiences of the delegates.

• Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori will host Human Trafficking: A Churchwide Conversation on March 6, designed to educate, raise awareness, collect information and resources from across The Episcopal Church.

• The Episcopal Church Center, located one block from the United Nations, will provide hospitality space for delegates, continuous viewing of UNCSW via webcast, and will host advocacy debriefs by both the Anglican Communion and Ecumenical Women, an international coalition of UN faith-based ecumenical organizations.

• St. George’s Church in Fredericksburg, VA (Diocese of Virginia) will host a delegation of 11 girls (ages 16-18) and mothers. UNCSW will be the culmination of a five-month exploration of issues girls face: education, rape as a weapon of power and in conflict situations, forced early marriage, human trafficking, and microfinance.

• Indigenous Ministries will host a Talking Circle: “Ongoing effects of the Doctrine of Discovery through the lens of violence against indigenous women.” Delegates will participate in advocacy and blog about their experiences.

• Anglican Women’s Empowerment (AWE) will hold its first ever Women’s Indaba with 14 participants for three days at the Church Center.

• A joint statement, written with the input from The Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion and the Anglican Church of Canada, will be presented at UNCSW by Ecumenical Women. The statement’s priorities will be the foundation for advocacy, with delegates adding their own unique stories, reflections and voices.

• Delegates will share their UNCSW experiences via a variety of communications tools, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and posted pictures.

For more info contact Lynnaia Main at lmain@episcopalchurch.org.

For complete details and schedule

Un Women
UNCSW 57
Ecumenical Women
Anglican Communion Office at the United Nations
Anglican Women’s Empowerment
Indigenous Ministries
Global Partnerships
St. George’s Episcopal Church, Fredericksburg, VA
Anglican Church of Canada/ IAWN in Canada

[Episcopal Diocese of Maryland] Following several months of prayerful discernment, the majority of members of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Catonsville, Maryland, have decided to enter the Catholic Church as part of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

Members voted on Feb. 10 whether to leave the Episcopal Church and whether to enter the Ordinariate. Eighty of 100 parishioners were present; 55 were voting members. Of the voting members, six people abstained; 83 percent elected to leave the Episcopal Church and 76 percent to enter the Ordinariate. The vote was held in the presence of the Rev. Scott Slater, canon to the ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, and Rev. Scott Hurd, vicar general for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

Slater stated, “This has been a thoughtful, prayerful and respectful process. While the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is saddened when any of its members leaves one of its parishes, we rejoice that several members of St. Timothy’s have found a new spiritual home and we wish God’s blessing on them.”

“This has been a long process of discernment, guided by the Holy Spirit,” said the Rev. Terry Sweeney, rector. He added, “I am grateful for the gift of faith nurtured within the Episcopal Church and for the opportunity for those members who have been called to continue their journey of faith within the Catholic Church to be able to do so without losing the beauty of Anglican traditions.”

Sweeney will retire as an Episcopal priest on April 1, 2013.

The parish property, 200 Ingleside Ave., Catonsville, MD 21228, is held in trust for the Episcopal diocese. The new Catholic community will identify its new home immediately after Easter. In the meantime, two worship services will be held on Sundays: 9 a.m. for those who wish to remain in the Episcopal Church and 10:30 a.m. for those entering the Ordinariate.

“We welcome the members of St. Timothy who are making this faith journey, and thank the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland for being open to the to working with the community during this transition,” said Hurd.

The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is a Christian community of 22,000 households in 111 congregations covering 10 counties and Baltimore City.

The Episcopal Church is a community of 2.4 million members in 100 nationwide dioceses, 10 overseas dioceses and six extra-provincial territories. The Anglican Communion is a global community of 77 million Anglicans in 38 member churches/provinces, including The Episcopal Church.

Two other churches in the Baltimore area, Christ the King Anglican in Towson, and Mount Calvary Episcopal in Baltimore, became Catholic through the Ordinariate in 2012. The Ordinariate includes 36 communities, 30 priests and more than 1,600 people in the United States and Canada. It was established on January 1, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2009, the Pope issued an apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, permitting the creation of ordinariates, which are similar to dioceses, for former Anglicans who were seeking to enter the Catholic Church in a “corporate manner”; that is, in groups. While fully Catholic, these communities retain many aspects of their Anglican traditions and heritage. Ordinariates also exist in the United Kingdom and Australia.

The Catholic Church includes 77 million people in the United States and 1.2 billion people worldwide.

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] The Episcopal Church Office of Black Ministries has issued a free Lenten Study Resource designed to invite all ages to participate in the reflective nature of Lent.

The Lenten Study Resource, “Fill Me, Use Me…for the Work of Ministry” is available here.

“The Lenten Study Resource has been designed upon the foundation of faith formation to serve as a companion to you on your Lenten journey as you take on the disciplines of holy listening and reflection in preparation for the Lord’s passion and resurrection,” explained the Rev. Angela Ifill, Missioner for the  Office of Black Ministries.

Rooted in the Baptismal Covenant, each section is presented in key highlights: Opening Ritual, Scripture Reading, Reflection, Exploring the Landscape, Discussion Questions, Closing Ritual, and Assignment.

Also included in the Lenten Study Resource are the Baptismal Covenant from the Book of Common Prayer, the Five Marks of Mission, and the Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation

For more information contact Ifill at aifill@episcopalchurch.org.

 

 

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] At the invitation of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop and Primate Katharine Jefferts Schori will attend the enthronement celebration on March 21 at Canterbury Cathedral.

“I look forward to joining with other primates of the Anglican Communion for the investiture of the next Archbishop of Canterbury,” Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori said. “It is a particular delight to welcome Justin Welby in this role, as we have come to know him over the last several years, both in The Episcopal Church and among the primates.  He enters this role at a time of opportunity and challenge, when many people hope for continued growth and maturation within the Communion.”

During the trip, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori will attend the Anglican Communion Primates Standing Committee, of which she is an elected member.

Archbishop Welby is the former bishop of Durham.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is considered one of the four instruments of Communion of the Anglican Communion; the others are the Lambeth Conferences, the Primates Meetings and the Anglican Consultative Council.

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] The Episcopal Church task force for church structural reform has issued a statement following the group’s inaugural meeting Feb. 14-16.

The following is the statement in English and French below. The Spanish version is here.

At the 77th General Convention, the Holy Spirit called The Episcopal Church to reimagine itself and how it can more deeply live into its identity in our rapidly changing world. The church responded to this call by unanimously adopting Resolution C095 in both houses, which created and commissioned this task force. On February 14, the appointed task force enthusiastically convened to begin our work. In our three days of discussion, prayer, and worship together, we have been energized by the diversity of talents, cultures, and life experiences present at the table, and we have been inspired by our shared love for the church and our passion for the creative work before us.

