Lambeth

Lambeth (pronounced lam-bith)

(1) A south London suburb, the location of Lambeth Palace, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

(2) A slang term for the hierarchy of the Church of England.

The name Lambeth embodies hithe, a Middle English word for a landing on the river.  Lambeth Palace has for some eight-hundred years been the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.  It sits on the south bank of the Thames, a quarter mile (400m) south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which contains the houses of parliament, on the opposite bank.

Rowan Williams (b 1950; Archbishop of Canterbury 2002-2012) and Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022) chat at Lambeth Palace.

The Lambeth Conference

The Lambeth Conference is a (nominally) decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury.  There have been fourteen Lambeth Conferences, the first in 1867.  The Anglican Communion is an international association of autonomous national and regional churches, not a governing body and the office of Archbishop of Canterbury is in no way analogous with the Roman Catholic Pope.  The conferences serve a collaborative and consultative function and are said to express “…the mind of the communion" on issues of the day. Resolutions passed at a Lambeth Conference are without legal effect, but can be influential.

Conferences were never the pure and high-minded discussions of ethics, morality and theology some now appear to believe characterized the pre-modern (in this context those held prior to 1968) events.  Agenda and communiqués from all conferences have always included the procedural, administrative and jurisdictional although in recent years, they’ve certainly reflected an increasingly factionalized communion rent with cross-cutting cleavages, first over the ordination of women and of late, homosexual clergy.  During the 1998 conference, Bishop Chukwuma (b 1954) of Nigeria attempted to exorcise "homosexual demons" from the soul of Nigerian-born Richard Kirker (b 1951), a British priest and general secretary of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement.  Recalling probably Ephesians 4:32 or perhaps the more cautionary Matthew 6:15, Kirker forgave him.

The spirit of Kirker notwithstanding, at this point, the disagreements seem insoluble.  The poisonous atmosphere at, and in the aftermath of, the last conference in 2008 did not enhance the image of the church and a typically Anglican solution to avoid a repetition in 2018 seemed to have emerged.  In 2014, in answer to the suggestion he had cancelled the 2018 conference, Archbishop Justin Welby (b 1956; 105th Archbishop of Canterbury 2013-), in a statement worthy of any of his predecessors, responded by stating, "As it hasn’t been called, it can’t have been cancelled."

A communiqué issued after the primates' meeting in January 2016, noted the bishops had accepted the archbishop’s proposal the fifteenth conference should be held in 2020.  However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was in March 2020 decided to postpone the conference to the summer of 2021 but the virus proved elusive and by July, the delay had been extended to 2022.  The first epistle of Peter has been chosen as the biblical focus for the conference, the theme of which is said to be what it means to be “God’s Church for God’s World”.  The apostle Peter wrote this epistle to give comfort to Christians suffering persecution from non-believers, hoping to encourage them to live pure lives despite their vicissitudes.

#lambeth got tagged in Lindsay Lohan's political commentaries on the dramatic night of the Brexit referendum in 2016.  She was a part of Team %remain.  

Peter didn’t sugar-coat the message (1 Peter 4:12-19), making it clear that for Christians, suffering is actually a participation in the sufferings of Christ and is an occasion for rejoicing, helpfully adding that in the midst of the suffering, the Holy Spirit rests upon those who are suffering, this being a great consolation.  He further explains that God uses suffering to purify the Christian community, God's household.  God uses the abuse that pagans unjustly heap on Christians to prepare his people for the return of Christ and warns people not to be surprised at the fiery ordeal that will come upon them as followers of Jesus.  Actually, they should be both grateful and happy and thus glorify God, for if they share in Christ’s sufferings it means they will also share in his glory.

In a world beset by fire, flood, pestilence and plague, 1 Peter seems a good theme to loom over a Lambeth Conference.  Whether or not Christians beyond the Kent conference rooms will long note the message, it probably will resonate with Archbishop Welby’s predecessor, Rowan Williams (Baron Williams of Oystermouth, b 1950; 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, 2002-2012).  During his tenure at Lambeth, Dr Williams probably felt more ignored than persecuted by non-believers, finding the internecine squabbles of the believers in the Anglican factions rather more tiresome.  Declaring the problems in the church “insoluble” he seemed not unhappy to be leaving Lambeth to return to his study and write about Dostoevsky.  A generous spirit, he will have wished his successor well.

Breakaway

Breakaway (pronounced breyk-uh-wey)

(1) An act or instance of breaking away; secession; separation.

(2) A departure or break from routine or tradition.

(3) A person, thing or institution which breaks away.

(4) An object, used in theatrical productions as a prop, constructed easily to break or fall apart (also used to describe costumes designed quickly to be change and thus easily removed), especially upon impact; by extension, anything deliberately constructed of lightweight material or in such a way as to shatter or come apart easily, sometimes as a safety feature.

(5) In ice hockey, a sudden rush down the ice by a player or players in an attempt to score a goal, after breaking clear of defending opponents.

(6) In various codes of football, a run by an offensive player breaking through the defense for a long gain.

(7) In basketball, a term for the fast break.

