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Archbishop predicts death of Christianity in Britain  ׀   Archbishop's Charge at the Archdiocesan Conference - May 2006

Archbishop predicts death of Christianity in Britain

In an outspoken message Archbishop Leslie Hamlett, Metropolitan of the Holy Catholic Church (Western Rite), expresses his fear that secularism will virtually kill Christianity in Britain.

He calls on all Christian leaders to unite in condemning the sins of society and proclaiming the possibility of repentance and a better way of life. He accuses the mainstream Churches of succumbing to the cheap and sentimental emotion that they mistakenly call compassion, which is ‘nothing but a combination of political correctness and the superficial values of soap opera.’

The Archbishop singles out for attack the Prime Minister, who cultivates the image of a family man while lacking the courage to restore marriage to its former official status.

The Archbishop’s comments reflect his visits to the Church’s congregations in South Africa and Hispanic parishes in El Paso, Texas. In both he witnessed rapid and enthusiastic growth in the midst of poverty and deprivation - a striking contrast to the declining faith in prosperous Britain.

The full text of the Archbishop’s message is as follows:
I wish I could greet with a reassuring message. But, as I look at the state of our nation and the minimal impact of Christianity within it, I find it impossible to be optimistic about the immediate future.

Islamists speak out boldly, yet Christians appear reluctant to proclaim that Christianity ie Almighty God’s complete and final revelation given to the world, and therefore that there can be none other.

3rd August 2006

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Archbishop's Charge at the Archdiocesan Conference - May 2006

I greet you all with joy on this occasion of our Conference. Thank you in the Name of the Lord for your participation in our deliberations. I know that some of you have travelled a long distance to come here today. I hope and pray that all of us will leave here with hearts and minds refreshed and with an increased dedication to the task in which all of us are called to share.

What is that task? It is none other than to proclaim salvation, whether those to whom we proclaim it will hear or whether they will not hear.

To practically assist in the task of proclamation I have appointed Bishop Lawrence Garner as Episcopal Vicar to the Metropolitan and Episcopal Visitor to the Diocese of America – most worthy appointments about which I am sure you will all readily concur.

I have appointed Anne Pointon as my Administrative Assistant in addition to her being Secretary of the Archdiocese and Editor of Unreformed. I have also appointed Stephanie Rylands as my Missionary Assistant. Again, appointments which I am sure you will applaud.

I have made all these appointments not because I am getting weary but in order to devote more time and energy to my prime task as metropolitan, which is to evangelise. Indeed I become more enthusiastic with every passing year!

Let me state categorically that the Church here in the United Kingdom remains in good heart.

At our General Conference last October, the Synod of Bishops determined it imperative that we rid ourselves once and for all of the ‘continuing Anglican’ image. We are slowly progressing in this. new Mass books for the laity containing the traditional Western Rite have been printed and are now widely used, not only here but throughout the Church. Altar editions of the Order of the Mass have also been produced and circulated. We aim to produce the entire Western Rite missal – this, however, will take a little while to complete – but we are making steady progress.

Now, we have to produce the Western Rite Pontifical. ‘Pontifical’ is the name given to the book containing those Rites which a bishop uses, in Confirmation and Ordinations of deacons and priests, the consecration of bishops and certain other rites, such as the consecration of a Church and so on. Work is also steadily progressing.

Indeed, I used the full Western Rite for the ordination of a deacon quite recently in the ordination of Deacon David Price; and the Western Rite form of Confirmation here in this Cathedral some two weeks ago. One thing has surprised me somewhat, in that these Western liturgies correspond more than I had previously thought to those used in the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

We have 13 clergy, deacons and priests - although I may add that three of the thirteen clergy for reasons of health or infirmity, pursue a limited ministry.

We live in a country in which traditional Christian Faith and morality is constantly under media attack. Make no mistake, the indifference to Christian Faith of yesterday is today increasingly replaced by open hostility. Folk read the novel the Da Vinci Code and think it is true. I wonder what the followers of Mohammed would do should he be made the subject of a similar novel. Political correctness rules the day and can inhibit us from publicly proclaiming that in Christ Jesus alone is salvation to be found. That He and He alone is God’s final and complete revelation and that all other so-called revelations are therefore utterly false.

We frequently read of so-called Christian leaders acting and speaking in such a manner as to give the impression that all religions are of equal validity – just different ways to God. And as for Christian moral norms, increasingly, marriage is set aside and young folk live together in what a former generation, and we still describe, as ‘living in sin’. Moral Absolutes, as engraved in the Ten Commandments, are unknown. Sin is an unknown word. I noted carefully that it was not once used by those in the media who commented on John Prescott’s adultery.

