Statement on Supreme Court Dobbs decision by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry 

June 24, 2022

The Episcopal Church.org

Office of Public Affairs

Today the Supreme Court released its decision in the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court has overturned the constitutional right to abortion that was recognized in the seminal 1973 case Roe v. Wade.  

While I, like many, anticipated this decision, I am deeply grieved by it. I have been ordained more than 40 years, and I have served as a pastor in poor communities; I have witnessed firsthand the negative impact this decision will have.

We as a church have tried carefully to be responsive both to the moral value of women having the right to determine their healthcare choices as well as the moral value of all life. Today’s decision institutionalizes inequality because women with access to resources will be able to exercise their moral judgment in ways that women without the same resources will not.

This is a pivotal day for our nation, and I acknowledge the pain, fear, and hurt that so many feel right now. As a church, we stand with those who will feel the effects of this decision—and in the weeks, months, and years to come. 

The Episcopal Church maintains that access to equitable health care, including reproductive health care and reproductive procedures, is “an integral part of a woman’s struggle to assert her dignity and worth as a human being” (2018-D032). The church holds that “reproductive health procedures should be treated as all other medical procedures, and not singled out or omitted by or because of gender” (2018-D032). The Episcopal Church sustains its “unequivocal opposition to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions [about the termination of pregnancy] and to act upon them” (2018-D032). As stated in the 1994 Act of Convention, the church also opposes any “executive or judicial action to abridge the right of a woman to reach an informed decision…or that would limit the access of a woman to safe means of acting on her decision” (1994-A054).  

The court’s decision eliminates federal protections for abortion and leaves the regulation of abortion to the states. The impact will be particularly acute for those who are impoverished or lack consistent access to health care services. As Episcopalians, we pray for those who may be harmed by this decision, especially for women and other people who need these reproductive services. We pray for the poor and vulnerable who may not have other options for access. We urge you to make your voice heard in the way you feel called but always to do so peacefully and with respect and love of neighbor.  

Archbishop, Ukrainian president call missile strikes on mall terrorist act

Catholic News Agency

Russian missile strikes on a Ukrainian mall with about 1,000 civilians inside were the “largest terrorist attack in Europe in decades,” said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

On June 27, two Russian missiles hit Amstor Shopping Mall in Kremenchuk, an attack the archbishop called “an event of unprecedented proportions.”

“As of this morning, we have news that at least 18 people have been killed, about 40 people are missing and about 60 are injured,” Archbishop Shevchuk said June 28. “This is the largest terrorist attack in Europe in decades. Today we sympathize, express our prayerful closeness to the relatives and friends of the victims, all the wounded as a result of this terrorist act.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “one of the most daring terrorist attacks in European history.”

The Associated Press reported Zelenskyy said the mall presented “no threat to the Russian army” and had “no strategic value.” AP said he accused Russia of sabotaging “people’s attempts to live a normal life, which make the occupiers so angry.”

In his remarks, reported by the Religious Information Service of Ukraine, Archbishop Shevchuk spoke of several other incidents.

“The Luhansk region is a steppe zone, where it is quite dry, and now it is quite hot in Ukraine, and there in Lysychansk people stood in line for water,” the archbishop said. The people waiting for water “were shot by the Russians. In the same way yesterday, rocket attacks on Kharkiv were inflicted, people were also killed, many were wounded. And this morning the city of Mykolaiv was fired upon.”

The archbishop praised Ukrainians, especially young people defending their homeland against the Russian invasion, which began Feb. 24. Archbishop Shevchuk said many service members had been teachers, scientists, doctors or artists before the war.

“Heavy fighting is taking place along the entire front line. But Ukraine is standing. Ukraine is fighting. And we thank the Lord God and the armed forces of Ukraine that we have survived to this morning and can see the light of day.”

Caribbean Slavery Reparations Urged for Church of England

The Living Church

The Church of England should play a role in discussions about reparations for Caribbean slavery, says Sir Hilary Beckles - pictured, chair of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a cooperative league of fifteen West Indian nations. Beckles, the vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies and a noted historian of Caribbean slavery, called for the church to participate in an upcoming reparations summit at a press conference on July 6, according to reports by the Nassau, Bahamas-based Tribune.

“It is also the Church of England’s time to join civil society’s conversation about reparations for development,” Beckles said, noting that the church’s General Synod approved a resolution apologizing to descendants of victims of the slave trade in 2006.

He added, “Apologies are not enough. Apologies are precursors for reparations. Apologies are signals of an intent to participate in a reparatory process. Apologies are stage one of an effort that says, ‘we acknowledge the harm that we have caused and we are prepared to enter phase two which is a discussion and a negotiation about how to repair that harm and suffering that continues to be the legacy in the Caribbean today.”

Beckles said that Caribbean people continue to suffer economic deprivation and poor health as a direct result of the injustices of slavery. He argues that European institutions that created and benefitted from the slave system must play a role in addressing these issues.

“Britain and Europe chose to walk away from this mess that they have created,” Beckles said. “They have left it entirely to the democratic leadership of Caribbean governments and civil society. This was a deliberate and strategic effort, to walk away and refuse to take the responsibility for the legacies of slavery and colonization. The model which was used by Britain at the moment of the ending of colonization, was that Britain should exit colonization and its legacies on the cheap. That they should exit without responsibility; that they should walk away and not look back.”

Beckles said that CARICOM’s Commission on Reparations plans a three-day summit with representatives of European governments and private sector institutions “to discuss how to honor this debt owed to the Caribbean at this moment in history.” The Commission on Reparations has outlined a ten-point Reparations Plan for the region, which includes a series of initiatives focused on issues like indigenous community development, public health, literacy, psychological rehabilitation, and the cancellation of debts owed by Caribbean nations.

