Newsmakers
Episcopal News Service. April 21, 2005 [042105-2-A]
Newsmakers: Bishop Christopher Epting, Bishop Pierre Whalon, Archbishop of Canterbury, Ana Hernandez, Carter Heyward, Diane Knippers, the Rev. Canon Patrick Mauney
Episcopal Bishops to attend Pope's inaugural Mass in Rome
[ENS] -- Bishop Pierre Whalon of Europe and Bishop Christopher Epting, the Presiding Bishop's deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, will represent the Presiding Bishop and the Episcopal Church at Pope Benedict XVI's inaugural mass in St. Peter's Square, Rome, on Sunday, April 24.
The Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations (SCEIR), meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, issued the following statement April 20:
"The Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations of the Episcopal Church sends greetings to the Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the Roman Catholic Church upon the selection of Pope Benedict XVI by the College of Cardinals as the new Bishop of Rome. We note his distinguished record as an ecumenical theologian that was established early in his career, and we pray that our sisters and brothers in the Roman Catholic Church will build upon that record as they now pursue ecumenical relations with renewed vigor in this country under his leadership. May the original Saint Benedict of Subiaco, founder of monasticism and of Benedictine spirituality, serve as a model and source for this renewal in the years to come."
Louisville, Kentucky
April 20, 2005
A statement from Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold on the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI can be found online at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_61402_ENG_HTM.htm
Archbishop of Canterbury to attend Papal Inauguration
[ENS, Source: Lambeth Palace] -- The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, is to attend the solemn inauguration of the new pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, April 24, in St Peter's Square in Rome. Archbishop Rowan will become the first serving Archbishop of Canterbury to attend such an occasion, at least since the Reformation. The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has indicated its "great delight" that he will be attending.
The Archbishop has confirmed that he will wear the ring presented to one of his predecessors, Archbishop Michael Ramsey, by Pope Paul VI, and a pectoral cross presented to him by Pope John Paul II.
Archbishop Rowan will travel to Rome on Saturday and will be accompanied by the Rev. Andrew Norman, Archbishop's secretary for international and ecumenical affairs, and the Rev. Jonathan Jennings, Archbishop's press secretary.
Greetings and prayers for new Pope
Earlier this week, the Archbishop of Canterbury offered his best wishes and prayers for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on his election as successor to Pope John Paul II. "We wish Pope Benedict XVI every blessing in the immense responsibilities he is about to assume on behalf of Roman Catholics round the world," he said.
"His election is also of great significance to Christians everywhere. I look forward to meeting him and working together to build on the legacy of his predecessor, as we seek to promote shared understanding between our churches in the service of the Gospel and the goal of Christian unity.
"He is a theologian of great stature, who has written some profound reflections on the nature of God and the church. His choice of the name Benedict suggests that he wants to connect his vision of the Church to the monastic spirit of service and contemplation.
"He will be much in our prayers in the days and weeks ahead."
IRD president Diane Knippers dies at 53
[ENS, Source: IRD] -- Diane Knippers, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) died in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday, April 18 of complications related to cancer. She was 53. Earlier this year she was named by Time magazine as one of America's 25 most influential evangelicals.
A member of Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia, Knippers was president of the IRD since 1993 and had worked for IRD since 1982. She was a leader of evangelical and renewal voices in mainline Protestantism, especially in the Episcopal Church, of whose Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations she was a member. She also served on the boards of the National Association of Evangelicals, the American Anglican Council, the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance, Five Talents (an Anglican micro-enterprise initiative), and the steering committee of Anglican Mainstream, International. She had written for The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, and Christianity Today, and appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes, CNBC's Capital Report, and PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
Funeral Details:
There will be a time of visitation on Friday, April 22, 2005, from 2-4 p.m. and from 6-8 p.m. at the Everly Funeral Home, 10565 Main St., Fairfax, Virginia. A memorial service is scheduled for Knippers on Saturday, April 23, at 3 p.m. at Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia. A reception will follow the service in the Truro Undercroft. There will be a private family internment at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that donations be made to IRD or to Five Talents, an Anglican micro-enterprise initiative. Further information can be found online at: http://www.trurochurch.org.
Full story: http://www.ird-renew.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fvKVLfMVIsG&b=390529&ct=706343
Hernandez, Mauney to receive honorary degrees from Episcopal Divinity School
[ENS, Source: EDS] -- The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) has announced that it will confer honorary degrees on Ana Hernandez and the Rev. Canon Patrick Mauney for their distinguished and faithful ministries in social justice.
Hernandez is a composer and arranger, singer, instrumentalist, and writer whose chants and hymns have been published in the Voices Found Hymnal and Enriching Our Music, Vols. 1 & 2. Among her literary contributions, Hernandez recently published a book titled "The Sacred Art of Chant: Preparing to Practice." She is also on the staff of the Episcopal Book/Resource Center in New York. For more than a decade, Hernandez has led workshops on the uses of sacred sound and rhythm in prayer for "her greatest joys lie in helping people to experience the ways in which sound touches our hearts and enables us to listen to that still small voice; its effectiveness in enhancing our well-being and helping us to know ourselves; and its uses in manifesting peace and compassion."
Mauney, a '72 graduate of Episcopal Theological School, began his ordained ministry as deacon and later priest in the Diocese of Rhode Island. After serving for three years in Providence at St. Martin's Church, he moved to Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil where he served as rector of Santo Andrew Parish in the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil. In 1982, Mauney joined the national staff of the Episcopal Church in New York City and served first as the director of mission personnel, next as the personal deputy for Anglican relations, and until his recent retirement, as director of Anglican and global relations. In 1993, he was named an honorary Canon of the Diocese of the Dominican Republic. In the course of his ministry, Mauney has visited most of the churches of the Anglican Communion and served on various committees and commissions of the Anglican Consultative Council and the World and National Council of Churches. He is widely respected as one of the foremost authorities on the Anglican Communion in the Episcopal Church.
Carter Heyward honored for 30 years at Episcopal Divinity School
[ENS] -- The Rev. Dr. I. Carter Heyward was feted at a festive dinner April 15 marking her approaching retirement after 30 years as Howard Chandler Robbins Professor of Theology at Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An expert in feminist liberation theologies and Christology, Heyward has written several books on spirituality including "When Boundaries Betray Us."
As one of the "Philadelphia Eleven" in 1974, Heyward and 10 other women deacons were ordained priests in the Episcopal Church, which would not until 1976 pass legislation explicitly stating that women could be ordained as priests and bishops.
Heyward earned a BA in Religion at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1967, and subsequently studied at Columbia University/Union Theological Seminary, where she earned an MA in Comparative Religions (1971), an M.Div. in Religion and Psychiatry (1973), and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology (1980). In 1974, Heyward was ordained an Episcopal priest and in 1998 she received the Distinguished Alumni/ae Award from Union Theological Seminary.
[Titles are available from the Episcopal Book/Resource Center, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017; 800.334.7626 or 212.716.6118; http://www.episcopalbookstore.org.]