MUCH MORE THAN “A PLACE IN THE SUN”!

After a hard winter in Britain it may be tempting to think that a Vicar’s life is easier in the Mediterranean sunshine. The latest edition of THE EUROPEAN ANGLICAN – the quarterly magazine of the Diocese in Europe reflects the reality of life in the Church of England’s fastest growing diocese.

• It features the account of Canon Malcolm Bradshaw from St Paul’s, Greater Athens on what life has been like in the firing line during civil unrest and riots

• The Rt Rev David Hamid, Bishop in Europe, reflects on dialogue with a “Common word of hope” between Christians and Muslims

• There are pictures of the newly restored St Helena Chapel in Istanbul, badly damaged in a terrorist bombing in November 2003

• An 83 year old Catholic Priest and poet is in conversation with the Anglican Chaplain in Gothenburg, reflecting on the conundrum of a Christian considering a ‘Just War’ or a ‘Just Revolution’ – “I was very much influenced by Gandhi, for example with his refusal to help the British army in their fight against Hitler”

• Still in the Arctic Circle there is the heartening story of how English speaking service were developed and are growing in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik

• History is uncovered as we take a stroll through a cemetery in Florence (Italy) where are buried “great poets and writers, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Walter Savage Landor, Arthur Hugh Clough and Frances Trollope. Mary Somerville, responsible for the invention of the computer and discovering two planets buried her husband William here”

• Holy Trinity Church, Brussels (Belgium) shares its newly drawn up code of guidance for Christians using email where a carelessly worded message could be harmful rather than a personal face-to-face conversation. Other churches are encouraged to consider this.