"Liberal" bishop was a horny old goat



When priests in churches across the Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton stood in front of their congregations on Saturday evening last weekend and delivered a message from their bishop, they were met with a stunned silence.

In an open letter to his flock, the Rt Rev Kieran Conry announced his resignation and confessed that for several years he had been “unfaithful to my promises as a Catholic priest”.

The shock felt by Roman Catholics across Sussex and elsewhere turned to bewilderment the next day, when details of the bishop’s private life were revealed.

Not only had he been indulging in an intimate friendship with a married woman 20 years his junior over the previous 12 months, he had an affair with another woman, six years previously.

It quickly became clear that 63-year-old Bishop Conry had fallen far short of both the vow of celibacy taken by all Roman Catholic priests and the ideal of preserving the sanctity of family life.

Now the reverberations caused by the bishop’s conduct are to deepen, after the discovery that the most recent relationship was with a married mother of two who teaches at a prominent Catholic convent school.

The woman, in her 40s, exchanged love letters and texts with the bishop after the two grew close following difficulties in her marriage.

According to a private detective hired by her husband, the pair were seen shopping together in Brighton in June and she spent at least three nights at the bishop’s extensive home, in the village of Pease Pottage, near Crawley. The Bishop denied the relationship was physical. However, he admitted they had been to the British Museum, a Matisse exhibition and the ballet, though he insisted the reason for his resignation was not their friendship, but the relationship he had six years ago.

The woman with whom he was most recently involved is a respected teacher at a convent school in southern England.

The fee-paying school is attached to a convent, whose nuns are on hand to offer spiritual advice and teaching to the students.

The bishop was a frequent visitor to the school, acting in his capacity as the diocese’s spiritual leader, and his involvement with one of its teachers is thought to have caused deep embarrassment among both staff and parents.

Last year Bishop Conry accompanied the teacher and a party of girls from the school on a pilgrimage to Lourdes, one of the most important shrines in the Catholic faith.

A picture taken on the trip shows the bishop with his arm around the teacher and another woman, next to other members of the group in front of Lourdes Cathedral.

The woman’s pupils have been shocked by news of her closeness to the bishop and a picture of Bishop Conry previously displayed at the school is understood to have been taken down following the announcement of his resignation.

The school said the teacher was “a valued member of staff” who was receiving support “at this difficult time”.

The woman’s husband, a banker aged 44, reportedly filed for divorce last month and accused the bishop of being blind to the emotional impact of his behaviour.

He said: “The bishop is supposed to set the best example for a lot of people. To think that this is a person to who people turn to for marriage advice is unbelievable. It makes him a hypocrite.”

It has also emerged that Bishop Conry’s affair six years ago was with a mother of three whose marriage appears to have run into difficulties some time earlier.

The woman, who is now in her early 50s and works in education, was active in the Diocese of Arundel at the time.

She said: “This is really difficult for me to comment on. We have been friends, but as I understand it there’s an investigation going on with the Church and I’ve been asked not to comment.”

The revelations have raised troubling questions over how much more senior figures in the Catholic Church knew about Bishop Conry’s lapses. The woman’s husband has accused the Church of covering up his behaviour over a number of years in the vain hope of avoiding another scandal.

Although Bishop Conry denied last week that anyone in the Church knew about his relationships with the two women, sources have disclosed that his “womanising” was an “open secret” in the diocese and beyond. “It was widely known he was living a double life,” said one source.

As well as causing a potentially irreversible rift in the teacher’s marriage, the relationship – along with his affair with the other woman – has prompted much disquiet and soul searching across the large diocese, which covers most of Sussex and parts of Surrey, and where Bishop Conry was widely regarded as a modernising, as well as a liberal, influence.

At the bishop’s seat in the 19th century cathedral of Arundel – where a photograph of him has been replaced with the terse Latin phrase Sede vacante, or “vacant position” – visitors expressed a mixture of compassion and disappointment over his fall from grace.