We organized ourselves for business, agreeing on a leadership team consisting of two conveners, Dr. Catherine George and the Rev. Canon Craig Loya, and four initial working group leaders, Julia Ayala Harris, Margaret Shannon, the Rev. Leng Lim, and the Rev. Joseph Chambers. A secretary and two chaplains will be appointed prior to our next gathering. At this first meeting, we were also joined by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Jennings, and Executive Officer of General Convention the Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe, who offered us their valuable insights and made us aware of resources that will assist us in our work.

We have started the process of developing an engagement strategy that will enable us to live into our commitment to transparency while preserving the sanctity of holy conversation. We further aim not only to provide a window into our work, but to provoke a parallel process of dialogue around questions of identity, structure, and culture at all levels of the church. To facilitate that discernment, we plan to offer a range of opportunities to obtain input and feedback from all corners of the church, and we urge all members to reflect prayerfully alongside us and to offer their insights and wisdom. These opportunities will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Drawing on language from Resolution C095, we have chosen to call ourselves the Task Force for Re-imagining the Episcopal Church: structures, governance, and administration (TREC). We hope that this conveys a sense of our work’s scope, as well as our desire to take a journey with the whole church as we discover how we are being called to be the body of Christ in the world.

May the Holy Spirit continue to bless and guide the church through this time of change and new life.

Lors la 77e Convention générale, le Saint-Esprit a appelé à l’Eglise Episcopale de se ré-imaginer et [penser] comment elle peut vivre plus profondément dans son identité dans notre monde de changements rapides. L’église a répondu à cet appel par l’adoption unanime de la Résolution C095 dans chaque chambre, qui a créé et commandé ce groupe de travail. Au 14 février, le groupe de travail nommé s’est réuni avec enthousiasme afin de commencer notre travail. Pendant nos trois journées de discussion, de prière, et de culte ensemble, nous avons été stimulés par la diversité de dons, de cultures, et d’experiences de vie présente à la table et nous avons été inspirés par notre amour partagé pour l’église et notre passion pour le travail créatif qui nous fait face.

Nous nous sommes organisés pour le travail, nous nous sommes mis d’accord sur une structure de direction composée de deux organisateurs (Dr Katherine George et le Révérend Canon Craig Loya), quatre chefs de groupe de travail (Mme Julia Ayala Hariss, Mme Margaret Shannon, le Révérend Long Lim, et le Révérend Joseph Chambers). L’équipe de direction nommera un secrétaire et deux aumôniers avant notre prochaine rencontre. A cette première réunion, l’Evêque Présidente Katharine Jefferts Schori et la Présidente de la Chambre des Député(e)s Gay Jennings et le Directeur de la Convention générale Michael Barlowe nous ont joints et ils nous ont offert leurs aperçus précieux et ils nous ont rendus conscientes des ressources qui nous aideront dans notre tâche.

Nous avons commencé le processus de dévelopement d’une stratégie d’engagement qui nous permettra à vivre dans notre promesse à la transparence tout en gardant la sanctité de la conversation sainte. En outre, nous voulons non seulement donner un aperçu de notre travail, mais aussi provoquer un processus parallèle de dialogue autour des questions d’identité, de structure et de culture à tous les niveaux de l’église. Afin de faciliter ce discernement, nous projetons d’offrir toute une gamme d’opportunités afin de recevoir des commentaires et des réactions de tous les coins de l’église et nous exhortons à tous et toutes les membres de réfléchir en prière à côté de nous et d’offrir leurs aperçus et leur sagesse. Ces opportunités se dévoileront dans les prochaines semaines.

En nous appuyant sur la langue de la Résolution C095, nous avons choisi de nous appeler le Groupe de travail de ré-imaginer l’Eglise Episcopale: les structures, le gouvernement et l’administration (TREC, Task force for Re-imagining the Episcopal Church, en anglais). Nous espérons que ceci transmet le sens de la portée de notre travail aussi bien que notre désir d’entreprendre un voyage avec toute l’église tandis que nous découvrons comment nous sommes appelé(e)s à être le corps du Christ dans le monde.

Que le Saint-Esprit continue à bénir et guider l’église à travers de ce moment de changement et de nouvelle vie.

En la 77 Convención General, el Espíritu Santo llamó a La Iglesia Episcopal a re-imaginarse y a vivir más profundamente en su identidad en un mundo que cambia rápidamente.  La Iglesia respondió a este llamado adoptando unánimemente la resolución C095 en ambas cámaras, las cuales crearon y comisionaron este grupo de trabajo.  El 14 de febrero, el designado grupo de trabajo se reunió con entusiasmo para comenzar su trabajo.  En nuestros tres días de diálogo, oración y adoración juntos, hemos sido revitalizados por la diversidad de talentos, culturas y experiencias de vida presente entre nosotros.  Hemos sido inspirados por nuestro amor en común por la iglesia y nuestra pasión por el trabajo creativo que nos ocupa.

Nos organizamos para los negocios, acordando tener un equipo de liderazgo que consiste en dos coordinadores, la Dra. Katherine George y el Rev. Canónigo Craig Loya,  y  cuatro líderes de grupos iniciales de trabajo, Sra. Julia Ayala Harris, Sra. Margaret Shannon, Rev. Leng Lim, y el  Rev. Joseph Chambers. El equipo de liderazgo nombrará a un secretario y dos capellanes antes de nuestra próxima reunión.n esta primera reunión, asistieron la Obispo Primada Katharine Jefferts Schori, la Presidenta de la Cámara de Diputados Gay Jennings y el Oficial Ejecutivo de la Convención General Michael Barlowe, quienes nos ofrecieron sus valiosos conocimientos y nos informaron sobre recursos disponibles que nos asistirán en nuestro trabajo.

Hemos iniciado el proceso de elaborar una estrategia de participación que nos permita vivir en nuestro compromiso por la transparencia, al tiempo que preservemos la santidad de la conversación sagrada.   Tenemos como objetivo no solamente mostrar nuestro trabajo, sino también provocar un proceso paralelo de dialogo sobre identidad, estructura y cultura a todos los niveles de la iglesia.   Para facilitar ese discernimiento, planeamos ofrecer una gama de oportunidades para obtener sugerencias y retroalimentación de todos los rincones de la iglesia.  Instamos a todos los miembros a reflexionar en oración junto a nosotros y a ofrecer sus conocimientos y sabiduría.  Estas oportunidades se darán a conocer en las próximas semanas.

