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Primate of Ireland: Episcopal Church 'never likely to face discipline'
Robin Eames, head of the Anglican Church in Ireland, offers The Church of England Newspaper a preview of the upcoming meeting of Anglican Primates (heads of the various Anglican provinces) in February. And conservatives probably won't be happy.

"I would welcome decisions [at February's Primates' meeting] more if they're directed to how we deal with the nature of Communion rather than reiterating 'they did something wrong' or 'they didn't express regret,'" he said "I think we need to move on in terms of what have we learned from this—I'm a great believer in trying to learn the lessons of these things. I think we must move on."

And by "move on," Eames apparently means forgetting about the Episcopal Church's repeated repudiation of church doctrine and teaching (including a brazen rejection of The Windsor Report, the product of a commission Eames himself chaired). "Moving on" apparently doesn't mean actually addressing the current situation, where the American body has leaders in open rebellion against biblical, ecclesiastical, and traditional teachings and promises to add to these.

For orthodox Anglicans, however, the question hasn't been whether Eames thinks the Episcopal Church USA will be (or ought to be) disciplined in some way. It's whether those who lead the majority of the world's Anglicans, those in the Global South, think disciplinary action must be taken.

Craze Mass in China
The Guardian has a very odd description of Christmas in China that's worth reading. Xinran writes that in years past, confusion reigned:

I once asked a market trader in Nanjing, a woman in her 60s wearing a red beret, "What is Christmas? What's it for?"

"That is the date for USA God! You see my hat, this is their Craze Mass hat, westerners like the color red … I did wonder if that was true after everybody said capitalists like black; but as you know, those rich capitalists are very colourful. Money and wealth bring colour to human lives … come on, buy one, forget your age … we have missed out on a lot."

Ah, but the Spirit of Christmas, or at least of Herod, is alive and well in China. The China Aid Association says the Chinese government has arrested Zhang Rongliang, a prominent "house church" leader. "The Fangcheng Mother Church and China for Christ Church are among China's largest underground church networks, with an estimated 10 million members," the Associated Press reports.

Canada clears way for same-sex marriage:

• Religious groups mull options as Canadian court okays gay marriage | Religious and pro-family groups who oppose gay marriage tried to make the best of Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that paves the way for Canada to become the third country to allow nationwide recognition of gay marriages (Religion News Service)
• The right learns from its loss | Social conservatives acknowledged yesterday they could use a public-relations overhaul in light of the Supreme Court opinion that cleared the way for legalized same-sex marriage, but they insisted there is still room in this country for people who support "traditional" values on issues such as marriage, abortion and religion's role in society (The National Post, Canada)
• Opposing groups to target MPs | Pleasantly caught off guard by yesterday's Supreme Court decision, conservative church and family organizations suggested their task now is to persuade members of Parliament that the same-sex marriage issue is too complex for simple legislation (The Globe and Mail, Toronto)

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December (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48