Author Archives: Julian O. Long

bishops stand down?

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I had an argument with my beloved today. As we were getting close to campus where I usually drop her off, she began to describe the AP wire story about the Episcopal House of Bishops’ statement yesterday in regard to sexual politics. The Post Dispatch had picked it up this morning. Here’s the lead:

NEW ORLEANS — Episcopal leaders, pressured to roll back their support for gays to keep the world Anglican family from crumbling, affirmed Tuesday that they will “exercise restraint” in approving another gay bishop and will not approve prayers to bless same-sex couples.

Since this was not the understanding I had from the Integrity Press Release, or from having read a summary of the talking points the bishops issued, I said, “Hey, wait a minute!” To which my beloved responded with a version of “I only know what I read in the papers,” and I signed off with a surly comment to the effect that most of what we read in the papers isn’t true–something I don’t, in fact, believe.

Because the devil is truly in the details. When I looked at a fuller text of the bishops’ statement, my heart sank. The Episcopal Cafe has published a summary of the press coverage around the world. It appears the bishops’ statement is being widely reported as the AP has reported it, and I think rightly so. I’m hoping that somebody can persuade me not to think the bishops simply caved.

To be fair, there’s a good deal of disagreement about what the statement means. Writers for The New York Times and the BBC have apparently read it in ways that are diametrically opposed. I wish I could agree with the Times and the Integrity Press Release. Changing Attitude Nigeria is also reading the statement more or less positively, and even Bishop Robinson has spoken more or less favorably of it. Part of the difficulty with what the bishops say is hermeneutic: some of the talking points, which apparently circulated in advance of the fuller text, are at odds with the fuller text. The first talking point might be read as a mere nod in the direction of resolution B033 of General Convention 2006, but the amplification makes it clear that the bishops mean to offer no criticism of that very bad piece of legislation–indeed, seem to expand its scope. To wit:

The House of Bishops concurs with Resolution EC011 of the Executive Council. This Resolution commends the Report of the Communion Sub-Group of the Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates of the Anglican Communion as an accurate evaluation of Resolution B033 of the 2006 General Convention, calling upon bishops with jurisdiction and Standing Committees “to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.” (1) The House acknowledges that non-celibate gay and lesbian persons are included among those to whom B033 pertains.

I think the crucial statements are contained in 1) the passage in quotation marks referring to persons whose “manner of life present a challenge to the wider church,” and 2) the passage that includes “non-celibate gay and lesbian persons . . . among those to whom B033 pertains.” Here’s the next paragraph on the blessing of same-sex unions. It’s gives a bit more latitude to interpretation than the paragraph on consecrating bishops, but it’s still disappointing:

We, the members of the House of Bishops, pledge not to authorize for use in our dioceses any public rites of blessing of same-sex unions until a broader consensus emerges in the Communion, or until General Convention takes further action [italics mine]. In the near future we hope to be able to draw upon the benefits of the Communion-wide listening process. In the meantime, it is important to note that no rite of blessing for persons living in same-sex unions has been adopted or approved by our General Convention. In addition to not having authorized liturgies the majority of bishops do not make allowance for the blessing of same-sex unions. We do note that in May 2003 the Primates said we have a pastoral duty “to respond with love and understanding to people of all sexual orientations.” They further stated, “…[I]t is necessary to maintain a breadth of private response to situations of individual pastoral care.”

It would have been nice to encounter this paragraph without its first sentence (the one in italics). To be sure, the bishops have only affirmed the truth, as Susan Russell points out, but why did they have to pledge anything? It seems clear that the Global South bishops, whose bigotry and ambition are driving this controversy, and their American allies who are bent on leaving the Episcopal Church (or have already left) are unimpressed. What did the TEC bishops hope to accomplish? I expect to read a pastoral letter soon that will attmpt to persuade me that they have acted to preserve the Anglican Communion. But I’m not sanguine.

In fact, it seems to me that the bishops’ statement does nothing, says nothing, that will in any way soften the hearts of those on the Anglican right. But it does a very great deal to dishearten those of us who have been proud to think we were part of a church that opens its doors and its hierarchy of ministries to all persons. the Post Dispatch story with which I began carries this head in the online version: “Episcopal leaders promise restraint on electing gay bishops in face of Anglican demands.” But my reaction is more in line with the head I first read in the Metro edition that comes to my door: “Episcopal leaders stand down over gays.”

what i did last summer 2

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Heres a shot of the present-day memorial at Mila 18 in what was once the Warsaw ghetto. Only a single section of wall remains of the Ghetto, itself. The uprising began April 19, 1943 and ended May 16 of the same year.