(8) In rugby union, two forwards positioned at the side of the scrum (also called flankers).

(9) In Australian rural slang, an animal that breaks away from the herd or flock or a synonym for a stampede of a number of beasts.

(10) In Australian geographical slang, an eroding steep slope on the edge of a plateau; an escarpment; a channel of floodwater that has burst from its usual course; or the track or channel eroded by the water (archaic).

(11) Of, relating to, or being that which separates or secedes.

(12) In horse racing, a premature start.

(13) In bicycle racing, a individual or group of riders which has gone ahead of the peloton (the main group).

(14) In the entertainment industry, enjoying sudden & rapid popular success as a result of one role, release etc (archaic, now called “break-out”).

(15) In geopolitics, a sometimes used alternative descriptor for the renegade province of Taiwan. 

1885–1895: A noun & adjectival form based on the (verb) phrase “break away”.  Break was from the Middle English breken, from the Old English brecan (to break), from the Proto-West Germanic brekan, from the Proto-Germanic brekaną (to break), from the primitive Indo-European breg- (to break).  Away was from the Middle English away, awey, awei, oway, o wey & on way, from the Old English āweġ & onweġ (away), the original form being on weġ (on one's way; onward; on), the construct being a- (on) +‎ way (a road; direction).  It was cognate with the Scots awa & away (away), the Old Frisian aweg & awei (away), the Saterland Frisian wäch & wääge (away), the Dutch weg (away), the German weg (away), the Danish væk (away) and the Swedish i väg (away; off; along).

The phrase “break away”, in the sense "disengage oneself abruptly, escape" dates from the 1530s.  The late nineteenth century breakaway was used to describe physical objects, especially specifically engineered theatre props.  The use in sport was noted first in 1906 while the hyphenated break-away seems initially to have been used to describe those individuals associated with breakaway movements but a convention of use never emerged.  The use to describe splinter groups or anything schismatic began in the adjectival sense in the 1930s and was so joined by the noun and in that context the synonyms include breakup, separation, defection, dissension, disunion, division, parting, rift, rupture, schism, split, disaffiliation, & splinter group.

All Blacks vs the Barbarians, Cardiff Arms Park, 1973.

Rugby Union is noted, inter alia, for some inconsistencies in the names applied to positions.  The reasons for this are historical as the game’s origins lie in the early nineteenth century at a time when communication was slow and irregular between the parts of the British Empire (and the US) where it was played.  Nomenclature thus evolved in bubbles (as did some rules) and it seems that in Australia and New Zealand, the terminology could differ even between provinces.  Despite professionalism, some of the differences persist to this day which is why mysterious terms like “second five-eight” and “wing three quarter” still sometimes baffle neophyte audiences.  The breakaway is now more commonly called the “flanker” and there are blindside flankers (No 6) and openside flankers (No 7), the distinction being that the No 7 attaches (loosely) to the scrum on whichever side is further from the nearer touchline.  Breakaways are there to tackle the opposition and hopefully steal the ball and, although not tightly bound to the scrum, do contribute to its rigidity by applying lateral force.  The breakaways are the most obvious variation from the formation used in the breakaway (the split from rugby union dating from 1895) code of rugby league which otherwise uses the same positions and field placements, although, reflecting the later, more codified origin, the terminology tends to be more consistent between nations.

Breakaways: GAFCON and the Diocese of Southern Cross.

Belonging to a long tradition of splits, squabbles, schisms and general fissiparousness in Christianity and other faiths, congregations of Australia’s breakaway faction of the Anglican Church this week began meeting in suburban clubs and halls.  Modest though the surrounds might have been, the turbulent priests are not all that lonely in their walk, joining the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), an umbrella breakaway group dividing the Anglican Church in many countries.

GAFCON’s core objections are to the “revisionist interpretations” of the Bible by Anglican bishops, a slippery slide of “heresies” which have permitted the ordination of women, the blessing of same-sex marriages and a permissive attitude towards divorce.  Accordingly, the Diocese of Southern Cross was recently launched at a GAFCON conference in Canberra, the announcement made by its new bishop, Glenn Davies (b 1950; Archbishop of Sydney 2013-2021), the Anglican church’s former archbishop of Sydney.  In a statement which was a lament rather that a celebration, the bishop noted it was “…a sad day, in many ways”, adding that “…if the leadership would repent and turn back to the teachings of the bible, we wouldn’t need the Diocese of Southern Cross. I’d shut it down and come back.”  He denied procuring worshipers from other congregations, saying “I’m not luring people in, I’m not recruiting; I’m providing a safe haven and they can come to me.”

The way things used to be done.  St George's Anglican Church, Beenleigh, Queensland, Australia.

