Hip, hip hooray to the newly weds!

Now that Kate and Wills have tied the knot, we wish them all the best and may they live and love happily ever after! Now I could not help but remark about these by Damian Thompson

This is what the Church of England is for

and

that cartwheeling verger!

Damian Thompson is right that the wedding liturgy shows what the CoE is best at doing. The Anglican choral tradition is best. Compare this with what is dished out at Papal ceremonials at St Peter's!

But there is something about weddings that lift up the jaded still. Perhaps because it celebrates life. The Anglican wedding liturgy is replete with traditional Catholic teaching on marriage. Protestant restraint is wedded with Catholic pagentry This is what the CoE is best at. The sermon of the Bishop of London is magnificent and this smudges out ill will on his statement about the Ordinariate Catholics sharing Anglican churches.

And Rowan cannot be questioned about his authority as Archbishop of Canterbury. It shoots down wags' prediction that he would do a Rowan Atkinson!

As for the verger, I think he can be forgiven. Is being happy that the whole shebang happened with nary a  hitch a sin?

Now the CoE will have to deal with female bishops now! If no provisions  are given for traditional bishops to care for Anglicans who oppose female bishops, expect these Anglicans to cartwheel out of the CoE and into evangelical and Anglo-Catholic continuing jurisdictions or to the Ordinariate.

And while the old question was for Catholics "Whom do you wish were all Catholic?" Answer: All Anglicans/Episcopalians!

For once we have the question in reverse: Whom do you wish were all Anglicans? Answer: All Roman Catholics!