Here’s the entrance to Warsaw’s only surviving synagogue. It’s sort of hidden behind a Yiddish theater across the street from an imposing church which features a memorial to Pope John Paul II.


Here’s John Paul. Many of the Polish monuments to him feature signs and banners that read ‘Sainthood Now!’ The church seemed to me to be an industry in present-day Poland, much as it was until very recently in Ireland, much as it is in parts of South and Central America, enjoying great political power and broad popular support.

My Impression of Poland was that Poles are religious. Czechs are not, but I think Poles are. I saw multitudes kneeling at Czestochowa, even though we were not there during a season of pilgrimages, and I heard again and again how John Paul had ended the cold war.


Here’s a shot of the interior of the synagogue, the Nozyk Synagogue it’s called. I took this from the balcony (the women’s section). When we first arrived there was nobody in the office who could let us into the main level, but while we were there the rabbi came in and opened the doors for us.


The synagogue balcony also features several panels with photos like this one of old Warwaw at the time the Ghetto was being created. Before the ghetto uprising in 1943, over 300,000 Jews had been deported to Treblinka. There is now a monument at the Umschlagplatz, the site of the railway assembly point from which Jews were transported.


Finally, for now, this picture is a teasure of a kind, a piece of serendipity, true and sad, and something else all at once. I took this on the main level of the synagogue, looking towards a south window. There’s absence in it, perhaps nostalgia for a time that can never come again, or maybe somebody just forgot his hat . . . .

more . . .

what i did last summer

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For the next good many posts I’m going to write about what I did this summer, a traditional back-to-school exercise. I’m creating a category called travel, because this will be mostly a travelogue, though Eastern Europe turned into a pilgrimage for me. I want to write about that, but I want to sort of sneak up on it. My beloved and I took a Grand Circle tour with a front-end extension in Berlin, but spiritually I think my tour began (and will always begin) in Poland. The thumbnails are live. I just don’t like the look of them with blue borders.


Here’s a picture of St. Mary’s Church in Krakow where a bugler blows the hours, standing in the tower to your right. Legend has it that the two church towers were built by two brothers; hence the difference between them. If you stand below at the right time and wave, the bugler will wave back, and he always stops halfway through the tune to honor a legend about a medieval bugler shot in the throat during a Tatar invasion.

Krakow is a lovely city. We didn’t begin to see it in the few days we were there, but loved it. I bought Kathleen a beautiful set of Amber beads, and we spend a lovely evening on the old town square eating pierogies and drinking beer, watching people, etc. We sat across from the church, on the other side of the old cloth hall, which is now filled with galleries of shops catering to tourists, and watched horse-drawn carriages queue up to solicit custom. Most of the horses seemed strong and well cared for. Some of them pranced like English carriage horses.


On the right is a view of the entrance to Oskar
 Schindler’s factory. We went there one evening on our way to Kazimierz. On the left is an interior shot of the main building. The place is being turned into an arts center, though there was nothing in the galleries up these stairs at the time we were there. As nearly as I can tell, Polish emalia means enamel, or glaze, auf Englisch. Here’s an interesting link with the expression Emalienwaren in German. And there’s the very staircase I photographed in an older incarnation. If you read down the page you’ll find a mention of the conversion to an arts center that I noted. I think we were in between exhibits in the upstairs galleries. But I also think there’s still lots of work to be done before the place has a full new life. You’ll also see a plaque with the famous inscription, Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. I photographed it, but at a bad angle because I had to elbow my way past a crowd of my fellow tourists to get an unobstructed view. Finally, we saw this remarkable memorial the same evening we visited the Schindler factory–just drove by on the bus, and I wasn’t able to get back for pictures.

more . . .

leonardo

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I need to post something, so here’s something good. I took this photo at the Czartoryski Museum in Krakow on a rainy afternoon back in June. The gallery was dark–the little museum is very old fashioned. There are a good many images of this picture on the net. It’s usually just called Lady With an Ermine. Most reproductions I’ve seen show a good deal more light and detail. But I like this one.