#162: From Chaplain to the Queen to Catholic Convert—Gavin Ashenden (Free Version)

His official title was Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC), kind of a big deal for any Anglican clergyman. Then Rt. Rev Gavin Ashenden held the position from 2008 until 2017, when he left following, inter alia, a public liturgical reading in a Glasgow cathedral from the Quran that denied the divinity of Christ. 

A good Protestant, he protested. And then he parted ways with the established church.

The rest of the story is told in this interview with England’s highest-profile Catholic convert, received into the Catholic Church in December 2019.

In this episode you will learn

• The main influences in his spiritual life and the incident that triggered his conversion
• His thoughts on the Alpha Program
• Why he didn’t join the Anglican Ordinariate, erected by Pope Benedict XVI
• How nationalism, hyper-intellectualism, and collective pride have co-opted the Protestant world
• Why he stayed outside the Church for so long while understanding her better than many Catholics
• The strange rage from friends and family that so often gets unleashed at Catholic converts
• Ashenden’s plans for the future

Resources mentioned in this episode

• The excellent blog of Dr. Gavin Ashenden
• Priestesses in the Church? Original essay by C.S. Lewis

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