One woman in her 60s from the nearby village of Rustington, who gave her name only as Joan, said: “People are shocked and saddened. The bishop took his vows of celibacy as a priest and many feel he should have stuck to them. Then again he is a man and we have to wonder whether celibacy should still be a requirement of the clergy.”

She added: “Some of the older, more traditional members of Arundel’s congregation will be horrified by what he has done. But the younger ones will take it more in their stride, as something that just happens.”

It was a mood reflected at the church of St Mary of the Angels, near Worthing town centre.

“It’s very sad,” said one parishioner. “He was a tremendous bishop. Some people feel very let down by his behaviour. But personally, I would rather be led by a sinner than a saint. It’s very difficult for someone to stay celibate all their life.”

Rosa Hensby, 75, was among the shocked congregation at St Francis Roman Catholic Church, in Brighton, when Bishop Conry’s statement was read out before evening mass last Saturday.

The retired cleaner said: “The bishop’s vows should have been sacred and I’m stunned to hear he has broken them. It’s a real shame, but if he feels it’s not fit to carry on then that is up to him. For believers it’s truly annoying as we all looked up to him to lead us in our journeys with God and he has let us down.”

Senior figures in the Catholic church have strongly denied they knew anything about the bishop’s private life until his surprise announcement last weekend.

One said: “There has been no cover-up,” adding, “There is great sadness that the bishop has been unfaithful to his vows, but that sadness is coupled with compassion and understanding.

“People in the diocese will be praying for all those involved in this matter. That is how we respond.”

SOURCE






Antiques Roadshow rides into storm over fox hunting ban

The Earl of Lonsdale was delighted when asked by the BBC if the Antiques Roadshow could be filmed in the grounds of his ancestral home, Lowther Castle.

However, members of the aristocrat's family are said to have been horrified when informed they would not be allowed to show off their magnificent, but politically contentious, collection of hunting memorabilia.

'Some of my family were very upset,' the 65-year-old Earl, Hugh Lowther, tells me. 'My ancestor was mad about hunting and used to ride to hounds all over England.'

The family, whose seat is near Penrith, believes the BBC thought it would offend animal rights campaigners to feature fox hunting, which was banned by Tony Blair's government in 2005.

Hunts have continued to meet since then, taking advantage of 'loopholes' in the law through which foxes can be legally killed by dogs if it is unintentional and by accident.  Last week, Environment Secretary Liz Truss called for the ban to be repealed.

The Roadshow, presented by Fiona Bruce and due to be broadcast in the spring, will display a portrait of the fifth Lord Lonsdale, who was a celebrated hunting figure.

He became known as the 'Yellow Earl' on account of his estate livery, and when he was made first president of the Automobile Association, the AA adopted his family colours.  'Yellow has always been the Lonsdale estate livery,' explains the 8th Earl, whose family have had several masters of the Ullswater Foxhounds in recent times.

Says Lowther: 'He [the 5th Earl] had three Rolls-Royces in case two of them broke down, but he always preferred a horse.'

The 8th Earl hit the headlines in May when he put Blencathra, a mountain in the Lake District, on the market to help pay off a £9 million inheritance tax bill. The new owner of the 2,850ft peak would acquire the title Lord of the Manor of Threlkeld.

He says: 'One of the groups trying to buy the mountain is The Friends of Blencathra. They say they want to ban hunting from the estate, but they're not allowed to. It's one of the listed local amenities which have to be preserved by law.'

The BBC insists that fox hunting is not banned from the hugely popular programme. 'The BBC does not have a general policy on hunting antiques,' says a spokesman. 'We have featured hunting memorabilia, such as stirrup cups, in the past.'

SOURCE






Anglicans sign mass ‘love letter’ to gay bishops - urging them to come out

More than 300 Anglican priests, parishioners and other Christians have signed an open “love letter” to bishops in the Church of England who are secretly gay urging them to “come out” about their sexuality.

In one of the most unusual petitions ever addressed to the leadership of the established church, they have issued a direct plea to members of the episcopate who are gay or bisexual to have the “courage and conviction” to acknowledge it publicly.

The signatories, who include at least 160 priests and several members of the Church’s governing General Synod, pledge to “welcome and embrace” those bishops who decide to go public but strongly object to any attempt to involuntarily “out” anyone.