Basándonos en el lenguaje de la Resolución C095, hemos escogido llamarnos Grupo de Trabajo para la Re-Imaginación de la Iglesia Episcopal: Estructuras, gobierno y administración (las siglas en ingles TREC).  Esperamos que esto trasmita el sentido del alcance del marco de nuestro trabajo, así como también nuestro deseo de emprender un peregrinar con toda la iglesia en la medida que descubramos como estamos siendo llamados a ser el Cuerpo de Cristo en el mundo.

Que el Espíritu Santo continúe bendiciendo y guiando a la Iglesia a través de este tiempo de cambio y nueva vida.

 

The Episcopal Day School of Jacksonville in Florida is building a memorial plaza in honor of slain Principal Dale Regan. The plaza will protect the root structure of a 100-year-old oak on the school property that was a favorite of the educator, who worked at the school for 34 years. Photo/ Episcopal School of Jacksonville

[Episcopal News Service] In the two months following the shooting death of 26 people, including 20 children, at a Connecticut elementary school, Episcopal schools have been examining and revising their security measures to keep students safe.

“In general, the reaction has been … a review of safety procedures,” said Ann Mellow, National Association of Episcopal Schools associate director. “In some cases, depending upon the school, they haven’t changed anything because they feel very confident that they are doing the best they can to reasonably react to situations, knowing you can’t be prepared for everything all the time.

“Other schools may have still had a relatively open campus and have added things. And I think certainly everybody’s got lockdown procedures,” Mellow said. “If they hadn’t already, they’ve added that to their many different kinds of drills that people do these days.”

At some schools previously touched by violence, security measures already were under discussion before the fatal shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

In Florida, a Spanish teacher fired earlier in the day killed Episcopal School of Jacksonville head Dale Regan and then himself on campus on March 6, 2012.

Following that shooting, said the Rev. Kate Moorehead, “the school has done a series of pretty serious security audits.”

The school is always upgrading and looking at its security measures, but that was true even before the tragedy, said Moorehead, dean of St. John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville, which started the school, and vice chair of the school board of trustees. “We do have guards around the school as we’ve always had.” The shooter sneaked in, not entering through the gate, she noted. “Some things are just hard to prevent.”

At St. John’s Parish Day School in Ellicott City, Maryland, the Newtown shootings prompted another round of review of security that already had been reassessed following a tragedy in that community seven months earlier.

The school and the church with which it shares a campus, St. John’s Episcopal Church, provided support after a shooter shot and killed administrative assistant Brenda Brewington and critically wounded the co-rector at nearby St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and then killed himself near the church on May 3, 2012. The Rev. Mary-Marguerite Kohn died two days later.

“That was just a devastating thing for the entire community. The staff of the church [at St. John’s] certainly felt vulnerable at that point,” said Steve Harrison, head of the day school. “It made us very mindful of security issues here on campus.”

While the church installed security cameras in some buildings response, the school administrative staff “did not feel the same trepidation, nor did they really feel that they wanted to have a camera installed at the entrance” to its building, Harrison said. “So we didn’t.”

After the Newtown tragedy, however, “everything changed.”

Several years ago, the school had looked into security cameras and decided “it was too much of an intrusion,” he said. “Parents kind of felt it was too much of a Big Brother approach, and they just didn’t want it. Since Sandy Hook, we’ve had numerous discussions all over the campus community to try and determine what people are feeling, how they’re perceiving our needs now. Much of that has just taken a complete 180.”

In the lower school, where doors open into classrooms, they are acquiring “jam bars” to secure the doors during a lockdown and are looking at coverings to use on the doors’ windows during those times. Doors to the early-childhood and lower-school wings with magnetic releases will remain locked, with manual releases on them, for lockdowns. And a new communications system is being installed, allowing for in-room announcements in a building that has had classroom phones but no interior public-address system.

“All of this will be in place by start of school in September, most of it before the end of this academic year,” Harrison said.

“The one piece that we did not and have not fully address yet is the outside entrance aspects of our building,” where the school has maintained an open campus with an unlocked door into the front lobby, he said. A security task force is evaluating the issue.

Harrison anticipates installation of a buzzer system with a receptionist controlling entry from the lobby, which probably will mean installing video and audio monitoring at the entrance and likely also at a secondary entrance used by the school’s summer camp. Next year’s budget includes about $35,000 for a receptionist, he said.

While he’d rather put that money toward hiring a learning support specialist, he said, “the necessity and the reality of life today is that this is an expectation the parents have … It’s not only on the minds of our current parents, but our perspective parents as well.”

Prospective parents at open houses have asked about security arrangements at the school, Harrison said. “It’s sad, really, that we’ve had to go to this extent, and yet at the same time I think it’s a commentary on our time. … If I didn’t do it, I think we would lose certainly perspective students.”

He noted, “Even though we’re an Episcopal school and have a sense of, I think, nurture and care that goes somewhat beyond what you might often find in some schools, there’s still no lack of trepidation amongst our parents about what will be going on here or potentially going on here, because it’s their kids, their pride and joy. They want to make sure that they’re safe regardless of how nurturing and caring the environment is. Safety trumps that.”

Balancing concerns

While Episcopal schools reviewed their security after the Newtown shootings, they also responded pastorally.

“There’s been a very, very strong pastoral response and the notion of really drawing upon the strength of our community and our core principles as Episcopal schools, to not simply have it all be about fear,” Mellow said. “It’s a blended response.”

Much of the schools’ focus “has been on pastoral care of families and children and faculty and sort of prayerful reflection,” she said. “What’s wonderful about Episcopal schools is that, because chapel and worship is a regular part of school life and schools have chaplains, schools have built-in ways for communities to come together and process, reflect, offer support and honestly be very prayerful about it.”

On its website, NAES provided prayers, liturgies and links to resources for helping families deal with the Newtown tragedy. On Feb. 7-9 in Tampa, Florida, a conference NAES annually cosponsors with the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education, whose mission is “to provide leading resources, expert voices and an active forum for ethical growth and spiritual development in schools,” focused on “Helping School Communities in Times of Tragedy.”

The conference was planned a year ago, and it addressed both uncommon tragedies such as the Connecticut shootings as well as more common crises affecting school communities, such as the death of a student.

“I actually think it’s much more common that … in the course of a school’s history, it’s going to go through the child who dies of cancer, the suicide of someone that everybody knows,” Mellow said.

The keynote speakers included the Rev. Canon Malcolm Manson, head of Oregon Episcopal School in the 1980s when seven students and two faculty members died during an outing on Mount Hood, and the Rev. Hope “Hopie” Jernagan, chaplain at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville.