In this maze of unbelief and moral decadence it is good to hear that in some places Satan is not having all his own way. We are holding our own here in Stoke on Trent as well as in the various missions of the Archdiocese. More than 50 people attended our Holy Week Triduum. And we had 37 communicants at the Easter Masses. Few, I know, but won’t there be few true believers when Christ Jesus returns in glory at the Last Day!

Of course, we do have three centres here in the area of this city, the Cathedral, St Mary & St John’s Church and Our Lady’s Chapel. I would like to express my gratitude on behalf I am sure of you all, to Deacon Clive Henchliffe, Deacon Michael Voinus and Subdeacon Edward Spalton for their invaluable assistance, especially at the Holy Week and Easter services. I celebrate Mass daily without fail, sometimes twice a day, and always three times on Sundays.
 

Due to the influence of Subdeacon Edward Spalton, I received a man into the Church quite recently. I baptised a twenty year old university student here in the Cathedral, confirmed her and gave her first Holy Communion two weeks later.

We now have a number of members in their early twenties in our congregations.

We had a sad occasion very recently for which the Cathedral was packed. I conducted the funeral rite of an eight week old baby, whose parents live just down the street here in Middleport. Contact with the parents was made last year when I baptised their first child. The on-going influence of Archdeacon Roberts was also much in evidence for he had made friends with the child’s grandparents.

We now advertise our services weekly in the local newspaper – a costly exercise but I am sure, in the long run, worthwhile. I recommend local advertising to all our clergy. Folk do not know of our existence!

This leads me on to urge those of us who have a mission or are starting one, to consider the possibility of acquiring their own building. Rented accommodation is all very well but it ought to be regarded as temporary. A building speaks loudly of our stability and continuity. It proclaims that we are not a ‘fly by night’ but are here to stay. I recall that when we left the Church of England in 1983 we worshipped in a rented hall for 8 years - not a single person expressed the slightest interest - in spite of all our efforts.

I well recall that when in 1991 we acquired the building which is now St Mary & St John’s Church we built up a quite substantial evening prayer service of newcomers – regretfully, most of whom are now deceased.

In the matter of acquiring buildings I have to say that debt is almost inevitable. But we have to put our money (or our loan) where our faith is and take risks for God.

The house where we live was almost miraculously acquired, but not without debt. Put your Faith to the test, take out a loan if need be and be assured that Almighty God will do the rest. Remember,  He is never outdone in generosity. That is my experience, and it could be the experience of any cleric who goes into debt to acquire a building.

But a building in which Mass is offered infrequently is not the answer in the task of attracting outsiders. As our Canons state, every priest ought to “strive” to offer Mass daily. “Strive” is the operative word in the Canon. I now refer to our past experience when I say that, in general terms, this was simply not done. Furthermore, that it was not done was a certain sign that the Catholic Faith was not fully believed - and so they went from us.
 

Once a Catholic always a Catholic is perhaps an overdone expression. It is true however, that once one has been given the Gift of Catholic Faith, anything less does not satisfy.

We have now said our final farewells to Anglicanism, and returned to our roots in the Undivided Catholic Church, expressed by the traditional liturgies of that One True Church of Jesus Christ.

Now we must live that Faith. There is a feel about the Catholic Faith; you know when you have it, and you easily recognise its absence in others. There is a warmth in the devotional life of traditional Western Catholicism, which equals that of the Eastern Orthodox in their devotional life. But now is neither the place or the time to talk of this.

The Catholic Faith is caught rather than taught. In this regard, it is vitally important to emphasise such devotions as Benediction, the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross, devotions to Our Lady and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These are the well-tried means of acquiring the warmth of the Faith. And please, do not think we are aping Rome in this, for the truth is that Rome has now largely abandoned those traditional devotions, as it increasingly becomes a Protestant Reformed Church. As a matter of interest, the Minister Chairman of one of the larger Protestant Churches, I believe it was the Baptists, has recently stated, “that if the Roman Church had effected its current reforms in the 16th century there would have been no need of the Protestant Reformation". That, I think, says it all.

It is true that former Romans and the totally unchurched are the only folk who now approach us, not only here but throughout the Church.

But above all things, in our task of evangelisation, we must become holy people; we must exude the warmth of the Faith, so that others may see that we have been with Jesus. We cannot ever expect to give to others that which we do not have ourselves. We must so let our light so shine before men that they will want to share that which we have. I fear, that this is not the case, here or elsewhere. I just wish that we could all attend a three day retreat conducted by our dear priest, Fr Alan Bowser, and then we would be better equipped to be that which Our Divine Lord calls us to be - living tabernacles of His presence in a world which sits in darkness and the shadow of death.

Let as then thank God that He has called each one of us by name, both cleric and lay, to be His Church. And let us equally pray that we may bring forth the fruits of that calling.
 

X Metropolitan Archbishop Leslie Hamlett.

27th June 2006

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