The Australian event is the latest expansion of a movement that is dividing the communion in many countries with rebel dioceses having already been formed in North America, South America, Africa and Europe and there are many who concede the schism has already evolved to the point where it must be acknowledged there are now two Anglican Churches in the US.  The nature of religiosity among Christians in Australia is however different from the US experience, both qualitatively and quantitatively.  Anglicanism was between white settlement in 1788 and the twenty-first century, at least nominally, most numerous denomination in Australia but the most recent census data revealed Anglican affiliation dropped more than any other religion in the past five years, from 3.1 to 2.5 million people, almost one in five and fewer than 10% of the population now self-identify as Anglican.  Of this declining sect of Christianity, many predict the breakaway Diocese of Southern Cross will grow but it’s unlikely to assume the critical mass such movements can attain in Africa and the Americas, simply because there simply aren’t enough folk who take religion that seriously.

The new way.  The first service of the Diocese of Southern Cross was held in a meeting room of the Beenleigh RSL (Returned Services League) & Golf Club.

 The breakaway GAFCON is not a new formation.  The culmination of the internal stresses visible in the Anglican communion since the 1968 Lambeth Conference, GAFCOM coalesced over three conferences held between 2008-2018, convened by conservative Anglican bishops and leaders concerned about the establishment’s positions on issues such as the ordination of women, secularism, HIV/AIDS , the matter of gay clergy and marriage equality.  Provocatively held one month prior to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, GAFCON made clear it existed because of heresy, the revisionist "false gospel" which since the 1960s had become part of Anglican orthodoxy, claiming it denied the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and promoted a corrosive cultural relativism which accepted a "variety of sexual preferences and immoral behavior as a universal human right".  These matters had been debated by the factions for years but it was the consecration of the confessed (and non-celibate) homosexual Vicky Gene Robinson (b 1947; Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire 2004-2013) as a bishop by the Episcopal Church in the US which induced the conservative faction be explore an institutional formation, either to “march through the institution” or form a separate church, depending on how the numbers fell.

As things turned out in 2008, it seemed clear a takeover wasn’t (yet) a practical proposition but that GAFCON would continue as a concept.  What was decided was to create in North America, where the threat seemed greatest, a kind of parallel church, an ecclesiastical structure which would cater for conservative Anglicans, a mechanism possible the communiqué asserted because the Archbishop of Canterbury is not a pope and his recognition of an institution is not required to secure a presence within the Anglican Communion.  In a nice touch, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was called "a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer”.  Lambeth Palace, predictably, while noting the breakaway’s position was fraught with theological and structural difficulties, otherwise did nothing.  Schisms sometimes flourish, sometimes fade away, sometimes are re-absorbed by the establishment and sometimes cause wars.  With the Lambeth Conference having just concluded, attention will now turn to at least three of those options.

The word “breakaway” can be used of used of Hollywood starlets who wish to break away from the innocent persona of their youth (left), chocolate bars with a wafer centre (a la the Kit Kat) (centre) and devices designed to break away from their connection at a certain stress point (right).

Insoluble

Insoluble (pronounced in-sol-yuh-buhl)

(1) A substance which cannot be dissolved, broken down or dispersed.

(2) That which cannot be solved; unsolvable; insolvable.

(3) That which cannot be explained; mysterious or inexplicable.

(4) In chemistry, a substance incapable of dissolving in a solvent.

1350-1400: From the Middle English insoluble (indestructible, unable to be loosened), from the Old French insoluble or the Latin insolūbilis (that which cannot be loosened), the construct being in (not) + solubilis (soluble) which replaced the Middle English insolible; Middle French borrowed the word from the Latin as insoluble.  In the sciences, the noun insolubility in the sense of “incapability of dissolving in a liquid” dates from 1754 (insoluble having conveyed that since 1713), the Late Latin insolubilitas having previously been used and from 1791 it replaced the Latin insolubilis (that cannot be loosened) although in the early seventeenth century it’d been used of the marriage vow to mean "that cannot be dissolved".  The curious (and in many way annoying as such thing in English are) parallel meaning "that which cannot be solved" dates from 1722 and etymologists think it likely a separate formation from the earlier senses.  The related adjective irresolvable was from the 1650s and was from an assimilated form of in- (not, opposite of), the meaning "that which cannot be resolved into parts" emerging after 1785.  Insoluble is a noun & adjective, insolubility is a noun and insolubly is an adverb; the noun plural is insolubles.

In chemistry, insoluble has the precise technical meaning “incapable of dissolving in a solvent” and while it’s actually rare for absolutely no solute to dissolve at all, many substances are poorly soluble although a compound may be insoluble in one solvent yet fully miscible in another.  There’s also the influence of external factors, most notable temperature; increasing temperature frequently improves the solubility of a solute.  The figurative sense (that which cannot be solved; unsolvable; insolvable) is actually used less than other words or phrases which convey the idea, doubtlessly because of the parallel meaning.  Some claim that in Medieval scholarship, it was a tacit conviction among the learned that the insoluble question did not exist and that all that was ever required was to find the right man whose studies were so deep that he would eventually deduce the answer.  It’s a modern-sounding idea and recalls some of the optimistic phases the United States went through in the twentieth century; probably few think like that now.

