I know that efforts of reunification are always underway to fulfill Jesus Christ’s prayer that we all be one as JesusChrist and the Heavenly Father are one. St Josaphat is one of the Catholic saints for reunion. Is there anyway a Congregationalist church can come into Union with the Catholic Church?
Congressional reunification
- Thread starter gmcbroom
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ATraveller
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My guess: abandon Solo Scriptura, accept the Lord’s Supper isn’t a symbol, believe infants can be baptized, reject the autonomy of the local church, give up the idea doctrines can be voted on by congregants, understand ordinances are sacraments and there are 7 rather than 2, the pastor will need valid orders (a woman pastor wouldn’t qualify), and accept the authority of the pope.
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Dan_Defender
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I am pessimistic about Protestants coming back, but optimistic about the Eastern Orthodox. There is a precedent in that St Bonaventure was able to achieve union of the Greek and Latin churches in the Second Council of Lyon.
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ltwin
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Would they want to? Congregationalists tend to be ecumenical and ready to join with other like minded Protestant groups. In America, the Congregationalists merged with other Reformed churches to create the United Church of Christ. In the UK, they merged with the Presbyterians to form the United Reformed Church.
But those were all with Protestant churches that practiced liberal theology. They really didn’t have to give up anything to accomplish those mergers except for some slight alteration in church polity.
Going from liberal Protestant to Catholic is a much bigger jump.
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TheMortenBay
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Well, I think there’s a huge difference between denominations. Most Anglicans (officially) identify as protestants and follow the protestant theses. And I don’t have the numbers, but I assume the LARGE majority of individual converts to Catholicism were protestant prior to conversion. And a lot of those converts come from denominations that have become “progressive” and liberal. So I see it as a logical next step to consider a “Lutheran Ordinariate” for example, but it would be quite ridiculous to me to go for a “Baptist Ordinariate” as the common ground is comparatively small.
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BartholomewB
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Why would a Congregationalist church even want to come into union with the Catholic Church?
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Genesis315
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Yes, if each member decided to profess the Catholic faith, they would be received into the Church with the sacraments of confession and confirmation. But they would cease to be “congregationalist” since that form of Church government is contrary to that established by Christ. Certainly a sense of common responsibility for a parish or larger church community is a good thing, so long as it is ultimately carried out with due respect for the hierarchical nature of the Church and the understanding that certain things, by their nature, could simply be never be determined by popular vote.
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Dovekin
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There is ongoing dialogue between the Catholic Church and other denominations, including Baptists, Disciples of Christ, the Reformed tradition. The texts and communiques from these dialogues are made available by The Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, a group dedicated to ecumenism.
Every Roman Catholic diocese should have someone responsible for ecumenism, so you should contact your local diocese to start on the road to full communion. Depending on your particular circumstances, you will get guidance toward a corporate reunion or individual communion for each member. Whatever local resources there are should be accessible there. If you are associated with a larger denomination, you can try contacting them as well.
May the Holy Spirit guide you on your journey.
Every Roman Catholic diocese should have someone responsible for ecumenism, so you should contact your local diocese to start on the road to full communion. Depending on your particular circumstances, you will get guidance toward a corporate reunion or individual communion for each member. Whatever local resources there are should be accessible there. If you are associated with a larger denomination, you can try contacting them as well.
May the Holy Spirit guide you on your journey.
I am speculating that, for an EO, the very phrasing of your post -that they would “come back” - is off putting.
As for Protestants, My usual response is regarding practice and doctrine, use of the term Protestant is folly.
That said, I have come to view ecclesiology, specifically universal jurisdiction of the pope, to be the primary barrier for Anglo-Catholics and some Evangelical Catholics (Lutherans ). Solve that, and these groups would be in the mix for reunification.
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Dovekin
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What do you think of The Gift of Authority, the 1998 agreed statement from the Anglican Roman Catholic Dialogue II? In particular, the sections on primacy and the discernment of truth?
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dochawk
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A better term would be “deal breaker”.
I actually think that an evangelical baptist probably has more common ground with the Catholic Church than they do with liberal protestantsDan_Defender:
Well, I think there’s a huge difference between denominations. Most Anglicans (officially) identify as protestants and follow the protestant theses. And I don’t have the numbers, but I assume the LARGE majority of individual converts to Catholicism were protestant prior to conversion. And a lot of those converts come from denominations that have become “progressive” and liberal. So I see it as a logical next step to consider a “Lutheran Ordinariate” for example, but it would be quite ridiculous to me to go for a “Baptist Ordinariate” as the common ground is comparatively small.
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TK421
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These days I think it’s a matter of winning hearts and minds one soul at a time.
We no longer live in an age where kings and princes become a certain religion and almost everybody else follows along with it. In the distant past, if missionaries in pagan territory could convert a king to Christianity, that was huge, because it meant the entire kingdom started following suit. Or, if they could convert the wife or some of the wives of a pagan king, that was huge, because they in turn could influence the king in ways that other people can’t, and they could influence the successors. It was more of a backdoor, ninja move. After the ruling elite were won over, the masses wanted to become the same religion, if nothing else for their own preservation and benefit.
Protestant churches tend to lack the kind of hierarchical authority that exists in the Catholic Church, and even in cases where there is more of a hierarchy, like the CoE, in some extraordinary scenario where the Bishop of Canterbury wanted to become Catholic, it would just mean the person losing their position and becoming Catholic and then everybody else going about their business.
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