It follows the publication of a new book by the serving Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Rev Dr Alan Wilson, last week which said that around one in 10 of his colleagues could be gay but unwilling to speak publicly.

The book sets out a theological argument for a major reassessment of the Church of England’s teaching on homosexuality accusing the hierarchy of “hypocrisy” and “duplicity” on the subject.

Dr Wilson remarked that there are currently “said to be a dozen or so gay bishops” but that events had left many trapped behind “episcopal closet door”.

The letter, disclosed today in The Sunday Telegraph, will reopen an intense debate within the Church over its stance on sexuality.

The Church of England officially teaches that any sexual relationship outside of traditional heterosexual marriage is “less than God’s ideal” - an Anglican euphemism for “sin”.

But the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, has pledged to clamp down on homophobia in the Church of England.

Although Anglican clergy can be in same-sex civil partnerships, they must claim to be celibate if they wish to become bishops.

There are no openly gay bishops in the Church of England and the current Dean of St Albans, Dr Jeffrey John, who is in a celibate same-sex relationship, was twice forced to turn down promotion to the episcopate because of opposition linked to his sexuality.

The Rev Dr Keith Hebden, a priest from St Mark's and St Peter's Church in Mansfield, Notts, has been gathering signatures for the letter which will be formally submitted to the Church’s House of Bishops.

Last night 282 Anglicans, 29 Methodists and around 25 members of other Christian Churches, as well as representatives of Jewish groups, has already signed the letter. Dr Wilson is among the signatories.

It acknowledges “growing pressure” on gay bishops to come out publicly but expresses strong opposition to any threat to “out” them.

“We write to assure those bishops who may choose to openly acknowledge their sexual orientation as gay or bisexual that you will receive our support, prayer, and encouragement,” the signatories pledge.

Bishops who have kept their sexuality secret have, they say, having borne a particular personal “cost” and could face “hostility by a vocal minority” if they were to go public.

But they add: “We have no doubt that the vast majority of Anglicans will welcome and embrace those of you who are gay or bisexual for your courage and conviction if you come out: weeping with you for past hurts and rejoicing in God’s call as witnesses to Christ’s transforming love and compassion.

“If you stand out we will stand beside you.”

Rev Hebden said: “I’m a straight, white middle class man – I’m not saying to particular individuals ‘you should come out’.

“What this letter is saying is that if you feel it is the right thing, through your thought and prayer and conversations with people you love, there is an immeasurable number of people out there who will love and support you.”

The Rev Colin Coward, director of the Anglican campaign group “Changing Attitude”, said: “It is really important for bishops both straight and gay to live with integrity and openness about their identity and their beliefs about the full inclusion of lesbian and gay people in the church.

“Those of us who are lesbian and gay long to be supported by openly gay bishops and we know from our own experience how much energy and Christian integrity is released when you live openly with your sexuality.”

SOURCE





Clash of the Progressive Pieties

A lesbian couple complains that its baby is the “wrong” race. This should be good

A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a ribeye, extra rare, and the chef or the waiter or somebody messed it up. I sent it back to the kitchen. A lesbian couple near Uniontown, Ohio, ordered a baby, extra white, and their order got messed up — the sperm bank mistakenly gave them the product of a black man, with the result that their daughter, Payton, is half black. And that’s the problem with treating children as consumer products: You cannot send them back to the kitchen.

Good thing fertility doctors don’t work for tips.

Naturally, there is a lawsuit — for breach of warranty, among other things. The couple say that they are suffering stress from raising their mixed-race daughter in an overwhelmingly white community. I can picture the scene: A mob of angry Ohioans, torches and pitchforks at the ready, menacingly reads a declaration: “We, the town fathers of Obscurity, Ohio, were perfectly ready to be accepting, supportive, and welcoming of this lesbian couple’s test-tube baby. But when that lesbian couple’s test-tube baby turns out to be half black — well, that’s a bridge too far for the decent people of Ohio.” I suppose they might then burn half a cross — Ohio’s pretty weird.