Dr Rowan Williams (b 1950; Archbishop of Canterbury, 2002-2012) and Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022), discussing insoluble problems during the papal visit to the UK, Lambeth Palace, London, September 2010

One who probably never felt quite like that but may at times have allowed himself the odd, brief moment of optimism was former Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, a literary critic and one-time Professor of Divinity at Oxford although his decade in Lambeth Palace seems to have cured him of that.  In late 2008, Dr Williams took a two month summer sabbatical to finish a book about his literary hero, the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) which was published as Dostoevsky: Language, Faith and Fiction.  Those few weeks may have been among the happiest of his life, later reflecting that “It was a wonderful experience actually, just being able to get up in the morning and write instead go to committees and answer letters and try to solve insoluble problems in the church.”  To the suggestion that prayer might provide answers to at least some of those insoluble problems he replied “I'll do just that.”  Ten years on, there little indication his prayers were answered.

Purgatory

Purgatory (pronounced pur-guh-tree (U), pur-guh-tawr-ee (non-U) or pur-guh-tohr-ee (non-U)

(1) In the orthodox theology of the Roman Catholic Church (and in some other Christian denominations), a condition or place in which the souls of those dying penitent (in a state of grace) are purified from venial sins, or undergo the temporal punishment that, after the guilt of mortal sin has been remitted, still remains to be endured by the sinner.

(2) In the Italian Purgatorio (pronounced poor-gah-taw-ryaw), the second part of Dante's (Dante Alighieri (circa 1265–1321)) Divine Comedy (1320), in which repentant sinners are depicted.

(3) Any condition or place of temporary punishment, suffering, expiation, or the like; any place of suffering, usually for past misdeeds.

(4) Serving to cleanse, purify, or expiate.

1160-1180: From the Middle English purgatorie (place or condition of temporal punishment for spiritual cleansing after death of souls dying penitent and destined ultimately for Heaven), from the Old French purgatore & purgatorie, from the Medieval Latin pūrgātōrium (means of cleaning), noun use of neuter of the Late Latin pūrgātōrius (purging, literally “place of clensing”), the construct being pūrgā(re) (to purge) + -tōrius (-tory), the adjectival suffix, from purgat-, past-participle stem of pūrgāre (to purge, cleanse, purify).  The adjectival form developed in the late thirteenth century, independent of the evolution in Church Latin.  The figurative use (state of mental or emotional suffering, expiation etc) dates from the late fourteenth century, originally used poetically especially despairingly when speaking of unrequited love, or (and this may seem a paradox to same and merely descriptive to others), of marriage.   In old New England it was used of narrow gorges and steep-sided ravines, a reference to the difficulties to be dad when negotiating such terrain.  Purgatory, purgatorium & purgatorian are nouns and purgatorial is an adjective; the noun plural is purgatories.

Mankind's Eternal Dilemma: The Choice Between Virtue and Vice (1633) by Frans Francken the Younger (1581–1642), Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston.

In the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, the purgatory is the condition of souls of the dead who die with punishment but not damnation due them for their sins committed on Earth.  Purgatory is conceived as a condition of suffering and purification that leads to union with God in heaven and is something thus inherently temporary and has always been a bit of a theological problem because it’s not mentioned (or even alluded to) in the Bible.  The usual rationalization of this scriptural lacuna is the argument that prayer for the dead is an ancient practice of Christianity and one which has always assumed the dead can be in a state of suffering, something which the living can improve by their prayers.  Theological positions have hung on thinner strands than that and within Roman Catholicism, purgatory has never attracted the controversy which so excited critics of limbo, a rather more obviously unjust medieval conjecture, but many branches of Western Christianity, notably the Protestant tradition, deny its existence although among the more ritualistic, there are those who conceive purgatory as a place and one often depicted as filled with fire.  The transitory nature of the condition has often encouraged misunderstanding for it is not a place of probation; the ultimate salvation of those in purgatory assured, the impenitent not received into purgatory.  Instead, the souls in purgatory receive relief through the prayers of the faithful and through the sacrifice of the mass, the confusion perhaps arising from the imagining the destructive nature of fire on Earth whereas upon the soul with no earthly attachment, it can be only cleansing.

So purgatory is the state of those who die in God's grace but are not yet perfectly purified; they are guaranteed eternal salvation but must undergo purification after death to gain the holiness needed to enter heaven.  The purgatory, the framework of which was fully developed at the Councils of Florence (1431-1449) and Trent (1545 and 1563), is totally different from the punishment of the damned who are subject to a cleansing fire, the scriptural explanation being "The person will be saved, but only through fire" (1 Corinthians 3:15) but even then the Church recognized degrees of sin as Pope Gregory I (Saint Gregory the Great, circa 540–604; pope 590-604) helpfully clarified: "As for certain lesser faults, there is a purifying fire."  The possibilities were made explicit during the Council of Trent in the statement “God predestines no one to hell” which made clear that damnation is visited upon sinners only by a persistence in mortal sin until death and God would much prefer "all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).   In the Roman ritual, the relevant line is "save us from final damnation and count us among those you have chosen" and through purgatory, souls "achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven".  Mortal sin incurs both temporal punishment and eternal punishment, venial sin ("forgivable sin” in this context) incurs only temporal punishment. The Catholic Church makes a distinction between the two.

