After a week away from the blog, it’s gratifying to come back to it with some much to write about! Later today we’ll take up the next installment of Wright Wednesdays and there’s another “issue” we’re contemplating, too!
But first, let’s go to Bishop Martyn Minns of the newly formed Anglican Church in North America, who is reacting to the announcement yesterday that the Roman Catholic Church is making it easier for traditionalist Anglicans to convert to Catholicism: “I don’t want to be a Roman Catholic,” said Bishop Minns. “There was a Reformation, you remember.”
This is just a great quote and it highlights the real issue at hand. Apparently the doctrinal issues separating Rome and Canterbury aren’t the issue, it’s gay ordination and Rome comes down on the right side of that issue.
Some internet commentators have said that this shows Benedict’s concern for Christian unity and ecumenicity. Um, not really. He says the Anglicans can keep their hymns and work with people who understand them as they go through the process of converting to Roman Catholicism. One doesn’t bargain with the RCC, it’s her terms or no terms. Certainly the worldwide Catholic Church is large enough and diverse enough to appeal to a number of people with differing beliefs and emphases, but the clincher is that one must always accept pontifical authority.
Maybe that’s enough for a few Anglo-Catholic Episcopalians out there, but it shouldn’t be enough for those who think that the Reformation was an important event with modern day implications. Thanks, Bishop Minns and the New York Times for reminding us.
Tags: Anglican, Episcopalian, Reformation, Roman Catholicism
