| Friday 22nd July 2011 You are here: Home - 22nd July 2011 Index Page The Online Gazette offering is slightly shorter than usual - sorry for any inconvenience caused - web editor Front Page Bishop George Cassidy opposes Government plans for House of Lords
The recently retired Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham and a former Lord Spiritual who retains a pastoral role in the House of Lords, Ulsterman Bishop George Cassidy, has told the Gazette that Government plans for an at least mainly elected House of Lords from 2015 can be halted. In an exclusive interview last week with the editor at the House of Lords, Bishop Cassidy said he opposed any elected element in the second chamber. He suggested that an elected element would create a democratic mandate for the second chamber which would give rise to a conflicting situation. Recording of complete interview can be heard here Editorial SECOND CHAMBERS The Gazette’s report this week of Bishop George Cassidy's views on proposed reform of the House of Lords (pages 1 and 10) follows our report in the 8th July Gazette of an interview with Dr Maurice manning on the future of the Seanad, or Senate. Both Dublin and Westminster second chambers are, coincidentally, concurrently the subject of discussion as to their futures. In the case of the Senate, a referendum is due next year on its abolition, whereas in relation to the House of Lords discussion surrounds the Government)s proposals to have an at least mainly elected second chamber. Both the House of Lords and the Senate are best seen as places of scrutiny of legislation in the making, allowing independent voices to bring forward insights that otherwise would not be brought to bear on the legislative process. while legislation can be initiated in both second chambers, they are not the actual law-making institutions. The Dáil and the House of Commons are the places of ultimate power in making legislation. Bearing in mind the essentially scrutinizing purpose of a second chamber, the basic questions that must arise in relation to both discussions, in Dublin and London, are whether such a House is necessary in the first place and, second, how such a House can be composed. It is significant to note that at Westminster the idea of one chamber only has no significant support; it has not been Labour policy for over twenty years. The alternative of scrutiny by parliamentary committees does not really allow sufficient (distance) in the process. If a second chamber has a mainly deliberative and scrutinizing function, fine-combing legislation, the right people need to be found for that purpose and appropriate balance needs to be achieved in its composition. However, as far as the Senate is concerned, a wholly appointed second chamber, even by an independent statutory commission, would require a massive change of mind-set and, as for the House of Lords, the gradualist approach to reform espoused by Bishop Cassidy is surely a wise counsel. while abolition of the Lords is no
longer a current concept, the abolition of the Senate which will
be proposed in next year's referendum should also be rejected in
favour of a serious - and swift - reform process, if such is not
possible before the referendum. what needs to be done in both
cases is a clear setting out of the second chambers' fundamental
purpose and their reconfiguration in such ways that they will be
fully fit for purpose, will be able appropriately to complement
the first chambers, and will enjoy the ready public confidence
that all branches of democratic governance undoubtedly require. Home News
World News
Letters to the
Editor Oxfam OXFAM IRELAND calls on the people of Northern Ireland to 'GROW' Our food system is broken. It might not look like that. Our supermarket shelves are weighed down with produce from across the planet but nevertheless the system is not working. There is more than enough food produced to feed everyone, yet one in seven people on the planet go hungry. The only option is to develop a food system that)s fit for purpose to ensure that every man, woman and child has enough to eat. Vast amounts of food are wasted, or turned into biofuels for petrol tanks. Price rises have already pushed 44 million more people into poverty this year. Food yields are barely growing, the amount of arable land has halved since 1960 and vital water resources are drying up across the planet. meanwhile climate change is already devastating people)s ability to grow food.oxfam estimates that the price of key foods will have almost doubled by 2030. And with another 2 billion on the planet by 2050 we will have to produce as much as 70% more food just to stand still. So we must deliver food for more people, using less carbon and other finite natural resources. Progress can be made. Brazil, for example, almost halved the proportion of hungry people between 1990 and 2005. Vietnam went from a net importer of rice to being one of the world)s largest producers. It means that world leaders must deliver a global climate change deal that is fair to everyone - enacting a climate change Bill will be a crucial step to meeting our responsibilities. It means ending destructive support for biofuels, regulating food speculation, halting massive land-grabbing and investing in small farmers. It will require people, progressive companies and governments to re-make a sustainable food system which delivers for all. To join Oxfam's 'GROW' campaign to ensure everyone has enough to eat, always, visit www.oxfamireland.org/grow. Jim Clarken, Chief Executive, Oxfam Ireland 115 North Street Belfast BT1 1ND