Dante and Virgil Entering Purgatory (1499-1502) by Luca Signorelli (circa 1444-1523), Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto, Italy.  The pair are shown in the first terrace watching souls of the prideful being made to cat stones on their backs.

The noun purgatory appeared perhaps between 1160 and 1180, giving rise to the idea of purgatory as a place but the Roman Catholic tradition of purgatory as a transitional condition has a history that pre-dates even the birth of Christ.  There was, around the world, a widespread practice of both caring for and praying for the dead, the idea that prayer contributed to their purification in the afterlife.  Anthropologists note the ritual practices in other traditions, such as the way medieval Chinese Buddhists would make offerings on behalf of the dead, said to suffer numerous trials so there is nothing novel in the practice which is mentioned in what the Roman Catholic Church has declared to be part of Sacred Scripture, and which was adopted by Christians from the beginning, a practice that pre-supposes that the dead are thereby assisted between death and their entry into their final and eternal abode.

Whether purgatory is actually a place has in Roman circles been discussed for centuries.  In 2011 Pope Benedict XVI (b 1927; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus since), speaking of Saint Catherine of Genoa (1447–1510), said that in her time the purgatory was pictured as a location in space, but that she saw it as a purifying inner fire, such as she experienced in her profound sorrow for sins committed, such a contrast with God's infinite love.  The failing of man she said was being bound to the desires and suffering that derive from sin and that makes it impossible for the soul to enjoy the beatific vision of God.  Noting that little appeared to have changed, Benedict noted "We too feel how distant we are, how full we are of so many things that we cannot see God. The soul is aware of the immense love and perfect justice of God and consequently suffers for having failed to respond in a correct and perfect way to this love; and love for God itself becomes a flame, love itself cleanses it from the residue of sin."

The Eastern Catholic Churches are Catholic churches sui iuris of Eastern tradition, (in full communion with the Pope) but there are some differences with Rome on aspects of purgatory, mostly relating to terminology and speculation.  The Eastern Catholic Churches of Greek tradition do not generally use the word "purgatory", but agree that there is a "final purification" for souls destined for heaven and that prayers can help the dead who are in that state of "final purification".  In neither east nor west are these matters thought substantive and are regarded as nuances and differences of tradition.  The Eastern Catholic Churches belonging to the Syriac Tradition (Chaldean, Maronite and Syriac Catholic), generally believe in the concept of Purgatory but use a different name (usually Sheol) and claim there is contradiction with the Latin-Catholic doctrine.  Rome appears never to have pursued the matter.

La Divina Commedia di Dante (Dante and His Poem), oil on canvas by Domenico di Michelino  (1417–1491) after Alesso Baldovinetti  (1425–1499), collection of Florence Cathedral, Italy.  This work, in depicting the seven terraces in the form of the mountain were one approach to Dante's Purgatory, the other a focus on one level. 

The Eastern Orthodox Church rejects the term "purgatory" but does admit an intermediate state after death, the determination of Heaven and Hell being stated in the Bible and it notes prayer for the dead is necessary.  The position of Constantinople and environs is that the moral progress of the soul, for better or worse, ends at the very moment of the separation of body and soul; it is in that instant the definite destiny of the soul in the everlasting life is decided.  There is no way of repentance, no way of escape, no reincarnation and no help from the outside world, the eternal place of the soul decided forever by its Creator and judge.  Thus the Orthodox position is that while all undergo judgment upon death, neither the just nor the wicked attain the final state of bliss or punishment before the last day, the obvious exception being the righteous soul of the Theotokos (the Blessed Virgin Mary), "who was borne by the angels directly to heaven".

Generally, Protestant churches reject the doctrine of purgatory although more than one Archbishop of Canterbury may have come to regard Lambeth Palace as Purgatory on Earth.  One of Protestantism's most cited tenets is sola scriptura (scripture alone) and because the Bible (from which Protestants exclude deuterocanonical books such as 2 Maccabees) contains no obvious mention of purgatory, it’s therefore rejected as an unbiblical and thus un-Christian.  There are however variations such as the doctrine of sola fide (by faith alone) which hold that pure faith, apart from any action, is what achieves salvation, and that good deeds are but mere manifestations of that faith so salvation is a discrete event that takes place once for all during one's lifetime, not the result of a transformation of character.  What does seem to complicate that is that most Protestant teaching is that a transformation of character naturally follows the salvation experience; instead of distinguishing between mortal and venial sins, Protestants believe that one's faith dictates one's state of salvation and one's place in the afterlife, those saved by God destined for heaven, those not excluded.  Purgatory is thus impossible.

Divina Commedia, Purgatorio (circa 1478), illuminated manuscript commissioned by Federico da Montefeltro (1422–1482), Vatican Library collection, Rome.  Again, the carring of stones on the first terrace, the style is recognizable in the later schools of mannerism and surrealism.  