While one must pity the poor little girl who is being treated like a defective Honda Civic, it’s a delicious clash of progressive pieties. The mother — and somehow I suspect that I’ll be informed five minutes from now that it is wicked to call the half of the couple who carried the child and gave birth the “mother” — Jennifer Cramblett, among other things complains that it is difficult to find a place to get her daughter a decent haircut. It should be a hoot watching her make that case in court. I’m a white, conservative guy from Texas, and even I know better than to go skipping merrily into the cultural minefield that is black women’s hair, a subject that calls to mind my favorite cowboy proverb: “Never miss a good chance to shut up.”

Same-sex couples are riding a wave of cultural ascendency, but we should not kid ourselves: This is America, and race still trumps everything. You doubt me? In 2008, I reported in National Review about the case of an adoptive couple who had raised several children with severe disabilities but was denied the opportunity to adopt another disabled child because the authorities doubted their commitment to preserving the girl’s cultural authenticity — they’d said they intended to raise their children to be “colorblind” — and because their community in Alaska was judged to be too white, something that might damage the girl’s self-esteem.

The girl in question suffered both from fetal-alcohol syndrome, which had left her mentally disabled, and from Russell-Silver Syndrome, a form of dwarfism that left her with an asymmetrical body, a triangular face, a malfunctioning digestive system, and other problems. It is unlikely that she would ever develop the mental capacity to feel racial alienation, much less that that would ever become a top-ten problem in her life. But race is the alpha and the omega to some people. If only we had a good word for people like that . . .

The disassembly, now complete, of the triangular linkage of sex, marriage, and procreation is going to present us with even more awkward questions than whether you can sue for breach of warranty if your daughter turns out to be racially other than as originally specified. There is some evidence already of sex-selective abortion in the United States — the opening salvos in an actual war on women — particularly in subcultures that have a strong preference for sons, though data about that is scarce. The reason it is scarce is that we refuse to collect it, and the reason we refuse to collect it is, presumably, that we do not wish to know.

If we ever develop a test for a hereditary inclination toward, say, homosexuality, we’ll probably have gay-selective abortions, too. Lawsuits involving byzantine claims and counterclaims by surrogates and those who contract them are common. It is probable that in the near future testing unborn children for such undesirable qualities as merely average IQ or height will be as common as home pregnancy tests. If the near-elimination of people with Down syndrome through abortion is any indication, things are going to get even bloodier than they are.

One feels for same-sex couples who long for children, as one feels for heterosexual couples with fertility problems who likewise long for children. But parenthood is not simply another experience that you purchase, like a vacation, and children are not — not yet — products to be built to your specifications. A model of parenthood dominated by the mandate to satisfy the parents’ needs rather than those of the children will be forever defective. But it is, increasingly, the model we have. It’s a perverse consequence of the times in which we live: Cultural and economic pressures see to it that many young women spend their most fertile years trying desperately to avoid motherhood and then spend their least fertile years trying, with the same desperation, to conceive. It’s cruel.

A strange thing: Nothing in the modern world has contributed to the devaluation of women as pitilessly as has the reduction of motherhood to the status of a take-out order of ovum foo young, and yet nothing is held so sacred by feminists. I cannot imagine that when the early feminists wrote about the “commodification of women” that they ever imagined it would get so literal, with product warranties and all.

SOURCE

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Political correctness is most pervasive in universities and colleges but I rarely report the  incidents concerned here as I have a separate blog for educational matters.

American "liberals" often deny being Leftists and say that they are very different from the Communist rulers of  other countries.  The only real difference, however, is how much power they have.  In America, their power is limited by democracy.  To see what they WOULD be like with more power, look at where they ARE already  very powerful: in America's educational system -- particularly in the universities and colleges.  They show there the same respect for free-speech and political diversity that Stalin did:  None.  So look to the colleges to see  what the whole country would be like if "liberals" had their way.  It would be a dictatorship.

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH,   EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and  DISSECTING LEFTISM.   My Home Pages are here or   here or   here.  Email me (John Ray) here. 

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