It is 1939 Again
From Bishop Wallace Benn’s response to the press this week:
Sir, Some media reports have suggested that at Reform’s national conference I likened those who supported the consecration of women bishops to the Nazis. I did not. Misrepresentation in the Press is a painful and serious matter that can be damaging if it is believed. I wish to put on record that:-
I never mentioned Hitler or the Nazis in my 45-minute interview with Paul Perkin at the conference. Nor did I even have them in mind as I made clear to Ruth Gledhill (the reporter in question) when she asked me about this on the day before the original article appeared in The Times (November 3).
I said that the situation in which we find ourselves in the Church feels like people probably felt as they viewed the year ahead in January 1939. There are storm clouds on the horizon and warfare around the corner. We all hope and pray that it won’t happen.