After church this past Sunday, the family and I went to the convention center in Fort Worth to join the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth in their festive Mass to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the founding of their diocese.
Bishop Kevin Vann graciously invited Bishop Iker and the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth to vest and process with their clergy in the celebration. Here we are lined up next to the Knights of Columbus, waiting to process into the arena.
At the offertory, the priests of the (Anglican) Catholic Clerical Union presented Bishop Vann and his diocese with a hand-written icon of St Michael the Archangel on behalf of our diocese. He kindly acknowledged both our presence and our gift at the end of the Mass.
Everyone at the event was very kind. Many of the people there, priests and laity, stopped to say hello and welcome us. Maddy was a big hit too, as always. On our way to the parking lot, she even got a smile and a wave from Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, as he scurried off to catch a plane to old Chicago.
Best wishes to the people of the diocese; thank you for your friendship. May God truly bless you and may God multiply our fellowship and our (yet to be fully realized) bonds of communion. May we grow to be one in the Lord, one in faith, and one in hope.
5 comments:
These are really good pictures, Father -- Thank you!
I've sent a copy to Bishop Iker -- I think he'll like it
See you soon,
CCS+
Was Bishop Gulick invited as well as Bishop Iker?
Sandford MacLean
I don't know, but I doubt he'd be interested. The Episcopal priests were the only ecumenical guests there.
Sanford,
I found out the answer. First, the Episcopal clergy were the only ecumenical guests in order to highlight and encourage a close relationship. Second, the TEC Fort Worth clergy were not invited as a deliberate statement that Bishop Vann does not recognize the legitimacy of the TEC diocese since it was illegally constituted (or reconsituted, or reorganized. . . . whatever you prefer) as well as a show of public support for Bishop Iker and his diocese.
Thanks, Father!
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