Former Anglican cleric withdraws request for Catholic ordination, to continue speaking out
December 02, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: Dr. Gavin Ashenden, the former chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II who was received into the Catholic Church in 2017, has explained that he withdrew his request for ordination as a Catholic priest “when I was told that to move forward… would require being silenced.”
The former Anglican cleric said that he felt an obligation to continue speaking out:
The Church in our day was surrounded by a deep, corrosive and dangerous intellectual and moral heresy, which I thought I understood and knew needed public repudiation. And the public platforms that were being given to me day after day allowed me to do just that.He also observed that since he left the Church of England, “One of the surprising developments recently has been the number of Catholic priests who have been cancelled by their bishops.” The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
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Posted by: Randal Mandock -
Dec. 04, 2022 7:52 PM ET USA
This man is both a true hero and a "dry martyr" (e.g., https://www.catholicjournal.us/2015/06/03/a-dry-martyrdom/). I applaud his decision to stand for Christ, rather than for the silence of the cowed. The laity needs more Catholics of his stature and courage. If the priesthood sees fit to reject the best among us, be assured that your unease with the current ecclesial state of affairs is well founded. It seems that the modern clerical state parallels the academic state: little place for truth.
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Posted by: grateful1 -
Dec. 02, 2022 6:00 PM ET USA
How terribly sad that Dr. Ashenden feels compelled to withdraw his request for ordination. Let us pray that God strengthens him to double down on his commitment to speak out. That may be where the Church needs him most.
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Posted by: miketimmer499385 -
Dec. 02, 2022 12:16 PM ET USA
Well, that about sums up the distressing situation in which we find ourselves. I see apology and timidity all around me in the healthiest of parishes and dioceses. The first product of the synodal process, if to be judged by the "letter" of Archbishop Hebda in St. Paul/Minneapolis, is baleful. It appears to be a hedge constructed by the least aware behind which the most responsible can hide, just as Ashenden was instructed to hide in the seminary.
