Ecumenists, like liturgists, should never be left unsupervised with sharp tools in reach. Bad things will happen. Case in point: some Aussie ecumenists thought it'd be a great idea to throw a joint Anglican-Catholic Confirmation service this May. It seems not to have occurred to the organizers that the spectacle of persons gathered to commit to different bodies with a different hierarchy, a different church law, and a different notion of sacramental validity is more a celebration of schism than of unity.
The Holy See was not afraid of playing bad cop. From The Herald:
The Vatican has put a stop to a joint Pentecostal service planned by the Newcastle and Maitland Catholic and Anglican bishops. The confirmation service was scheduled for May 31 at Christ Church Cathedral, and was promoted as a "very exciting and special" event.
Parishes encouraged church members to consider being confirmed on that day.
But Rome intervened, forcing its cancellation, citing the possibility of "confusing messages" being given to churchgoers. It is unclear how the headquarters of the Catholic Church learned of the service, as no formal notification was given.
http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/otr.cfm?id=4947
1 comment:
It's confusion, alright. But only on the Pope's end of things.
Sheesh!
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