Responding to worldwide protests against racial injustice, a Church of England spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph in late June, “While we recognize the leading role clergy and active members of the Church of England played in securing the abolition of slavery, it is a source of shame that others within the church actively perpetrated slavery and profited from it.” A similar statement was issued by the Bank of England.

Beckles referenced these comments in his remarks, saying “we have heard of late of major private sector that have emerged out of slavery, that emerged out of colonization that were enriched by the crimes against humanity with issues and comments of regret. The major institutions in the city of London, for example, have all made their statements. Time has come now to move to that summit with these major institutions to discuss their contribution to a development plan for the Caribbean.”

In 1710, Christopher Codrington, a prominent Barbadian planter, bequeathed two large sugar estates to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Church of England’s primary mission agency for North and Central America. The plantations were operated by managers on the church’s behalf, and some have suggested that they were operated on a “work to death” policy, as four of every ten slaves bought by the plantations in 1740 died within three years of arrival. Beckles noted that Codrington plantation slaves were branded on the chest with the word, “Society,” a practice continued for a decade after church ownership to discourage runaways.

Codrington College, the Anglican seminary for the West Indies, was built on one of the plantations, and plantation proceeds were used to finance its operations. Codrington’s original request that a portion of his bequest be used to educate Barbados’ enslaved population was never honored. Beilby Porteus, a late eighteenth Bishop of London who had himself grown up on a Virginia plantation, criticized conditions on the Codrington plantations in a famous 1783 charity sermon that played a crucial role in gaining public support for abolition. The Church of England relinquished its slaves only after slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833 and was paid £8,823. 8s. 9d restitution by the Crown for 411 slaves owned in the Caribbean at the time of abolition.

Hundreds to attend online sneak peek of scenes from Philadelphia Eleven documentary nearing completion

Episcopal News Service

Eleven Episcopal women broke down barriers to ordination on July 29, 1974, when they became the first female priests in The Episcopal Church. Now remembered as the Philadelphia Eleven, their story is the subject of a feature-length documentary currently in production, and an online sneak peek is scheduled for June 30 of work-in-progress scenes from the film.

Margo Guernsey, director and producer of “The Philadelphia Eleven,” told Episcopal News Service in a phone interview that she was born the same year the 11 subjects of her film were ordained to the priesthood, at Philadelphia’s Church of the Advocate. Two years later, women’s ordination was officially authorized by General Convention. Guernsey, who grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where her family was part of a United Church of Christ congregation, said she was aware as a child that the Episcopal church in her community had a female priest.

That didn’t seem unusual to Guernsey growing up, so when she first learned a few years ago about the trail to equality blazed by the Philadelphia Eleven, it came as something as a shock. Outside of The Episcopal Church, “it’s not a very well-known story,” she said.

Guernsey, who now lives in the Boston area, and co-producer Nikki Bramley aim to finish their documentary in time for wide release by 2024, for the Philadelphia Eleven’s 50th anniversary. They had hoped to offer their sneak peak in Baltimore, Maryland, next month during the church’s 80th General Convention, but when church leaders scaled back convention plans because of COVID-19, Guernsey and Bramley moved the sneak peek online instead.

The event will be held on Zoom at 7:30 p.m. June 30 and will feature a highlight reel of about 10-15 minutes followed by a question-and-answer session. The producers will be joined by two of the Philadelphia Eleven, the Rev. Nancy Wittig and the Rev. Marie Moorefield, as well as the Rev. Betty Rosenburg Powell, one of four women ordained in 1975 in the Diocese of Washington.

Response has been overwhelming. An initial invitation to the sneak peek generated so much response that the sign-up page temporarily failed. They eventually filled all 300 available spots, and this week, the producers decided to reopen the sign-up to allow up to 200 more people to attend.

Read more...

Episcopal Office of Government Relations issues statement on migrants found dead in Texas

Episcopal News Agency

The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations released a statement on June 28 mourning the death of 50 migrants discovered in and near an abandoned a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, and the office called for federal reforms to address the dangers facing immigrants, migrants and refugees.

“The Episcopal Church mourns the horrific and preventable tragedy in San Antonio,” the Washington, D.C.-based Office of Government Relations said. “We pray for those who lost their lives and their families. These deaths should never have happened nor the deaths of any migrants attempting to arrive to the United States.”

The human disaster was discovered around 6 p.m. June 27 by an employee of a nearby building after hearing someone shouting for help, according to police. In addition to those found dead at the scene, authorities say 16 people, including children, were still alive but suffering from heat exhaustion and were taken to hospitals.

Three people reportedly have been taken into custody, though it is not yet clear how they were involved and whether they face criminal charges. Authorities have said it appeared to be a case of cross-border human smuggling that turned deadly in the 100-degree Texas heat.

“The church recognizes the links between migrants in vulnerable transit situations, human trafficking and other dangers and is committed to working to establish and maintain robust, safe, and orderly routes for refugees,” the Office of Government Relations said. “Our country must end our reliance on harmful policies like Title 42 or the Migration Protection Protocol that provide unsafe incentives to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, and we must continue to push Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that includes safe and orderly border management, a just asylum system and humane treatment for all migrants.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, blamed the deaths on leniency by the Biden administration toward migrants crossing the border into the United States. Biden responded with a statement condemning smugglers.

“Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy,” Biden said. “My administration will continue to do everything possible to stop human smugglers and traffickers from taking advantage of people who are seeking to enter the United States between ports of entry.”

God be with you till we meet again