“When we heard news of the Sandy Hook shooting, our hearts broke for them,” Jernagan said via e-mail after the conference. “We gathered for prayer on our plaza, praying for each of the victims and the shooter by name.”

Also, said Moorehead, “the students made a huge card for the people of Newtown and for the school and wanted to communicate their compassion and be available to the people of Newtown if they needed us.

“Certainly what they went through was in many ways much more difficult because children were killed,” she added.

After the shooting last spring, the school immediately came together for prayer and community, Jernagan said. “In the days following the shooting, we cancelled all classes and activities but kept the campus open, knowing that students, parents, faculty and staff would want to be together. We also sought help from local clergy and counselors, who made themselves available on campus for pastoral care and counseling.

“One of the things that really blew me away is just how many Episcopal clergy flocked to our campus, without even being asked, simply to be with us. We had clergy come not only from local churches but from as far away as Tampa, Tallahassee and Palm Beach.

“Prayer was a very important part of our healing,” she said. “We prayed and continue to pray weekly for Dale Regan, her family and for [shooter] Shane Schumerth and his family.”

“Although campus continues to grieve and heal from last year’s tragedy, we started this school year on a hopeful note, vowing to live out Dale Regan’s legacy each day,” Jernagan said. “We look to our weekly chapel services as our main way to wrestle with the many lingering questions and emotions.”

The school faculty was “much more traumatized by the tragedy,” Moorehead said. “The students rebounded much more quickly, especially the younger children. The faculty, on the other hand, has been engaged in a deep grieving process that is really still going on and will be for a few more years.”

Regan had worked at the school for 34 years, she said. “I did know her well, and it was hard for me. I miss her. She was a friend.”

Similarly, the Rev. D. Scott Russell, Episcopal chaplain to Virginia Tech University, found himself pastoring people who responded differently and grieved at different rates after a gunman shot and killed 32 students and wounded 17 more people at the secular university on April 16, 2007.

“The student body has turned over almost twice now. We’re getting students who remember [the shootings] from when they were in middle school,” said Russell, campus minister and associate rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg, Virginia. “For them, they know about it and we have a memorial service every year on the anniversary, but it’s really becoming part of the school history rather than a fresh reminder. But for some of us, it seems like yesterday.”

In the days and weeks following the shootings, he had to “let people be in different places,” he said. “That was quite a juggling act with my students. Some of them were ready to move on almost immediately. … Other students were just beginning to grieve.”

Although it’s been almost six years since the Virginia Tech shootings, the Connecticut tragedy rapidly triggered emotional memories of “sheer shock and horror and wondering how we move forward,” Russell said.

“For some of us who lost people we knew, it’s still pretty fresh,” he said.

The Connecticut news also stirred compassion and commiseration with the Newtown community as it tried to cope and grieve in the media spotlight, he said. When the media descended on Virginia Tech after the April 16, 2007, shootings, “One student said to me it felt like we were having a family funeral, but the press was in our living room.”

In Blacksburg, they talk about life before and after April 16. “It really was a defining moment in our community that changed us forever,” Russell said. “We’ll never go back to what it was like before. We’re different people.”

Likewise, the Sandy Hook community has entered what the Virginians call “the new normal.”

Adjusting to its own “new normal,” the Jacksonville school is building a memorial plaza to protect and preserve the roots system of the 100-year-old campus “Great Oak” that was a favorite of the slain school head.

After much prayer and contemplation, the school turned the office where Regan was killed into a chemistry lab, Moorehead said. “They decided it was important to reclaim the space, but for something different.”

“I think the community is not only growing and thriving, but we’re becoming something different because of what’s happened to us, which is much like the Resurrection,” she said. “When Christ came back, he was changed.”

– Sharon Sheridan is an ENS correspondent.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori preached at St. George’s Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Feb. 16 during a service commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. ENS Photo/Emily Cherry

[Diocese of Virginia] More than 500 people gathered at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on Feb. 16 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special service of remembrance, celebration and witness.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori reminded those present that “emancipation is another word for the ongoing resurrection we known in Jesus Christ, who continues to set us free.” But, she added, “to discover the depth and reality of that freedom, we must re-encounter it, every day of our lives.”

The entire congregation joined in a litany of offense and apology, in which the Rt. Rev. Shannon S. Johnston, bishop of Virginia, offered apologies for the church’s complicity in the slave trade – and a promise to strive to create a community of justice. “The Diocese of Virginia gathers to apologize for its complicity in the institution of slavery and to repent of the injuries done in its aftermath,” said Johnston in the litany. He added, “With God’s grace we will amend our lives, committing ourselves to opposing the sin of racism in personal and public life.”

Hosted by St. George’s and planned by the diocesan Committee on Race and Reconciliation, the service was designed to mark a true journey from repentance to hope. Three priests of the Diocese of Virginia offered their personal reflections on the subject. “Racism will not go away … until we name it,” said the Rev. Kim Coleman, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia. “Emancipation is … God’s ongoing work of transfiguration through us.”

The presiding bishop spoke of that same transfiguring power in her sermon. “God’s spirit continues to set the people free,” said Jefferts Schori. “Today’s act of repentance is another freshening breeze.” She added, “That breath of God, the spirit of God, will blow away the cloud, that gale of freedom will propel us forward toward the reign of God, if and only if we are willing to let go of anchoring chains that bind us to our own self-centeredness.”

Following the litany of repentance came a litany in celebration of hope, led by Jefferts Schori. The service included joyful music from St. George’s choir and the choirs of Shiloh (New Site) Baptist Church in Fredericksburg.

The celebration concluded with a walk through historic downtown Fredericksburg, which passed the site of the former slave auction block and ended at the memorial dedication of a sculpture by artist Ayokunle Odeleye.” The sculpture, depicting a set of raised hands releasing a dove into the air, is appropriately called “Jubilation.”

– Emily Cherry is communications officer for the Diocese of Virginia. 

 

[Episcopal News Service] El 14 de febrero, la obispa primada Katharine Jefferts Schori y la Rda. Gay Clark Jennings, presidente de la Cámara de Diputados, compartieron con el Equipo de Trabajo sobre la Estructura de la Iglesia su propia impresión de la tarea que enfrenta el grupo de 26 miembros.

Sus comentarios se produjeron el primer día de la reunión inicial del equipo de trabajo que tiene lugar del 14 al 16 de febrero en el Instituto Marítimo de Linthicum Heights, Maryland.

“La tarea de ustedes es aportar toda su creatividad, capacidad de estrategia, pensamiento y oración a la tarea de sugerir cómo podríamos sostener y afianzar y hacerle frente a la vida y obra de esta Iglesia de una mejor manera, y hacerlo, como alguien dice, con ‘sencilla y santa intrepidez’”, dijo Jefferts Schori.

