The Pope meets the Archbishop

Last night, I sang with the Oriel Singers in a performance of Mozart's Requiem. The concert was well attended, despite the weather, and most people agreed that we have raised ourselves to a new level as a choir. It was a  humbling experience. This was Mozart's last work, and was incomplete when he died. Although it had been commissioned, it is likely that he was aware he was writing it for his own death. The contrast throughout between the awesomeness of God's sovereign power and humanity's need for forgiveness and restoration inevitably causes one to reflect on one's own mortality and 'the last things'. And especially at this time of year, to be profoundly thankful for 'the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world' (Agnus Dei).

Last week saw the inaugural mass of Pope Francis in Rome and the installation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury. These events were only 3 days apart, and it does seem something of a God-incidence that these two great, historic churches begin a new chapter at the same time, just before Holy Week and Easter. Past and present pope met each other yesterday, apparently; but what would happen if pope and archbishop were to meet? Such an encounter would inevitably attract the attention of the world's media, but in private might the conversation go something like this?

Pope Francis:  Archbishop, I'm so pleased to meet you. May God richly bless you in your leadership of our brothers and sisters in Christ of the Anglican Communion. It seems to be ordained that we should begin our new ministries at the same time.
Archbishop Justin: Thank you for your greeting, Holy Father. May you also be blessed as head of the Roman Catholic Church. I'm sure there is much we may share together under God. We have both entered a new world, which neither of us would have expected 30 years ago: I from the oil industry to Archbishop, and you from Argentina to Rome.  I tremble, as I'm sure you do, at all that may  be expected of us.
PF: As you know, I requested the prayers of the faithful as my election was announced and I depend daily upon the grace of God as servant of the servants of God.
AJ:  And I spoke at Canterbury of the need for courage as we step out with Christ into the stormy waters of today's world.
PF: We have one thing in common anyway: we preside over a church which herself has many problems and divisions. But I have a sense that the worst thing we could do would be to turn inwards upon ourselves, and try to sort them all out. Some problems just won't be fixable, though we have some that must be addressed.
AJ: I agree. For all our difficulties, our primary concern must be to engage in God's mission to the world, to face outwards rather than in.
PF: I've been thinking, how would it be if from time to time you and I were to speak together to God's world, of God's passion for peace and justice, God's love for humankind? You know the kind of thing: joint statements, united action, maybe even sharing a pilgrimage together. Wouldn't that be quite something - the Pope and the Archbishop speaking with one voice, acting as one? We wouldn't have to agree on everything before that could happen, would we?
AJ: I am amazed and humbled that you could suggest such a thing. Thank you. Actually, there is a kind of precedent in a local rather than global sense. Nearly 40 years ago, in Liverpool, England, there was another God-incidence of Anglican and Roman Catholic leaders taking office at the same time. Our man was Bishop David Sheppard, and yours Archbishop Derek Worlock. They became firm friends; they shared together their faith in the crucified and risen Christ; they acknowledged their theological differences but in crises - local and national - they often acted together in Christ's name, to great effect and for the common good.
PF: This is a story I must learn more about. And I don't suppose either Church was free of controversy then either.
AJ: No, although I think it would be fair to say that, with the passage of time, our reputations publicly have become rather more tarnished. There is a lot of ground to make up, but I still agree with you that becoming self-obsessed will not fulfil the missio dei, the mission of God.
PF: Let us talk some more of these things. Would you care to share a bottle of wine with me? - Chateau du Pape Neuf of course!

Another Invitation

I haven't blogged for a while - been on holiday. And while I was away, a new Pope. First signs are good. I loved the way he bowed his head and asked the crowd in St Peters Square to pray for him. There's something so profound about silence in the company of 10s of 1000s. And then what a way to unite Christians, inviting them to say the Our Father with him. I'm also impressed at his record of solidarity with the poor, and doing away with some of the trappings of the Papacy. 'Carnival time is over,' he is alleged too have said as he refused to wear Pope Benedict's silk and ermine cape!

Last Sunday, I heard the Dean of York (Vivienne Faull - ex curate of Mossley Hill) speak about the benefits of singing. It connects us with others - for example, a mother singing to her baby - and with our own past (ever listened to the Soundtrack of my Life on a Saturday morning, Radio 4?). In a religious context, it also connects us with God. I'm really enjoying singing Mozart's Requiem with the Oriel Singers at the moment. If you're in Liverpool and free next Saturday (23rd) why not come along to St David's, Childwall at 7.30 to hear it?

'Together for the Common Good'

I want to invite you to a conference. It will be held at Liverpool Hope University, 6-8 September this year, and has the title 'Together for the Common Good'. You can read all about it, together with the movement of which it is a part, at http://www.togetherforthecommongood.co.uk/conference.html. In brief, it concerns faith-based movements for social justice both in today's world and that of the 1970s 80s and 90s when Bishop David Sheppard and Archbishop Derek Worlock were together in Liverpool. There is no doubt in my mind that their influence and inspirational leadership in the spirit of ecumenical cooperation saved the day as far as the City of Liverpool was concerned.

I had the great privilege of being Bishop Sheppard's chaplain in the earlier days of their friendship. I witnessed at first hand the high degree of accountability each had toward the other, their loyalty to each other and their passionate desire for 'the common good' in Liverpool and across the nation. These were, of course, the days of a robust right-wing Conservative national government and subsequently (in the early 1980s) a doctrinaire, extreme left-wing Militant Labour City Council. So bad did relations between the two become that at one stage Margaret Thatcher seriously considered annexing Liverpool, after the fashion of Northern Ireland. It was Worlock and Sheppard, in part, who dissuaded her, Sheppard later wrote, 'We never pretended to be negotiators between city and Government. We tried to interpret what was going on to parties who were not speaking to each other.' (Better Together, p.237.)  So it was in October 1985 that the two church leaders wrote a joint letter to The Times, expressing concern that the needs of the people of Liverpool and other urban areas were simply not listened to in Whitehall.

This interpretative role for the Church seems to me as vital as ever in today's world, and indeed part of the Christian's role in social justice must be just that: to speak up for the needs of the poor, and wherever possible seek to meet them.

But I think it's also important to realise that the Sheppard-Worlock partnership was based fundamentally not on a pragmatic union for political (or perhaps apolitical) action, but on a true friendship in Christ - which included Bishop Sheppard's wife and daughter, as he explained in his book Better Together. It would be true to say, I believe, that God had brought them together for that time and that place and their faithfulness to God and to each other is what enabled them to be so effective in their leadership. Those who are  involved in social action today, from a Christian standpoint, need to be equally sure where their confidence lies: in their divine vocation rather than simply trying (as the saying goes) 'to make a difference.' After all, we believe in a God who 'makes whole both people and nations.'

Take Courage!

Nearly a week since last blog! Slipping! 

I thought I'd just share something I read a few days ago:

Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary churchgoer.
Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness as with the ordinary soldier.
Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual.
But the one who has love, courage and wisdom moves the world.  (Ammon Hennacy 1893-1970)

Makes you think.