Catholic Church Opens Door to Anglicans

[Principessa]

Catholic Church Opens Door to Anglicans

In a surprise announcement Tuesday the Vatican laid out plans to make it easier for disaffected Anglicans -- including U.S. Episcopalians -- to join the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI has approved a new church provision, or an Apostolic Constitution, that will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining many of their distinctive spiritual and liturgical traditions, including having married priests.

"It is the hope of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI that the Anglican clergy and faithful who desire union with the Catholic Church will find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith," Cardinal William Levada, the Vatican's chief doctrinal official, announced at a news conference today. The papal document was not itself unveiled at the press conference as its publishing has been delayed because of technical and translating corrections but should be ready in a few weeks. Until the document is published the mechanics of the process remain unclear.

I wonder if this will encourage people to become Catholic or will they lose members if the start allowing Catholic priests to marry?


Another question: Is this a merger? Will the Anglican church as it is now, cease to exist? I'm thinking of the merger of the Evangelical United Brethren & the Methodist church in the mid-1960's. This created the United Methodist church as we know it today.

United Methodist Church & United Church of Canada

The largest "branching" came in 1889 when the main body divided into two groups. The larger group embraced a new constitution while the smaller group retained the original constitution. The larger group was known as the Church of the United Brethren in Christ or, later, The United Brethren Church (UB). In 1946 the United Brethren Church merged with the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB). In 1968 the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodist Church to form the United Methodist Church (UMC).

In Canada the more liberal United Brethren group after 1889 joined with the Congregationalists in 1906. The Congregationalists then joined with the Methodist Church and most of the Presbyterian Churches in Canada in 1925 to form the United Church of Canada. The more conservative United Brethren Church after 1889 continues to this day as the United Brethren Church in Canada.

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[D_CountdeGrandePinja]

This is like trying to heal a cancer by putting a band-aid on it. The ultimate will occur in time: women priests and married clergy in Roman church. This is to welcome those Anglicans who are unhappy with progress - Jesus invites all to the table - that's why images are cosmic! All color, sizes and shapes are welcome at his table.

Rome is trying to continue to CONTROL and stop God's love for all peoples.

 

[SilverTrain]

I'm thinking of Bill Murray at the end of Ghostbusters:

"Dogs and cats living together......!"

 

[MASSIVEPKGO_CHUCK]

"mass hysteria!"

 

[798686]

The Pope wants unity at any price. Don't think the Archbishop of Canterbury was delighted (or consulted).

Not sure how Anglicans will cope with all the Mary stuff. Has the Pope created a sort of structure for Anglicans within the Catholic Church - where they can have their differences but still be a part of things? That structure would gradually be dismantled I imagine, and Anglicans absorbed back into the fold eventually.

Not a big fan of Rome, tbh - think there's a lot of falsehoods and biblical errors (even if sincere). I'm also hoping the Pope doesn't seek to expoit the newly emerging EU Superstate allied with a newly united Catholic Church to create some dodgy revival of the Holy Roman Empire... :S

 

[superbot]

The Pope wants unity at any price. Don't think the Archbishop of Canterbury was delighted (or consulted).

Not sure how Anglicans will cope with all the Mary stuff. Has the Pope created a sort of structure for Anglicans within the Catholic Church - where they can have their differences but still be a part of things? That structure would gradually be dismantled I imagine, and Anglicans absorbed back into the fold eventually.

Not a big fan of Rome, tbh - think there's a lot of falsehoods and biblical errors (even if sincere). I'm also hoping the Pope doesn't seek to expoit the newly emerging EU Superstate allied with a newly united Catholic Church to create some dodgy revival of the Holy Roman Empire... :S

Typical anti Catholic scare mongering!!

 

[Principessa]

And another thing, why would the Anglican Church want this to occur? What's in it for them, other than maybe a bulk discount on Communion wafers?

 

[JustAsking]

The Anglican Curch has gone through quite a schism in the USA. The Episcopalians split over the issue of allowing the ordination of gay clergy. In fact the national head bishop of the Episcopalian church is gay.

Anglicans and Lutherans are used to "high church" and also believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. All three denominations are in essential agreement on the sufficiency of God's Grace for salvation. Anglicans and Lutherans sometimes refer to themselves as Evangelical Catholics. There is a very close relationship between the three denominations.

Anglicans in the USA (Episcopal Church) are in the middle of a violent schism due to the more conservative congregations leaving the fold due to the recent decisions that allow gay people to become clergy. In fact the national head of the Episcopal Church is a gay bishop. This is not sitting very well with the more conservative denominations.

The RCC seems to be creating a smooth path for these disaffected Anglicans to come over to the RCC instead of creating a separate conservative Anglican denomination.

The conservative Anglicans won't have trouble with the RCC proscriptions against ordaining women or gays. This is what they are already looking for in a denomination.

 

[2322]

I have to remind people that this door has always been open.

There are married Catholic priests throughout the US who were Anglican priests who converted to Catholicism. They are fully-ordained Catholic priest and they are MARRIED and the Catholic church knows of this and even extends the family benefits. This has been going on for decades and a rather open secret.