La obispa primada expresó que los miembros de la Iglesia están al presente concentrando su atención en cuatro áreas. La primera son los problemas en torno a la identidad, afirmó, tales como “quiénes somos, qué nos proponemos”. La segunda es la misión, la cual según ella es “una respuesta fundamental a la interrogante sobre la identidad”. La sostenibilidad en la misión es la tercera área e incluye la cuestión de cómo todas las partes de la Iglesia pueden desarrollarse para alcanzar el autosostén. El último foco de la atención es la organización y la estructuración para la misión.

Jefferts Schori indicó que se espera que el equipo le informe a la Iglesia a fines de 2014, “con la esperanza de que nuestra próxima Convención General aceptará sus propuestas”.

“No obstante, el cambio y la reforma no estarán esperando hasta entonces”, afirmó, añadiendo que el equipo encargado de la configuración de la próxima Convención General “ya ha comenzado a ver cómo podría funcionar de manera más efectiva”.

Además de las cuatro áreas de atención bosquejadas por la obispa primada, ella también planteó interrogantes, entre muchas otras, acerca de cómo la estructura de la Iglesia debía responder  a una  “visión flexible y variada de las congregaciones y comunidades de fe” y cómo tales comunidades podrían evolucionar a partir de los diversos empeños de la misión.

“Vamos a necesitar repensar, reestructurar y reformar a fin de asegurar que todos estos  desarrollen lo que sea sostenible —como congregaciones y diócesis, y para que el clero y el liderazgo laico pueda ser sostenible”, dijo.

Jefferts Schori también alentó al grupo a considerar el modo en que la Iglesia Episcopal puede formar y desarrollar sus relaciones de plena comunión con otras denominaciones y sus relaciones a través de la Comunión Anglicana.

El texto completo de los comentarios de la obispa primada debe aparecer próximamente aquí.

Jennings resaltó que la Convención General dijo en julio de 2012, cuando pidió la formación del equipo, que “cree que el Espíritu Santo insta a la Iglesia Episcopal a  reinventarse, de manera que, nos afirmemos en nuestra rica herencia y no obstante estemos abiertos a nuestro futuro creativo”.

Sin embargo, apuntó, “no tenemos ningún consenso en lo que queremos decir cuando afirmamos que pretendemos ‘reinventar a la Iglesia Episcopal’”, así como presentar en la próxima reunión de la Convención un plan para reformar las estructuras, el gobierno y la administración de la Iglesia.

“Les toca a ustedes definir el alcance de lo que se proponen reestructurar”, le dijo ella al equipo, añadiendo que podía afectar la estructura corporativa de la Iglesia; la estructura de diócesis y provincias, el Consejo Ejecutivo, los comités, comisiones, agencias y juntas de la Iglesia, la educación teológica y la Convención General misma.

Jennings afirmó que la tarea de los miembros del equipo de trabajo es la de ser “guías” y “no agentes de nadie; ni subalternos de nadie” al tiempo que iniciaban su tarea, empezando a “ponerle fin a la Iglesia institucional tal como la hemos conocido”.

No existe aún un vocabulario común para describir resultados o enfoques. “Sobre todo, tenemos muchos supuestos sin cuestionar y no muchos datos”.

La presidente de la Cámara de Diputados agregó que lo que ella le oye decir a muchos clérigos y laicos es que “tienen notablemente poca necesidad o interés en las tradicionales estructuras verticales de gobierno más afines al mundo de Mad Men que al de Modern Family”

“Cualquier nueva estructura que valga la pena tendrá que aprovechar el compromiso de ustedes con el Evangelio, su pasión por la misión y su energía y creatividad”, recalcó.

“Aguardaré con gran interés mientras ustedes nos llevan a realidades cambiantes, gratas y cautivadoras, a redes emergentes, a jerarquías derribadas, a medios de comunicación que cambian con celeridad, a nuevas y asombrosas tecnologías y a nuevas ideas sobre lo que significa una comunidad”,  enfatizó. “Todos estamos orando por ustedes.”

El texto completo de las palabras de Jennings aparece aquí.

Las dos hicieron sus comentarios durante una sesión abierta que también ha de incluir una revisión de la encomienda del equipo.

El resto de las sesiones del 14 de febrero, los eventos de los próximos dos días así como las discusiones en pequeños grupos se mantendrán en privado. El oficio de clausura el 16 de febrero estará abierto al público.

El equipo de trabajo se propone publicar una declaración luego de que concluya la reunión, según una notificación a los medios de prensa que puede verse aquí.

El equipo de trabajo se creó mediante la Resolución C095, aprobada en la reunión de julio pasado de la Convención General.

La Resolución C095 requería un equipo de trabajo de 24 miembros encargado de presentar un plan a la próxima Convención General en 2015 “para reformar las estructuras, el gobierno y la administración de la Iglesia”. Según la resolución, “los miembros del equipo de trabajo reflejarán la diversidad de la Iglesia, e incluirán a algunas personas con distancia crítica del liderazgo institucional de la Iglesia”.

La resolución también requiere que el equipo de trabajo “responda directamente a la Convención General, independiente de otras estructuras de gobierno, para que mantenga un alto grado de autonomía”.

La Convención dijo que el equipo de trabajo “recogerá información e ideas de congregaciones, diócesis y provincias, y de otros individuos y organizaciones interesadas, incluidos aquellos de los que con frecuencia no se tienen noticias; empleará otros recursos para brindar información y orientación, e invitará a todos los interesados a unirse en oración mientras ellos se dedican a esta labor de discernimiento compartida”.

El equipo de trabajo llevará a cabo un encuentro especial con representantes de todas las diócesis para recibir respuestas a las recomendaciones que se propone presentar en la próxima reunión de la Convención, a celebrarse en Salt Lake City. La resolución requiere que la representación a ese encuentro incluya “al menos” un obispo, un diputado laico, un diputado clerical y una persona menor de 35 años de cada diócesis. Puede también incluir representantes de instituciones y comunidades tales como órdenes religiosas, seminarios y comunidades con un propósito común.

La fecha y lugar de este encuentro especial se determinará más adelante.

El equipo de trabajo debe dar a conocer su informe final a la Iglesia para noviembre de 2014, decía la resolución, junto con cualesquiera resoluciones necesarias para aplicar sus recomendaciones.

– La Rda. Mary Frances Schjonberg es redactora y reportera de Episcopal News Service. Traducción de Vicente Echerri.

