Comment on The ABC going to the Roman Catholic shrine from the London TelegraphThey will probably want to know what I want to know. Does Dr Williams believe that Our Lady actually appeared to Bernadette? If so, then in one respect he has moved closer to Roman Catholicism than any Archbishop of Canterbury since the Reformation.
For Lourdes, in south-west France, is the quintessential Roman Catholic Marian shrine, unlike Walsingham, a medieval shrine in Norfolk rediscovered by Anglicans. Whereas the apparitions of Walsingham have a semi-mythical quality, those at Lourdes are believed by most Catholics to be historical events, as are the healing miracles recognised by the Church.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/damian_thompson/blog/2008/09/19/why_is_rowan_williams_going_to_lourdes
4 comments:
One of my favorite movies--the 1943 "Song of Bernadette."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Bernadette_(film)
Interesting, I think, that one year after the appearance of the BVM to Mary that Darwin's _Origin of Species_ was published, and the American philosopher John Dewey (associated with pragmatism) was born. 2009 marks the sesquicentennial of those events, and is being observed in many places. (Of interest to me only: my maternal grandfather was born in 1859, as I frequently remind my children and grandchildren). --I don't think any Protestants needs to worry that the ABC is "becoming more Catholic," unless part of their Protestant witness is to express disapproval of beliefs such as Bernadette's. The ABC is sensitive, however, to other peoples' faiths. --Incidentally, there was a Lourdes, of course, before Bernadette's experience; a couple of French novels have been written in the last few years about
the old Lourdes (regretting its passing).
Should have said "appearance to Bernadette" in my last post.
Me again. I wonder if the ABC will take communion, since he will be speaking--if I understood correctly--at a mass! Unlike the US, in several parts of France where I've visited (Normandy, Paris, the Riviera), I've been told that it's perfectly fine for me, as an Anglican, to take communion. Actually in Cabris (little town in the Riviera) I forgot to ask the priest if I could communicate, and didn't go up to the altar. The people around me asked why I didn't
go (I'd sung, responded, obviously enjoyed the service, etc.) and asked if it Anglicans didn't believe in taking communion with Roman Catholics! In Normandy, I didn't take communion, asked the priest afterwards if I could have, and he said YES; it was up to the diocesan bishop. In Paris, I did ask, was told by the priest "if it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me." I would love to know if the ABC will communicate, and if so, what effect that will have on RC leadership in the US (if any).
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