Wishing to excise any hint of popery from religion, purgatory was addressed in two of the foundation documents of Anglicanism in the sixteenth century.  Prayers for the departed were deleted in the 1552 revision to the 1549 Book of Common Prayer because they implied a doctrine of purgatory (it was the nineteenth century Anglo-Catholic that saw them restored to some editions) and Article XXII of the the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (1571) was most explicit: "The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory . . . is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God."  In the twenty-first century, the Anglicans, finding it hard to sit anywhere but on the fence, now say “Purgatory is seldom mentioned in Anglican descriptions or speculations concerning life after death, although many Anglicans believe in a continuing process of growth and development after death.”  The post-modern church writ small; one wonders if the PowerPoint slides of Anglican accountants and Anglican theologians greatly differ.

In Judaism, Gehenna is a place of purification where, according to some traditions, sinners spend up to a year before release.  For some, there are three classes of souls: (1) the righteous who shall at once be written down for the life everlasting, (2) the wicked who shall be damned and (3), those whose virtues and sins counterbalance one another shall go down to Gehenna and float up and down until they rise purified.  Other sects speak only of the good and the bad yet, confusingly, most also mention an intermediate state.  There’s also variance between the traditions regarding the time which purgatory in Gehenna lasts, some saying twelve months and others forty-nine days, both opinions based upon Isaiah 66:23–24: "From one new moon to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before Me, and they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched"; the former interpreting the words "from one new moon to another" to signify all the months of a year; the latter interpreting the words "from one Sabbath to another", in accordance with Leviticus 23:15-16, to signify seven weeks.  Whatever the specified duration, there are exceptions made for the souls of the impure which prove resistant to the persuasions of the Gehenna.  According to the Baraita (a Jewish oral law tradition), the souls of the wicked are judged, and after these twelve months are are consumed and transformed into ashes under the feet of the righteous whereas the "great seducers and blasphemers" are to undergo eternal tortures in Gehenna without cessation.  The righteous however and, according to some, also the sinners among the people of Israel for whom Abraham intercedes because they bear the Abrahamic sign of the covenant, are not harmed by the fire of Gehenna even when they are required to pass through the intermediate state of purgatory.

Relief sculpture on a side wall at the Chapel of Souls, (Capilla de Animas) in Compostela, Spain.  These are the souls of the lustful on the seventh terrace, praying for release, which they have been promised will (eventually) be granted by the cleansing flames, something dependent on true repentance.

It was the Florentine poet Dante (Dante Alighieri, circa 1265–1321) who, in the second cantica of the epic poem Divine Comedy (1320) gave the world a vivid depiction of the place he called Purgatorio.  Dante described Purgatory as a mountain which rose on the far side of the world, opposite Jerusalem, with seven terraces, each corresponding to the one of the seven deadly sins, each terrace a place of purification for souls who are penitent and seeking to cleanse themselves of their sins, so to be judged worthy of entering Paradise.  In the valley at the base of the mountain is Ante-Purgatory and here sit the souls of the excommunicated and those who delayed repentance (the so called the “late repentant”) as they await their turn to begin their ascent of the terraces.  Throughout Purgatory, angels and guides assist the souls and Dante's guide is the Roman poet Virgil (symbolizing human reason).  Virgil leads Dante until they reach Earthly Paradise where Beatrice (representing divine wisdom) takes over as the guide to Heaven.

The seven terraces

First Terrace (Pride): Here the souls are humbled by being made to carry heavy stones on their backs, forcing them to bend and contemplate humility.

Second Terrace (Envy): Envious souls are punished by having their eyes sewn shut with twists of iron wire so they may learn to appreciate the beauty of charity and generosity.

Third Terrace (Wrath): Souls of the wrathful Souls enveloped in a thick smoke that blinds them, teaching them to cultivate patience and peace.

Fourth Terrace (Sloth): The slothful are punished by being forced incessantly to run, encouraging diligence and zeal.

Fifth Terrace (Avarice and Prodigality): These souls have to lie face down in the dirt and weep, teaching them to balance their desire for material wealth with the virtues of generosity and moderation.

Sixth Terrace (Gluttony): The gluttonous are starved so extreme hunger and thirst constantly will remind them of the importance of temperance.

Seventh Terrace (Lust): Souls here walk through walls of flames, purging the sin of lust, teaching chastity and love for God.

Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.

That all sound rather grim but at the mountain’s summit sits the reward: Earthly Paradise (the Garden of Eden).  Here, in this place of peace and beauty, symbolizing the restored innocence and grace, souls are purified completely and ready to ascend to Heaven.  So, the purpose of Dante's Purgatory is less the punishments which must be endured than the possibility of redemption from sin through repentance to purification, leading ultimately to the soul's readiness for Paradise. In this it contrasts with the eternal sufferings which are the fate of those souls condemned to the circles of Hell.

Heresy

Heresy (pronounced her-uh-see)

(1) Opinion or doctrine at variance with the orthodox or accepted doctrine, especially of a church or religious system.

(2) The maintaining of such an opinion or doctrine.

(3) In Roman Catholic canon law, the wilful and persistent rejection of any article of faith by a baptized member of the church.

(4) Dissent, iconoclasm, dissension.