[Episcopal News Service] En la mañana del Miércoles de Ceniza, la obispa primada Katharine Jefferts Schori se unió a personas de Nueva Jersey y Nueva York que representan agrupaciones religiosas, comunitarias y defensoras de los derechos de los inmigrantes, para iniciar todo un día de actividades en procura del arrepentimiento del pecado implícito en las detenciones de inmigración.

“Cuando se cuestiona el estatus de los inmigrantes, con frecuencia nuestro gobierno los mantiene esencialmente incomunicados o los traslada muy lejos de cualquier apoyo familiar o cercano con el que podrían contar localmente”, dijo la obispa primada durante la vigilia. “Los ciudadanos de estos Estados Unidos comparten alguna responsabilidad por esas medidas poco dignas e injustas, y nuestra oración hoy debe ser que los corazones y mentes se abran a la necesidad de justicia”.

También el Miércoles de Ceniza, representantes de la Iglesia Episcopal presentaron un testimonio escrito ante el Comité Judicial del Senado, presidido por el senador Patrick Keahy, de Vermont, para la audiencia sobre la reforma migratoria programada para ese día, 13 de febrero.

“Los principios fundamentales del debido proceso legal deben otorgarse a todas las personas y todas las ordenanzas de inmigración deben ser proporcionales y humanas, razón por la cual la Iglesia Episcopal ha pedido el cese inmediato de todos los programas destructivos tales como Comunidades Seguras … y la aplicación de alternativas comunitarias al costoso sistema de detención migratoria que remeda la cárcel”, dijeron el director de la Oficina de Relaciones Gubernamentales Alexander Baumgarten y Katie Conway, analista política de inmigración y refugiados, en su testimonio.

“Nuestro sistema de inmigración debe transformarse en un sistema justo y humano que discierna entre los que entran ilegalmente para hacernos daño y los que entran porque nuestro sistema no les ofrece una vía clara y oportuna para la reunificación familiar o el empleo legal”, añadieron.

Durante los últimos cuatro años, la vigilia matutina interreligiosa ha tenido lugar en Liberty State Park, en Jersey City, frente al puente que lleva a Ellis Island y a la vista de la estatua de La Libertad. Según un comunicado de prensa, la vigilia  incluyó esta vez a miembros de IRATE & First Friends, Pax Christi NJ, Viento del Espíritu [Wind of the Spirit], el [capítulo] de Newark del Programa de Derechos del Inmigrante del Comité de Servicios de Amigos Americanos [American Friends Service Committee Immigrant Rights Program-Newark] y los Defensores de los Inmigrantes Detenidos de NJ [NJ Advocates for Immigrant Detainees] así como detenidos recién liberados y amigos y familiares de inmigrantes que se encuentran actualmente detenidos.

Las actividades del día consistieron en una serie de vigilias tituladas “Se acabo el silencio. ¡Que despierte la justicia!” que buscaban el arrepentimiento del pecado de las detenciones de inmigración “y [denunciaban] el silencio de la comunidad que permite que las muertes de personas detenidas pasen inadvertidas y que hace aceptable lucrar con la separación de las familias y con la explotación de miles de inmigrantes detenidos en condiciones que los ponen en peligro de sufrir perjuicios psicológicos y físicos”, decía el comunicado.

Junto a Jefferts Schori se encontraban Thomas A. Donato, obispo auxiliar de la diócesis catolicorromana de Newark, así como clérigos judíos y musulmanes.

Las otras vigilias de Nueva Jersey tuvieron lugar en el parque municipal de Hackensack frente al Tribunal del Condado de Bergen; en el Registro Civil de Newark y, más tarde, en el Edificio Delaney en el complejo carcelario del Condado de Essex, frente al Centro Correccional del Condado de Hudson en South Kerney y en el Centro de Detención de Elizabeth.

El día debió culminar con la vigilia anual en el Centro de Detención de Elizabeth, una instalación con fines de lucro administrada por la Corporación de Correccionales de América (CCA) donde Inmigración federal y la agencia de las Autoridades de Aduana comenzaron a encarcelar a inmigrantes hace casi dos décadas, decía el comunicado. Éste fue el 17º. año que tiene lugar una vigilia en Elizabeth.

“Venimos a lamentar la injusticia de que son víctimas nuestros hermanos y hermanas que están siendo severamente castigados y a clamar a Dios”, dijo Gene Squeo, miembro de la junta directiva de Pax Christi NJ, en el comunicado de prensa, en el que explicaba porque era apropiado e importante reunirse el Miércoles de Ceniza. “Sabemos que Dios escucha el clamor de los pobres, pero sabemos también que los detenidos en Nueva Jersey siguen clamando y nuestros gobiernos de los condados lucran con su dolor y nuestra comunidad aún no los oye”.

Los gobiernos locales con frecuencia obtienen ingresos por albergar detenidos federales en sus instalaciones.

Lorna Henkel, presidenta de la junta de fideicomisarios de IRATE & First Friends dijo que “aunque los políticos en Washington parecen comprometidos con una amplia reforma migratoria, no vemos señales de que el gobierno federal reducirá su dependencia de un sistema inhumano y económicamente ruinoso, y no hay ningún incentivo para los gobiernos locales de Nueva Jersey de poner el bienestar de los inmigrantes detenidos y de sus familias por encima de los ingresos que [su detención] genera”.

Los organizadores dijeron que en el comunicado que la historia de [los centros] de detención de inmigración en Nueva Jersey incluía “muertes escandalosas, un clima de ocultación en el que no existen normas de custodia aplicables y ninguna auténtica supervisión”.

“Separan a las familias, abusan de las personas y en ocasiones hasta mueren mientras están detenidos”, dijo Diana Mejía, cofundadora de Wind of the Spirit. “Nos sentimos moralmente obligados a denunciar esto, y si no podemos abolir la masiva detención de inmigrantes debemos establecer un medio en que los miembros de la comunidad puedan supervisar las condiciones y en que se le ponga fin al silencio y a la ocultación”.

Otros de los copatrocinadores de las vigilias fueron Casa Esperanza, las Hermanas Felicianas de Norteamérica; la Oficina de Paz, Justicia e Integridad Ecológica de la Hermanas de la Caridad de Nueva Jersey; El Centro de Servicio Social de San José; la Coalición de Elizabeth para Albergar a los Desamparados, CEUS; la Coalición pro el DREAM Act de NJ; Anakbayan-USA; el Programa de Justicia Social de la Universidad de San Pedro [St. Peter’s University]; la Red del Nordeste de Solidaridad con Haití; las Hermanas de San José de Chestnut Hill y la Coalición pro Derecho de los Inmigrantes del Condado de Monmouth.