 

[Principessa]

The Anglican Curch has gone through quite a schism in the USA. The Episcopalians split over the issue of allowing the ordination of gay clergy. In fact the national head bishop of the Episcopalian church is gay.

Anglicans and Lutherans are used to "high church" and also believe in the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. All three denominations are in essential agreement on the sufficiency of God's Grace for salvation. Anglicans and Lutherans sometimes refer to themselves as Evangelical Catholics. There is a very close relationship between the three denominations.

Anglicans in the USA (Episcopal Church) are in the middle of a violent schism due to the more conservative congregations leaving the fold due to the recent decisions that allow gay people to become clergy. In fact the national head of the Episcopal Church is a gay bishop. This is not sitting very well with the more conservative denominations.

The RCC seems to be creating a smooth path for these disaffected Anglicans to come over to the RCC instead of creating a separate conservative Anglican denomination.

The conservative Anglicans won't have trouble with the RCC proscriptions against ordaining women or gays. This is what they are already looking for in a denomination.

So the only Anglicans expected to take advantage of this "open door policy" are the conservative ones, who oppose female and gay clergy. Hmm, interesting. I'll be curious to see how this ends up.

 

[deleted213967]

What a marketing coup! The pope finally exacts his revenge on Henry VIII.

 

[798686]

Typical anti Catholic scare mongering!!

Well, we'll see, won't we?! Watch this space. :wink:

 

[JustAsking]

So the only Anglicans expected to take advantage of this "open door policy" are the conservative ones, who oppose female and gay clergy. Hmm, interesting. I'll be curious to see how this ends up.

That's just my opinion, NJ. As Jason said, this has been a possibility for a long time. But why the recent publicity about it? I suspect that the RCC is reacting to the fact that a number of Protestant denominations are in turmoil over recent decisions to allow the ordination of gay clergy.

A similar thing happened years ago with the ordination of women. More conservative congregations split off of the main denominations and created their own. Lutherans, for example, split into the main ELCA, the Missori Synod, and the Wisconsin Synod.

I can see the RCC logic here, where if a split is imminent in the Anglican church, why not simply move to the RCC instead of forming a new denomination? It is a way smaller jump for Anglicans than it might be for Baptists or Methodists.

 

[Calboner]

"mass hysteria!"

Is that any wafer you to respond? Catholics might be incensed by such a remark.

The RCC seems to be creating a smooth path for these disaffected Anglicans to come over to the RCC instead of creating a separate conservative Anglican denomination.

The conservative Anglicans won't have trouble with the RCC proscriptions against ordaining women or gays. This is what they are already looking for in a denomination.

In a nutshell.

 

[D_Dingus Nosedigger]

The way they are doing this recombination thing is similar as to how the Byzantine Catholics were brought back into the church. A while ago, a bunch of Eastern Orthodox parishes and dioscese simply did not have the funds to continue operating as they were. It ended up they negotiated with the Roman Catholic Church to become subsidiaries of the Roman Church, but retain all of their rites and liturgy and such. They ended up being called the Eastern Rite or Byzantine Catholics.

They are fully loyal to the Papacy, but their Mass is a mirror to the Eastern Orthodox Mass...which is WIDELY different than the Roman Catholic Mass, to which they claim subervience.

I assume it would be the same thing for the Anglicans as well...although they wouldn't be losing much. I went to one of their services and its literally the same as a Catholic Mass. Same words, same songs, same communion ceremony. Only a few minor differences.

 

[fortiesfun]

Anglicans in the USA (Episcopal Church) are in the middle of a violent schism due to the more conservative congregations leaving the fold due to the recent decisions that allow gay people to become clergy. In fact the national head of the Episcopal Church is a gay bishop. This is not sitting very well with the more conservative denominations.

That's not quite right. The Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori, previously Bishop of Nevada, is the twenty-sixth Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, and she is a heterosexually married woman. But there is no doubt that she is "gay-friendly" and strongly supports Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who is the person all the fuss is about.

The RCC seems to be creating a smooth path for these disaffected Anglicans to come over to the RCC instead of creating a separate conservative Anglican denomination.

The conservative Anglicans won't have trouble with the RCC proscriptions against ordaining women or gays. This is what they are already looking for in a denomination.

Now if the RCC would send us all of their members who do support ordaining women and/or gays, it would be a fair swap!

 

[justasimpleguy]

I had an interesting thought about this the other day. Remember, the Church is in the middle of a worldwide scandal. From the Pope's edicts down, they covered up decades of sexual abuse by priests of CHILDREN. They settled these out of court with gag orders attached so the victims of abuse could not make their stories public. They did everything they could to cover their asses and almost nothing to make sure it never happened again.

I think this whole "reaching out to Anglicans" is a head fake PR campaign. They're relaxing rules about priests marrying and so on in the hope it will stem abuse and to get other things concerning the Church in the headlines. They are also facing a catastrophic shortage of young priests in places like Dublin, an epicenter of the abuse scandal, so there's that too. But they don't want to talk about that either, so again with the "disaffected Anglicans."

Remember, the Church is one of the longest standing and most powerful institutions on the planet. Their politics and PR is devious.