A PRIEST with the Church of England who converted to Hinduism has been allowed to continue to officiate as a cleric.
The Rev David Hart’s diocese renewed his licence this summer even
though he had moved to India, changed his name to Ananda and daily
blesses a congregation of Hindus with fire previously offered up to
Nagar, the snake god. He also “recites Gayatri Mantram with the same
devotion with which he celebrates the Eucharist”, according to The Hindu, India’s national newspaper.
The Hindu this week pictures him offering prayers to an idol
of the elephant god Ganesh in front of his house. However, he still
believes he is fit to celebrate as an Anglican priest and plans to do
so when he returns to Britain.
Mr
Hart, a former chairman of Christian Aid in Loughborough and chaplain
at Loughborough University, now serves in the Hindu temple in
Thiruvananthapuram, a village in Kerala, southern India.
He was initiated as an Anglican priest in 1984 and, before
leaving for India, was serving the Diocese of Ely, which covers most of
Cambridgeshire and part of Norfolk, and living in Stretham. Anthony
Russell, the Bishop of Ely, sent Mr Hart his licence, along with a
personal letter, just three months after Mr Hart published a book, Trading Faith: Global Religion in an Age of Rapid Change, in which he writes about his conversion to Hinduism.
Mr Hart believes that his change to Hinduism would be “read in
the spirit of open exploration and dialogue, which is an essential
feature of our shared modern spirituality”.
He also said that he would continue to celebrate as an
Anglican priest when he visited England, but he would also visit a
Hindu temple while there. “My philosophical position is that all
religions are cultural constructs,” he said. “I am acting out God’s
story in local terms.”
However, not everyone in the Church of England is impressed by
Mr Hart’s passion for Hinduism. Pauline Scott, the team vicar of St
James, in Stretham, said that she would oppose any attempts by Mr Hart
to celebrate in the Ely Diocese.
“We do tend to use Christian priests, surprisingly enough,” she said.
The Bishop of Ely’s office said that it had not known of Mr Hart’s conversion to Hinduism until this week.
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