30th October 2009

A Chaplain’s Diary

 

Here and there

 

Two-way traffic

 

The Pope has invited unhappy Anglican clergy and those who don’t like women priests or the idea of women bishops to join the Roman Catholic Church. The whole announcement appears to have been handled very badly indeed and the rumour is that not only the Archbishop of Canterbury but many Catholic Bishops were embarrassed by the way the announcement was made without any proper consultation or proper notice. Actually the idea is not altogether new. There has always been a two-way traffic between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. I know of at least three former Catholic priests who left to get married and made first rate Anglican vicars. In fact I know of two former Anglican clergy who, when the decision to ordain women was made by General Synod, left to retrain as Catholic priests but within a few years had returned back to the arms of the Church of England.

 Perhaps now we should be inviting forward looking Roman Catholic priests who are tired of a Pope, who refuses to move with newly discovered insights, to join the Church of England. We could have a real shake-up here if we tried hard enough. Yes, there has been some fluttering in the dovecotes but in the same way as there are cradle Catholics, so there are cradle Anglicans – we may moan and complain but the dear old Anglican Church would take some walking away from; she’s a huge umbrella for us to shelter under and her arms are wide open to all and I’m afraid most of us would not sit very comfortably anywhere else.

 

I did it my way

 

I see that one of my colleagues back in the UK, the Revd. Ed Tomlinson from Kent is moaning about the sort of secular music families choose for funerals. He seems to be a bit uptight if it doesn’t fit in with his idea of how things should be done. My experience is that families quite often spend a lot of time thinking about finding the right piece of music that is both appropriate and fitting of the occasion whilst at the same time bringing back happy memories.

 

According to one press report the 2009 Top Most Popular Funeral Songs are Frank Sinatra’s “I did it my way”, Sarah Brightman with “Time to say Goodbye”, “You raise me up” sung by Westlife and the golden oldie “You’ll never walk alone” sung by Gerry and the Pacemakers.  I’ve never had the experience myself but some colleagues tell stories of where families have chosen such obviously inappropriate songs as – “Smoke gets in your eyes” or Gracie Fields singing “Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye”. At least in those circumstances the deceased would leave the mourners with a smile on their faces.

 

A free concert

 

On Wednesday of this week I went to hear the St Peter’s Singers from Leeds Parish Church in concert in Palma. They had already given performances in Muro and Santanyi and that evening were due to perform in Palma Cathedral. The concert was free and their music was splendid. As I pointed out to our congregation last Sunday morning they must be good because they’re from Yorkshire and it’s not every day that you get something for nothing from Yorkshire people. I should know because I’m a Yorkshire man. Sadly there was not a huge audience and it’s one of the recurring problems for visiting choirs to the island. For an hour we sat spell-bound as they worked their way through Handel, Purcell and Tallis in the beauty of the magnificent Basilica de Sant Francesc.

 

 

Not indigenous

 

 

There are probably 40,000 wild ring-necked parakeets flying free in London and the south-east of England. That’s not bad when you consider they originated in the foothills of the Himalayas and are not indigenous to the UK. They are beautiful birds with emerald green feathers and crimson beaks but it will soon be legal to shoot them or destroy their eggs because they are terrorising the local bird population.

 

Some people look at me disbelievingly when I tell them there are wild parrots flying free in our street in Palma.  Parrots are not indigenous to Majorca either and they’re obviously the product of their ancestors that have made a bid for freedom.  There are huge colonies of them and they certainly make not only a racket with their screeching but also a huge mess with their nests.  Now this is the mystery.  Traditionally parrots don’t build nests but breed in tree holes, so like many an ex-pat they’ve had to adjust to their new surroundings. 

 

I love hearing them as they screech their way down the street in Red Arrows formation seeing intruders off their patch, though technically parrots are not territorial by nature.  They’re happiest living in colonies and breed best not in individual pairs but with lots of fellow parrots around.  How do I know all this you may well ask?  Well I used to breed exhibition budgerigars and belonged to the Yorkshire Budgerigar Society (no really - I’m not making this bit up!) and in a former existence used to travel up and down the country exhibiting my birds.  “French moult”, “dead in shell”, “psittacosis” and “best cock breeder” were all part of my vocabulary on a Saturday afternoon.  Football terraces held no attraction compared with the excitement of a show at the Leeds Corn Exchange or the Harrogate Trade Hall, bulging at the seams with a thousand budgies!

 

Immigration regulations

 

The Palma parrots certainly didn’t originate here but they make life very pleasant with their noise and colour and I don’t suppose, when they first arrived, they would have passed immigration regulations. Parrots are lucky, its human beings which have all the problems. Yet I’m delighted to belong to a society where there’s a mixture of all sorts of races.  Within five minutes walk of the Anglican Church in Son Armadans, I can eat in an Indian, Chinese, Mexican, African, Argentinean, Italian, Swedish and Japanese restaurant.  In fact if you are prepared to climb in the car the range is endless.  Like many places, Majorca is a microcosm of the world and it’s richer for that.  Last Saturday the Finnish community used our church; this Sunday afternoon the Ghanaians will be holding a service and the week after that a Thai congregation will be worshipping in our building.  Yet still politicians, people and countries rant on about strict immigration policies.

 

I suspect that many country’s immigration policies are based on a latent xenophobia that does not do justice to the shared brotherhood of mankind. (Yes, I know that’s sexist language so please don’t write and tell me!)  The fact that people are prepared to risk life and limb in container lorries and leaking tubs to escape and start a new life has to beg certain questions.  I know I’m being simplistic and prejudiced but I belong to an organisation that believes in a prejudiced God.  The outcast, the immigrant and the refugee will go into the Kingdom of God first.  The comfortable and the well heeled have the dice loaded against them.  I know it’s unfair but there it is.

 

 

 

 

Fr Robert Ellis is the Anglican Chaplain of Majorca.

St Philip and St James Church

Nunez de Balboa 6, Son Armadans,

Palma 07014

Tel: 971 737279

email: anglicanpalma@gmail.com

www.anglican-mallorca.org