Vatican offical praises Paralympics

SPORT is “one of the greatest sources of inspiration for many people”, the under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture with responsibility for sport, Mgr Melchor Sánchez de Toca, said this week, as the Paralympics got under way. This was “especially true of the Paralympic sport. I personally know Paralympian athletes who decided to try to do sport by watching other Paralympic athletes’ performances on TV.” The games started in Tokyo on Tuesday, under Covid-19 protocols. The under-secretary noted that, in Rio, the global audience for the Paralympics was larger than that for the Olympics.

New Province for Mozambique and Angola approved

THE Anglican Communion has formally approved the formation of a new Province, the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola (News, 26 March), the Anglican Church of Southern Africa reported on Monday. The Secretary-General of the Communion, the Rt Revd Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, has confirmed that 29 member churches have consented to the development. One Province abstained, and no objections were received. The dioceses in the two countries are currently part of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The new Province will hold its first synod meeting in September, and an inauguration service on 24 September. A weblink is planned so that anyone can join the service online.

US Episcopalian congregations find new homes

ALL SAINTS’, FORT WORTHAll Saints’ Episcopal Church, in Fort Worth, is now worshipping at its school

ALL but one of the six congregations loyal to the Episcopal Church in the United States and evicted from places of worship after losing a 12-year legal battle with the Anglican Church in North America’s (ACNA’s) Episcopal diocese of Fort Worth (News, 26 February) have found temporary homes and resumed worship. The Episcopal News Service reports that they are now known collectively as the Episcopal Church of North Texas.

The new locations are a former bank drive-through, a school chapel, a university campus, a Lutheran church, and a Disciples of Christ church. The congregation from St Elisabeth and Christ the King, Fort Worth, chose to disband and worship at other US Episcopal churches in the area. Membership before the 2008 split was more than 17,000. The US Episcopalian loyalists have been fewer than 4000 since 2008, when the split occurred.