Petition to the Dean of Westminster in support of the cartwheeling verger, Ben Sheward

According to widespread reports, the Verger at Westminster Abbey who became a YouTube sensation after he was caught on camera cartwheeling down the aisle following the Royal Wedding has been rebuked by senior clerics at the Abbey.

He has been identified as Ben Sheward, and is reportedly feeling ‘fairly chastened’. He has been forced to take a vow of silence on the matter, forbidden on pain of the rack not to talk publicly about his spontaneous acrobatics.

It is also reported in The Sunday Times (£) that officials from Westminster Abbey have complained to ITV and expressed their disapproval that the excerpt was broadcast. Apparently, it breached the agreement between them, that cameras would be turned off after the wedding service.

Jonathan Munro, the ITV editor in charge of coverage, defended the broadcasting of the clip, saying: “We believe the cartwheeling verger caught the happiness of the whole occasion.”

Not only that, His Grace is of the mind that Prince William's mother, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, would have loved it. The cartwheel was spontaneous and exuberant: it did indeed capture the mood of the nation and was so utterly and unstuffily Anglican. The Lord turns mourning into dancing (Ps 30:11), and King David danced before the Lord with all his might (2Sam 6:14). Why shouldn't a verger?

The Abbey is a Royal Peculiar: that is to say, its clergy are accountable not to the Bishop of London or the Archbishop of Canterbury but directly to the Monarch. As far as His Grace is aware, no complaints have been made in respect of this verger's behaviour - which constituted an act of worship - and it beggars belief that Abbey officials might think he offended the Queen.

His Grace is minded to write directly to the Dean of Westminster, the Very Revd Dr John Hall, in support of Ben Sheward. His Grace corresponded with the Dean only quite recently, and has direct access via email. Although Mr Sheward is apparently facing no formal disciplinary proceedings, in this instance to be rebuked and forced to take a Trappist vow constitute a chastening too far.

The names of all who sign in the thread below and all comments of support will be appended to His Grace's communication to the Dean. Please tell others of this petition (Twitter #VergerWheel): His Grace would like to give Dr Hall a very clear message.

UPDATE (Mon 2 May)

Westminster Abbey have tweeted:

For all those wondering about the cartwheeling verger - there is absolutely no question of Ben being disciplined...

His Grace then asked:

His Grace has not reported that he will be disciplined. Was he reprimanded at all and has he been instructed not to speak the media?

The Abbey simply reiterated:

Ben the Verger will not be disciplined.

To which His Grace politely pressed:

With respect, you're avoiding the questions: 1) Was he rebuked? 2) Has he been ordered not to speak of his exuberance to the media?

No response was received. His Grace made the point that there was no suggestion of future disciplinary proceedings: this petition is to make it known that he (and some in the media) consider that a rebuke and prohibition on talking to the media are inappropriate responses to this action. The petition stands.

For May Day -- We give you Big Bill Haywood

Bill Haywood (in Derby hat) leading strikers in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1912.

Happy May Day, Comrades. Remember back when Red States had nothing do to with Republicans and May Day had nothing to do with trees and birds and the environment?  Red meant RED, as in communist or socialist, and May Day was for Revolution.


Ninety-two years ago today, on May Day 1919, Socialists staged Red Flag marches in every major American city. It was American socialism was at its peak. Almost a million US workers went on strike against The Capitalist Enemy, led by radicals like William Z. Foster and Louis Fraina.  Bolsheviks had just taken power in Russia, and Eugene Debs would soon win almost a million votes for President in 1920 running from a prison cell on the Socialist ticket. The Red Scare was at its peak, and Emma Goldman still scared the socks off complacent American bourgoisie

Bill Haywood, circa 1910.

And of all the prominent lefties, the emblematic leader was Big Bill Haywood, president of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) -- the biggest, baddest, toughest, roughest leftiest labor leader of them all.



Haywood wanted his IWW to be "One Big Union" for the entire American working class to battle the Corporate Plutocrats of J.P. Morgan's Gilded Age.  IWW organizers faced lynching or murder by company detectives. Strikers faced beatings, blacklists, and trumped-up prosecutions.  Still, the IWW attracted some 300,000 members at its peak. 


