UNITED UNDER THE POPE?
Front page story in The Times today highlights a new report from some ecumenical committee which suggests that Anglicans could unite with Catholics under the Pope....well, of course some possibly will in due course, but to suggest that the whole Anglican Communion, or even a large bit of it, could just be told summarily that this was about to happen, new lines drawn on a map, that's the scheme everyone, is silly.
The only reason to join the Catholic Church is if you believe its doctrines and moral teachings - including an understanding of the role of the Pope as successor of St Peter, the Church as the "pillar and ground of truth" etc etc....
Radio discussion about this on the Jeremy Vine Show, where I was with the excellent Ann Widdecombe MP who is an old friend and of course a convert to Catholicism. She was forthright and sensible, as usual, and we were helped by a v. nice Evangelical Anglican who patiently explained that he represented a whole school of thought which sincerely opposes some Catholic doctrines (seven sacraments, for example)and in no way want to unite with "the Roman Church" which they truly consider to be in error.
MORE ON CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Ann and I shared a taxi back to Westminster, and had a good talk. She was able to recommend an excellent children's author, Michael Morpurgo and I shall now read some of his books and use this in my talk on the subject. It is always much more useful to recommend the good than to denounce the bad, and although I have a good list of all the obvious classic children's authors (E. Nesbit, Arthur Ransome, A.A.Milne, C.S.Lewis,etc etc) I need lots of good new ones, too.
9 comments:
Auntie is quite correct.
A few deluded bishops at the top can draw up whatever document they wish, but the practical outworking will have no bearing on the theory.
ARCIC has been over-inflated with its own sense of self-importance for decades. It is not that there are not parties on both sides that desire unity; there manifestly are, and it is in accordance with the Lord's prayer 'that they may be one'. But it is manifestly obvious that there are millions of Anglicans for whom talk of 'reunification' amounts to theological and ecclesiological nonsense.
Even in an age which sets aside the differences over soteriology, we are still left with a few insuperable hurdles, like papal infallibility on matters of doctrine and faith. The via media of the Church of England may have supplanted an absolute pope with an absolute monarch, but too much water has flowed under the bridge for swimming against the tide to be credible. Female vicars and bishops? Homosexual vicars and bishops? Gay 'marriage' blessings? Married vicars?
If the holy orders of the Church of England are 'null and void', and His Holiness reiterated in Dominus Iesus that the Church of England is 'not a church in the proper sense', it is manifestly an absence of sense that deludes people into believing that reunification is remotely possible.
Let us just agree to differ, and let our mutually manifest tolerance be light in an increasingly intolerant world.
I think you will find that this proposal is largely confined to the United States where the Episcopal Church is not established, not to the United Kingdom. 'Reunion' is quite out of the question here because of the ordination of women and the majority of Anglicans would not want it.
You and Anne Widdicome sharing a taxi! Imagine! I'm amazed it didn't cause an accident. I'd like to have been a fly on the roof.
Ruth Gledhill's rather sensationalist reporting in "The Times" (I remember when that paper espoused a slightly higher standard of informed journalism) has been politely but firmly "sat upon" by the co-chairmen of the Anglican-Catholic Dialogue Commission, who actually produced the document, as reported by Zenit (Article Code: ZE07021925 dated 2007-02-19). Zenit's website is at http://www.zenit.org/english/
Re children's books. I think you were especially after books for boys, so here are some that My son enjoyed: The story of Rolf and the Viking Bow by Allen French; The Lamp of the Wicked by Marianne Christian; The Shadow of the Bear and Black as Night by Regina Doman; Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease. Rosemary Sutcliffe, Barbara Willard and Cynthia Harnett are also favourite authors in our family, but perhaps they are on your list already.
Cranmer you are absolutely right, if the C of E Holy Orders are null and void, then in the same way so is the Church of England. Hence they cannot unite with the Catholic Church they can only return to the one true fold and accept all Its teachings. Not in my lifetime.
We have enough difficulty in maintaining our own Catholic unity with all the in-fighting between differing factions, particularly when it comes to liturgy and theology! The genuine hope that many Anglicans had in the late 1970s and early 80s in reunification with Rome suffered a great blow with the CofE's decision to ordain women. I personally cannot realistically see any meaningful reunification with Canterbury for at least another 100 years...
Will there be much left of Anglicanism in 100 years time, or Catholicism in Europe come to that?
I read Christie's Postern of Fate (Tommy and Tuppence) a few months ago and it seems to be chock full of suggestions for old children's books; can't recall a single one though. However, if you can stay awake through it, it provides ample material. Reading it I began to wonder if I Christie was allowing me to see into her childhood library.
You'll have to read it to see what I mean :-).
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