– Traducción de Vicente Echerri.

[Episcopal News Service] Shannon Knapp, de Lehighton, Pensilvania, practica danza zumba en su ‘camino a Jerusalén’ como parte de su ejercicio spiritual en la Cuaresma de 2013.

Al menos otras 83 personas en la Diócesis Episcopal de Bethlehem están remando, levantando pesas, haciendo ciclismo, caminando y hasta haciendo ejercicio con sillas en hogares de ancianos con la disposición de abandonar estilos de vida insanos mientras cuentan las calorías quemadas como [equivalentes a] kilómetros recorridos que tiene por finalidad “llegar a Jerusalén” a tiempo para la Semana Santa.

Muchos episcopales están brindando tentadoras oportunidades creativas a la tradicional costumbre cuaresmal de renunciar a malos hábitos o lujos y de adquirir disciplinas en el empleo de acercarse más a Dios.

Las invitaciones a renunciar cosas incluyen llamados a través de la Iglesia Episcopal y de la Comunión Anglicana a ‘ayunar’ en el uso del carbón y de las bolsas plásticas,  a reducir el consumo de alimentos y a abstenerse de palabras y estivos de vida insanos al tiempo de concentrarse en vivir de una manera más sencilla.

Además de la caminata comunitaria a Jerusalén en la Diócesis de Bethlehem, otras posibilidades añadidas incluyen: publicar una foto diaria de la presencia de Dios en lugares inesperados; la Locura de la Cuaresma; los desafíos bíblicos; e incluso una competencia entre bigotes y barbas de perilla.

Cuaresma: orar, ayunar, actuar solidariamente
En su mensaje de Cuaresma, la obispa primada Katharine Jefferts Schori pidió a los episcopales “orar, ayunar, actuar solidariamente con los menesterosos. Aprender más, dar limosnas, compartir lo que tienen. Ser consciente de lo que comen.

Los episcopales podrían, por ejemplo, contemplar el consumir $4 de alimentos al día, el equivalente del presupuesto de los Cupones de Alimentos [Food Stamps], como un “acto de solidaridad con los que padecen escasez todos los días y todas las semanas”, afirmó.

Del mismo modo, los episcopales de San Diego fueron invitados a  convertirse en “Hambrientos por Cuaresma”, privándose de una comida a la semana y donando el costo de esa comida a Servicios Episcopales de la Comunidad [Episcopal Community Services] para programas que ayudan a las personas sin hogar y a los enfermos mentales. De esa manera, se trataba, al mismo tiempo, de renunciar y de añadir, dijo Deann Ayer, coordinadora voluntaria de ECS.

“A las familias le resultaría divertido hacerlo, y a los niños también, y luego conversar acerca de lo que significa”, apuntó ella en una reciente entrevista telefónica desde su oficina.

Renunciar y añadir… palabras
La Sociedad de San Juan Evangelista  [Society of St. John the Evangelist] en West Newbury, Massachusetts, ha abierto un sitio de meditación para “renunciar a una palabra a la semana” sin la cual su vida sería mejor, Jamie Coats, director de Los Amigos de SSJE.

“Mi palabra de esta semana fue ‘yo’”, escribió Laura en la página web de la meditación durante la estación cuaresmal del año pasado. “Quería intentar poner el énfasis en la otra persona, en lugar de en mí misma. La renuncia no me salió tan bien; pero intentarlo resultó una lección en sí y de por sí. ¡No tenía idea de cuánto yo hablo sobre mí misma! ¡Estaba a mitad de frase y me quedaba congelada al acordarme de que la conversación giraba en torno a los demás! Entonces cambiaba de tema e intentaba sacarle conversación a ellos y sobre ellos. He decidido insistir en esta palabra durante dos semanas puesto que no lo llegué a hacer tan bien como habría querido”.

Al menos 40 personas respondieron al desafío el año pasado, dijo Coats en un mensaje electrónico a Episcopal News Service.

La página web explica la manera de proceder: “Todos tratamos, una u otra vez, de renunciar a esos hábitos, alimentos o conductas que nos hacen daño — ¿qué hay de las palabras? He aquí nuestro reto para usted: durante una semana, deje de usar una palabra que sea destructiva para usted, para su vida, para el mundo de sus relaciones con los demás”.

Entre tanto, los feligreses de la iglesia del Espíritu Santo [Church of the Holy Spirit] en Harleysville, Pensilvania, están añadiendo palabras  —sus propias reflexiones diarias se distribuyen por Internet como un blog Tumblr, dijo la Rda. Catherine D. Kerr, rectora auxiliar.

“En vez de concentrarse nuestra comunidad en algo que se produce en algún lugar ‘allá afuera’ estas reflexiones están escritas por miembros de nuestra propia parroquia y se compartirán con el mundo”, explicó.

Además… levantamiento de pesas y ejercicios de sillas para Jerusalén
Jerusalén está aproximadamente a 9.133 kilómetros del condado de Carbon, Pensilvania, y el Rdo. John Wagner, rector electo de la iglesia de San Marcos y San Juan [St. Mark’s and St. John’s] en la ciudad de Jim Thorpe, está haciendo la conversión de calorías a kilómetros por toda una serie de ejercicios. De esa manera, los participantes metafórica y colectivamente llegarán a Jerusalén “a tiempo de unirse a Jesús en la Vía Dolorosa y hacer ese trayecto de lágrimas con él”.

“Podremos recorrer esa Vía Dolorosa con unos cuantos kilos de menos y una figura un poquito mejor”, dijo Wagner, que hasta ahora ha conseguido que 83 personas, entre episcopales, catolicorromanos y metodistas, se hayan apuntado para el viaje.

“Mi oración es que no nos falten unos cuantos kilómetros y nos quedemos mojados en el Mediterráneo”, bromeó él durante una reciente entrevista telefónica con ENS.

Wagner adaptó un programa del Ministerio Episcopal de Salud para incluir a todo el mundo, desde una danza zumba de Shannon Knapp hasta los ejercicios con sillas de los residentes de un hogar de ancianos, contó él.

Para Knapp, una feligresa de la iglesia de Todos los Santos [All Saints] en Lehighton, “es una gran oportunidad  utilizar el ejercicio [físico] en una misión positiva para la iglesia. Estoy impaciente por empezar”.

Wagner, de 66 años, que medita mientras camina, dijo que el programa también incluía meditaciones semanales sobre la Escritura y consejos de salud. “Y según avance la estación de Cuaresma, es de esperar que lleguemos a Pascua mucho mejor física y espiritualmente, y mi cardiólogo sí aprueba eso”.