Bill Haywood himself -- a former cowpoke and miner -- didn't hesitate to push back,  He used sabotage or strong-arm tactics where needed. In 1905, he faced murder charges for the death Idaho governer Frank Steunenberg, blown up after a bitter mining strike.  This set the stage for one of America's  great courtroom dramas.  Idaho prosecutors, backed by Pinkerton detectives, blamed Haywood for the killing, and famed Chicago lawyer Clarance Darrow traveled to Idaho to defend him.  He won Haywood an acquittal.




During the World War I, Federal agents under direction of President Woodrow Wilson launched a sweeping crackdown of the IWW.   His Justice Department arrested over 100 Wobblies and in 1918 tried them en masse for Espionage. Haywood, convicted and facing prison, fled to Bolshevik Russia for his final years.


So this May Day, forget the flowers and trees. Forget the Red States and Blue States. Let's all wear Red, sing The Internationale, shake our fists at the Power Structure, and toast Big Bill Haywood, a socialist's socialist, a radical's radical, a Red's Red -- as American as apple pie.   


Here's the famous song by Joan Baez on one of Bill Haywood's better-known IWW organizers, Joe Hill.  Enjoy-- 





The best book on Bill Haywood is his own autobiography, published in 1929.


                   

Rome embraces Mugabe for the beatification of Pope John Paul II

As the Blessed Pope John Paul II (‘the Great’) is officially beatified in a ceremony of great joy and religious fervour, there is a whiff in the air, if not something of a sickening stench. And His Grace is not referring to the bodily decomposition of the late Pope, who could doubtless be nosed after his unseemly exhumation, having been entombed for barely five minutes. No, the sulphuric odour emanates from the very-much-alive corpse of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who flew into Rome and was driven to the Vatican in order that he might attend the beatification ceremony.

Mugabe, a professing Roman Catholic, is subject to an EU-wide travel ban for more-than-a few human rights abuses. So someone must have pulled a few strings.

According to CNN, Fr. Federico Lombardi of the Holy See’s superlative press office ‘did not personally invite Mugabe to the Sunday event’. The reason he is present is because ‘a diplomatic relationship exists between Zimbabwe and the Vatican’.

Right. So you have a pleasant chat with the guy over a pizza and limoncello, and talk about saintliness and the weather. The Vatican ought to consider why such a relationship continues at all. The civilised world has imposed sanctions, instigated bans or ceased diplomatic relations altogether: it is the very least that morally-minded nations can do in response to murder, terrorism, oppression, starvation, genocide and a myriad of human rights abuses. The UK supports the EU’s travel ban and the Church of England has demanded an end to the regime.

But the Vatican is a sovereign state and not a member of the EU (despite continually desiring to foist it upon the rest of us). As a sovereign and independent state with its own sovereign diplomatic corps, its borders are secure and its sovereignty inviolable.

But Fr. Lomabardi explains: “The Vatican cannot tell Mugabe not to come if he wants to take part, just like it wouldn't tell no to Obama or Sarkozy, if they had wanted to come."

Curious, that. Because the Vatican is a sovereign state, and intrinsic to the notion of state sovereignty is control over one’s national borders (in the case of the Holy See, within Lateran Treaty confines). Someone clearly manoeuvred behind the scenes to circumvent the EU-wide travel ban which permitted Mugabe to fly into Rome. Who was that? It must have been some very senior Vatican official, colluding with the Italian government; conflating religion with politics; confusing the mind of God with diplomatic expediency; mistaking incarnate evil for one of the Catholic faithful.

It is not for us to judge the state of Mugabe’s soul or question his account before God. But it occurs to His Grace that the Zimbabwean President is about as Catholic as a certain German chancellor was.

Contrast Rome’s ‘normal diplomatic relations’ with the Church of England’s principled repudiation of the tyrant. The Most Revd and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, has heeded the cries of the Zimbabwean people for justice: “We can no longer be inactive to their call,” he said. “Mugabe and his henchmen must now take their rightful place in the Hague and answer for their actions. The time to remove them from power has come.” And he has pledged not to wear his dog collar again until Mugabe is removed from power. In cutting up his symbol of ordination, he said: "You know that identities are destroyed. As an Anglican, this is what I wear to identify myself that I am a clergyman. Do you know what Mugabe has done? He has taken people's identity and literally cut it to pieces."

And the Archbishop speaks for the entire Church of England on this matter.

What a great pity – not to say a very great tragedy – that Fr. Lombardi speaks for the Church of Rome.