Changing Attitude Ireland THERE SEEMS to be some confusion over the terms 'liberal' theology and 'deviation' from Scripture as used in my letter (24th June) as quoted by Bishop Mayes' (letter, 1st July). The term 'liberal' as it concerns one's theology is not a label but rather a theological position, similar to Protestant - Catholic. In liberal theology the individual's needs are promoted, subjective religious experience rises above doctrine, Church authority is challenged and Scripture is interpreted in secular terms. Diocese of New York Bishop Sisk said in a statement that “the legislation as enacted (same-sex marriage affirmed in New York State), appears to be closely aligned with long standing views of the Diocese that the civil rights of people should be respected equally before the law”. In other words, the conscience/ethics of the Church should change to accommodate societal conscience/ethics, as it is now being proposed in the Church of England. Liberal theology reflects the post-modern era in which we live. In post-modernity there is no absolute truth - each person having the 'right' to believe what he or she wishes, or to interpret or ignore Scripture contrary to Church teaching in order to accommodate one's lifestyle. when Scripture is interpreted through a post-modern perspective, the truth of Scripture, the infallible word of God, is thus challenged, which inevitably leads to the statement that there are 'many paths to God'. This of course challenges the words of Jesus:“I am the way, the Truth and the Light, no one come to the Father but by me.” The claims of Changing Attitude Ireland, in my view, contradict Scripture and the teaching of the Church as I have known it to be, that in the beginning God created man and woman in his own image and that sexual relationships are only between a man and a woman. Challenging or changing one piece of Scripture inevitably leads to other portions of Scripture being challenged, as was the case when the Rt Revd Bill Phipps, moderator of the United Church of Canada, 1997-2000, in one of his first interviews stated: “I don't believe Jesus was God.” He also said he didn't consider the resurrection a scientific fact, and that he was agnostic on the question of an afterlife. Church, learn from the history of others! Alan W. Millar (The Revd) 7 Oaklands Meadow Newtownabbey Co. Antrim
Skype in worship WITH REFERENCE to the recent correspondence on the use of Skype in Church services, I thought I might share with your readers an example of how it was used in Cork recently. During a funeral, a daughter of the deceased, who lives on the other side of the world, was unable to make it to the service. The family discreetly positioned a laptop at the front of the church with the result that she could see and hear everything by way of Skype. As the transmission was two ways, the family in the church could also see her. After the service, the laptop was brought out into the churchyard and passed around, enabling her to join in the usual round of conversation and passing on of condolences. I certainly wouldn't want to see the day when the front pew of a church was filled with computers rather than mourners, but in unusual circumstances it does seem like an innovative means of allowing the bereaved who cannot travel on the day to be there more than just in spirit. Patrick G Burke (The Revd) Willowbank Blackrock Cork Maureen Ryan's articles IT'S GOOD to see Maureen Ryan in print again (Gazette, 1st and 8th July). Her writing from Malta brought back memories of 1957. When I was serving as an Army Chaplain, my wife and I lived for a time in Mdina. our house was in the wall and battlements that surrounded the beautiful, tiny city, the ancient capital of Malta. I'm grateful to Maureen for sparking the memory. Early this month, a friend of mine was on retreat in Macroom, Co. Cork. One of the days was a (Silent day) in Gougane Barra. I sent a text that I hoped would be helpful: Walk Soft, Wallow in the beauty, And in the silences Hear God speaking Comfort, Love, And Strength. may I offer it, now, to maureen as a (Thank you). Matthew Byrne (The Very Revd) Shabbat 5 Fairfield Park Greystones Co. Wicklow Focus on the Church of England General Synod Gazette editor, Canon Ian Ellis, reports on this month’s meeting of the Church of England
Interview with
Bishop George Cassidy Ctd Soap Down at St. David's
Musings Alison Rooke - Thought for the Day - by a bride's mother
Feature A visit to 'the Maiden City' By Alf McCreary
Book Reviews THE PRODIGAL SPIRIT Author: Graham Tomlin Publisher: Alpha International; 192pp MERE THEOLOGY Author: Alister McGrath Publisher: SPCK CURATING WORSHIP Author: Jonny Baker Publisher: SPCK; 175pp
News Extra Anglican-Jewish Commission meets in Jerusalem
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