From The London Telegraph-
n my study there is a photograph of me with my back to the camera holding up a large book with the text of the joint blessing being given by Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral in 1982.
In 1982, in spite of the Falklands crisis, there was a positive welcome for the first visit of a Pope to Britain. Some Anglicans optimistically expected an almost immediate communion between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church.
Any opposition was of an antique Protestant kind, articulated by the Reverend Ian Paisley. Pope Benedict is a less charismatic and popular Pope, even among Catholics. But the opposition to the present visit is of a different character to that of 28 years ago. Conservative Evangelicals welcome the visit because of his unambiguous stance on doctrinal and moral issues. Liberal Christians are more ambivalent, but welcome Pope Benedict as the leader of the largest Christian Church.
Today’s opposition focuses on Pope Benedict, gaining some support in the light of the terrible cases of clerical abuse, but intellectually it represents an attack on all Christians, indeed on faith.
My hopes as an Anglican bishop are twofold. Pope Benedict is a formidable philosopher and theologian. He has spent much of his ministry analysing the ebb-tide of faith in modern Europe. This is also a matter Archbishop Rowan Williams has devoted much attention to.
More here-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/the-pope/7996611/Pope-visit-Anglicans-and-Catholics-can-share-a-mission.html
No comments:
Post a Comment