1175–1225: From Middle English heresie from Old French heresie and Late Latin haeresis (school of thought, philosophical sect) derived from the Greek haíresis (act of choosing, derivative of haireîn (to choose)).  Source of the Greek was haireisthai (take, seize), middle voice of hairein (to choose) of unknown origin but likely derived from the primitive ser (to seize), thought also to be the root of both the Hittite šaru and the Welsh herw, both best translated as “booty".  The modern meaning emerged from the use by early Christian writers who used the literal translation from the Latin (sect or doctrine) to convey their disapproval of unorthodox thoughts or ideas.  The Greek word was used in the New Testament in reference to the Sadducees, Pharisees, and even the Christians, as sects of Judaism, but in English bibles it usually is translated as sect.   The meaning "religious belief opposed to the orthodox doctrines of the Church" evolved in Late Latin and was adopted for non-religious use as early as the late fourteenth century.

The Church of England Rejects Heresy Courts Proposal

Lindsay Lohan offering salvation to a heretic in Machete (2010).  The revolver is a Smith & Wesson Model 500 (8.38" barrel; .50 Magnum load)

In mid-1999, in a rare moment of clarity, the Church of England flirted, after a gap of one-hundred and fifty years, with the re-introduction of heresy trials to deal with clergy accused of deviation in matters of doctrine or ritual.  The last heresy trial was in 1847, when the Bishop of Exeter (Henry Phillpotts (1778–1869; Anglican Bishop of Exeter 1830-1869) accused the Reverend George Cornelius Gorham (1787–1857) of being unsound on the doctrine of "baptismal regeneration", Mr Gorham not agreeing a person was cleansed of original sin at baptism and born again into Christ.  Although the Court of Arches agreed with the bishop, on appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overturned the ruling which caused a (very Anglican) controversy about whether a secular court should be able to rule on matters of doctrine (as opposed to law or procedure).  Since then clergy and bishops have been (more or less) free to deviate from doctrine without punishment and the Right Reverend David Jenkins (1925-2016), a former Bishop of Durham (1984-1994), famously raised a few eyebrows when he discussed his heterodoxic view on the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Christ.  The new disciplinary procedure for clergy was to include offences against "doctrine, ritual and the ceremonial" because those who profess atheism or deny the doctrine of the Trinity or the Incarnation “should be disciplined”.

Heretic crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013) being burned at the stake (digitally altered image).

Although not as well known as other inquisitions, in England, in the sixteenth century Reformation during the reign of Henry VIII (1491–1547; King of England (and Ireland after 1541) 1509-1547), about 60 heretics were executed.  Heresy laws were repealed in 1547, but reintroduced in 1554 by Mary I (1516–1558; Queen of England and Ireland 1553-1558 & Queen of Spain 1556-1558), under whom about 290 heretics were burned at the stake after the restoration of papal jurisdiction.  Executions of some 180 religious opponents continued under Elizabeth I (1533–1603; Queen of England & Ireland 1558-1603) but on grounds of treason rather than heresy although the offence remained on the books.  To the condemned, it must have seemed a tiresome technical distinction.  The last execution of a "heretic" in England occurred in 1612 although technically that was for the offence of blasphemy.  Puritanical, if not quite to the end but certainly for as long as they could, there was one later execution in Scotland in 1697 when Thomas Aikenhead (circa 1676-1697) was accused, inter alia, of denying the doctrine of the Trinity.  In a example of Scottish judicial modernization, Mr Aikenhead was hanged rather than burned at the stake although blasphemy as a capital offence was retained until 1825.

Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022) and Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023) discuss the fate of heretics. 

Unfortunately, after mulling over things for half-a–decade, the General Synod of the Church of England rejected the revival of a heresy court and didn’t, even more regrettably, consider bringing back burnings at the stake.  It seems there were fears the court could be used to enforce a traditionalist view, targeting clergy, who for example, support same-sex marriages or gay clergy, both now apparently matters of greater theological importance than a belief in the resurrection.  That does seem strange given it’s the central tenet of Christianity but that’s clearly become view from both the General Synod and Lambeth Palace.  In an address to the synod, displaying his flair for simultaneously changing the subject and answering a different question than the one asked, then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams (b 1950; Archbishop of Canterbury 2002-2012), said it was important for the church “…to be able to speak out against issues like Apartheid.  The question I think we ought to be asking is whether this does or does not serve the integrity or credibility of the church in the long run.  I believe that such a measure can serve the integrity and credibility of the church if we do indeed step back in this way.  It is over twenty years since the World Alliance of Reform Churches declared that the theological justification for Apartheid was a heresy.  It would be, I think a very incredible and inadequate Christian church which did not have the resource to say something like that.”

Thy neighbor’s ass.

