From The LA Times-
In a provocative act with religious and cultural implications, Pope Benedict XVI has created an ordinariate — similar to a diocese — for disaffected Episcopalians who are converting to Roman Catholicism. It will be headed by a married former Episcopal bishop, and it will allow congregations that make the switch to retain aspects of the Anglican liturgy, including the majestic Book of Common Prayer. The defection of Episcopalians en masse might seem of interest only to students of religion, but it illustrates a larger point: that the culture wars that rage outside stained-glass windows have come to dominate debates within and among Christian churches.
The alleged "poaching" of Episcopalians — and Anglicans in Britain — would have been unthinkable in the 1970s when, in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, a commission of Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops and theologians reached "substantial agreement" on issues that had divided the churches since the Reformation: the meaning of Holy Communion and the ordained ministry. The hope was that Roman Catholics and Anglicans would eventually achieve corporate reunion in which Anglicans would retain many of their traditions, including a married priesthood.
More here-
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-religion-20120115,0,6437551.story
1 comment:
I think members of Episcopal and Anglican churches who transfer to Rome need to think about this further. Do they want to be subject to Rome. Why not join ACNA? Perhaps the 39 articles do not mean much to them, but they do mark the differences between Canterbury and Rome.
Post a Comment