Los participantes le enviarán por correo electrónico a Wagner el total de sus actividades de cada semana; él las convertirá en kilómetros y los mantendrá expuestos [en la página web] en cómputos individuales y colectivos según se acerque la Semana Santa.

Cuando algunos participantes de un hogar de ancianos manifestaron su preocupación de que sólo podían comprometerse a hacer dos o tres kilómetros por semana, él comparó sus contribuciones a “la lección de la ofrenda de la viuda de San Lucas, donde sus dos blancas fueron consideradas más valiosas que la de los ricos que dieron de su abundancia. De manera que ellos podían integrarse al programa  y si tengo que recogerlos el Sábado Santo y traerlos para que se reúnan con el resto del grupo, pues me parece bien”.

Wagner dijo que planeaba atraer a tantos participantes como fuera posible durante la Semana Santa para concluir juntos el último tramo. Él aún está aceptando participantes, incluidos los “independientes”, a través de su correo electrónico en: frjohn@ptd.net.

Hacer ayuno… de carbón y bolsas plásticas
Tanto la Diócesis de Virginia Como la Red Medioambiental de la Comunión Anglicana [ACEN, sigla en inglés] están invitando a participar en un “Ayuno de carbón por la Cuaresma”.

“La Cuaresma es un tiempo de arrepentimiento y ayuno, de apartarse de todo lo que es contrario a la voluntad y el propósito de Dios para este mundo y todos los que viven en él”, dijo el arzobispo Thabo Makgoba, presidente de ACEN y  primado de la Iglesia Anglicana de África del Sur, que incluye a algunos de los países más vulnerables al cambio climático. Recientemente, las inundaciones afectaron a dos de las diócesis de su Iglesia, Lebombo y Niassa, y dejaron a más de 150.000 personas sin hogar.

“Este año, invito a los anglicanos a concentrar sus ‘actos de amor y sacrificio’ cuaresmales en nuestra contribución al cambio climático y a los más afectados por él”, dijo  Makgoba en una declaración.

El recurso del ayuno de carbón sugiere una acción específica por cada uno de los 40 días de la Cuaresma, que cree conciencia de los problemas ambientales y oriente a los participantes en la forma de hacer un impacto positivo en la creación.

Partiendo de las tradicionales costumbres cuaresmales en que los cristianos renuncian a cosas tales como chocolates o bebidas alcohólicas, el ayuno de carbón le pide a los participantes  que se concentren en cambios de su estilo de vida para reducir su “impacto ecológico”, su contribución a las emisiones de gas nocivas al medioambiente que causan el efecto invernadero, y que usualmente se miden en equivalentes a dióxido de carbono. Los participantes pueden registrar sus experiencias en un blog en desde el Miércoles de Ceniza hasta Pascua de Resurrección.

En otra iniciativa medioambiental, en la Diócesis de Maryland los Aliados Interreligiosos por el Chesapeake (que antes se llamaran Comunidad del Pacto de Chesapeake) invitan a las congregaciones a abstenerse de usar bolsas plásticas durante la Cuaresma y optar en su lugar por bolsas reusables de tela, según Sharon Tillman, directora de comunicaciones de la diócesis.

Los episcopales también pueden unirse a un [proyecto de] 40 Días de Vida Sencilla en un Tiempo de Fuego y de Lluvia [40-Days of Simply Living in a Time of Fire & Rain], un reto interreligioso para individuos y congregaciones, según Chuck Morello, copresidente de la Comisión Episcopal de Mayordomía Ambiental de Minnesota. Esta iniciativa es accesible en Facebook e incluye un calendario de retos para los participantes.

Además… imágenes de Dios
Kim Ellsworth, que participa en el Programa Episcopal de Prácticas Urbanas [Episcopal Urban Intern Program] en la iglesia de San Esteban [St. Stephen’s] en Hollywood, California, espera captar a otros  en “asumir una disciplina que impacta nuestra fe, nuestras relaciones y nuestra relación con Dios.

“Voy a tomar una foto cada día de lo que creo que representa la presencia de Dios en una ciudad que usualmente no la muestra abiertamente”, según Ellsworth. “Cuando me mudé por primera vez a Los Ángeles, estaba asombrada por la suciedad del medioambiente y del sufrimiento de la gente a pesar del clima espléndido y tibio. Quería ayudar pero reconozco que caí en el pesimismo de [creer] que nada que hiciera cambiaría eso. He salido de ahí, pero quiero aprovechar este tiempo de reflexión para documentar y explorar cómo Dios se muestra en lugares donde normalmente no se nos ocurriría mirar”.

Valiéndose de la página de Facebook y del sitio web de la iglesia, ella ha invitado a la comunidad a que la acompañen en su aventura fotográfica.

En una actividad cuaresmal inspirada en los deportes, la conocida Locura de Cuaresma creada por el Rdo. Tim Schenck en 2010 y ahora dirigida en asociación con el Movimiento Adelante [Forward Movement] consiguió hasta 50.000 visitas a la página web el año pasado.

El formato de la manera atractiva de aprender acerca de los hombres y mujeres del Calendario de los Santos de la Iglesia es directo: “se ponen 32 santos en una categoría de eliminación individual semejante a un torneo. Cada selección permanece abierta por un cierto período de tiempo y la gente vota por su santo preferido. 16 santos hacen la serie de los Devotos Dieciséis; ocho pasan a la serie de los Jubilosos Ocho; cuatro integran los Fieles Cuatro; dos pasan al Campeonato, y al ganador se le concede el codiciado Halo de Oro. La primera serie consiste en información biográfica básica de cada uno de los 32 santos. Las cosas se tornan un poquito más interesantes en las series subsecuentes en la medida en que ofrecemos citas y peculiaridades, exploramos leyendas e incluso nos adentramos en la zona de las cursilerías piadosas”, según la página web de Locura de Cuaresma.

Para los que tienen una mentalidad bíblica, varias iglesias e incluso algunas diócesis han emprendido el Desafío Bíblico, que ofrece varias opciones de leer segmentos de la Biblia, o la Biblia completa durante los programas cuaresmales y a lo largo del año.

Finalmente, la iglesia de Santiago Apóstol [St. James] en Cincinnati está auspiciando una competencia de dejarse crecer bigotes y barbas de perilla (o chivitos). Los concursantes comienzan el Martes de Carnaval “con una apuesta inicial de $10 que es la cuota de participación”, según la página web del concurso. “También anunciarán la institución benéfica de su elección a la que patrocinan [los concursantes] con su vello facial”.

– La Rda. Pat McCaughan es corresponsal de Episcopal News Service. Traducción de Vicente Echerri.