To most in the secular West, the terms “blasphemy” and “heresy” probably sound archaic although they remain fixtures in figurative use in sport, popular culture and such.  However, in the Roman Catholic Church they remain matters of significance, the latter even handled by canon law.  Although misleading, a way to illustrate the difference is to regard blasphemy as a sin against God while heresy is an offence against faith (technically against the church but according to the Holy See they’re the same thing).  Rome regards blasphemy as any speech, action, or thought which discloses one’s contempt, disrespect, or irreverence toward God, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the saints or anything treated as sacred.  Perhaps surprisingly (given how it’s handled in other jurisdictions), in the narrow technical sense, blasphemy is not explicitly defined in the 1983 Code of Canon Law (CIC) and instead is considered a grave sin and evidence of it can be used as evidence when considering specific offenses which are codified.  Once can commit blasphemy by cursing God, mocking sacred rites or publicly insulting the Eucharist and historically “taking the name of the Lord in vain” was the best known injunction against the habit.  In the King James Version of the Bible (KJV, 1611) it was written as: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain” and was in most translations the second of the Ten Commandments in Judaism and Christianity, handed down to man by God.  In the unforgiving Old testament (Exodus 20:7 & Deuteronomy 5:11) it’s reinforced by the injunction: “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” and that it appears so high in the list of ten (only: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” precedes it) does suggest it may have been thought a more critical matter than someone coveting their neighbor’s ass (tenth and last).  Not being mentioned in canon law, dealing with the offence varies on a case-by-case basis and while excommunication is now rare, depending on severity or recidivism, there can be canonical penalties, especially if there’s any whiff of scandal (ie bad publicity).

Heresy is different in that it’s codified in Canon 751 of the 1983 CIC as: “the obstinate denial or obstinate doubt after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith.”  That obviously casts a wide judicial net but, since the major revision of the CIC in 1917, the most commonly cited examples have been (1) denying the divinity of Christ, (2) rejecting the doctrine of the Trinity or (3) refusing to accept papal infallibility (although of the latter there’s much de facto tolerance by virtue of papal infallibility being now something implied rather than invoked (which, in the narrow technical sense, has happened only once in the last 150-odd years)).  As students of the modern church have noted, there’s much heresy going on (indeed, for some bolshie priests it seems to be a calling) but despite Canon 1364 stating a heretic is subject to latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication (meaning they are excommunicated without and need for a formal declaration), the sanction is now rarely invoked.  These days, it seems to be excommunicated for heresy, the offense needs to be both serious and repeated.

Door not ajar: The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith where blasphemy and heresy are deracinated.

Contrasting that, the vagueness of “blasphemy” means it is available as charge for offences which don’t have to fall within defined criteria.  In other words, quite what blasphemy is can be up to the Inquisitor (the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF)) and in that sense Vatican justice can be seen as something like “the length of the chancellor’s foot” in Medieval England.  That doesn’t mean it’s quite like the apocryphal “unspecified offences” and the closest comparison is probably the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) 寻衅滋事 (Picking quarrels and provoking trouble) that can be used to secure a conviction when, inconveniently, no law appears to have been broken.  One heresy which can have consequences short of excommunication is a defiance of what is the core rule of the framework on which the church is built: obedience to the chain of command.  Structurally, the Roman Catholic Church operates on the Führerprinzip (leader principle) best known from the German Nazi state that was the Third Reich (1933-1945) and what that means is as the bishops must obey the pope, so priests must obey their bishop.  In practice of course there’s long been a bit of drift from this and most offences are dealt with by (1) ignoring them, (2) pretending they never happened or (3) rationalizing them as something else but if a malcontent’s conduct becomes so defiantly egregious it starts to frighten the horses, Rome will act.

Condemned blasphemer the former Father Pavone in MAGA (Make America Great Again) cap, fulfilling his broadcast media commitments, Orlando, Florida, February 2024.

Frank Pavone (b 1959 and still head of the organization Priests for Life (a US-based anti-abortion collective) despite having been laicised (defrocked) in 2022), found himself in the Inquisitor’s sights because of what was described by the Vatican as: “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience” of his bishop although the communiqué didn’t specify which was thought more heinous.  Ominously, a letter from the papal nuncio (the Holy See’s ambassador) to the US bishops made it clear there is no mechanism available to lodge an appeal.  Ordained in 1988, the former Father Pavone had been investigated by his then-diocese of Amarillo, Texas, for having in 2016 placed an aborted fetus on an altar and posting a video of it on two social media sites but what seems to have most disturbed Rome was him being one of those “meddling priests” who involved himself less in the spiritual and more in the earthly, posting frequently to decry crooked Hillary Clinton and extol the virtues of Donald Trump (b 1946; US president 2017-2021 and since 2025), almost always on the basis of their respective positions on abortion.  Mr Pavone remained defiant after being defrocked, comparing his fate to that of the unborn children he vowed to continue to defend: “So in every profession, including the priesthood, if you defend the #unborn, you will be treated like them!  The only difference is that when we are “aborted”, we continue to speak, loud and clear.”  Even defrocked, he wasn’t without clerical support, one bishop calling then President Joe Biden's (b 1942; US president 2021-2025) advocacy for abortion rights “evil”, tarring Rome with the same brush: “The blasphemy is that this holy priest is canceled while an evil president promotes the denial of truth & the murder of the unborn at every turn, Vatican officials promote immorality & denial of the deposit of faith & priests promote gender confusion devastating lives...evil."  Despite explicit instructions, Mr Pavone continues to present himself as a priest.