If only Catholics were so convinced...

[Fergal]

Roman Catholics can learn from the Anglican communion. In this day and age where the everyday Catholic Parish (at least ours) is bending over backwards to embrace ecumenism, dumbing down our long held beliefs in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar and in our Marian dogmas out of fear of offending, I see that the Anglican communion, here in Ireland, has just published a new edition of the Book of Common Prayer.
In it they have decided to retain their long standing description of the Mass as “blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits.”
The Catholic teaching of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is also rejected.
Why? The revision committee desired that this book, like previous editions of it should properly articulate and embody the Church’s faith.
If we were so convinced of the principles of our faith a lot of the error, confusion and carlessness that floats around the everyday Catholic Parish would cease to exist.

What think ye??

 

[Psalm45_9]

Fergal:

What think ye??

I think it’s garbage. If their not willing to be ecumenical, then neither should we. I’m not a Protestant! Protestants don’t like beautiful and elaborte churches, let’s build them. They reject that the mass is a sacrifice. Let’s have more prayers and songs that emphasize this. They don’t like Mary, let’s start more devotions to her! I’m sorry, but I’m not going to lose my identity for the sake of unity. I’m Catholic, not Protestant. If the Eastern Catholics are worried about Latinization and they don’t get reprimanded, then I should not get reprimanded if I’m worried about Protestantism in the church.

 

[JGC]

The Anglican’s in your part of the world are very Low as I’m sure you are aware. It should be no surprise that they would publish such material. Here, in ‘High’ Episcopal Scotland there would be an internal episcopalian riot if someone tried to publish something similar!

What we can learn from them is that without an effective mechanism for unity that a communion will stretch with vastly differing beliefs and will eventually break. (Flying bishops, province declaring other provinces out of communion etc)

Anglicanism has given Christianity some great Christians, liturgy and spirituality but for better or worse, the end of the communion is nigh IMHO…

 

[mercygate]

May I draw attention to the Agreed Statement on Eucharistic Doctrine of the Anglican/Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission (Final report 1981) which affirms both the “once and for all” Sacrifice of Christ on the cross and the effective (i.e., not merely symbolic) participation in that Sacrifice of the Eucharistic celebration, and affirms also the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament?

Fergal, I was an Anglican for 40 years. I loved so much about the Anglican Communion, but it is things like what you have just posted that made it impossible to remain. If, 23 years ago, there was a joint statement on the nature of the Eucharistic Sacrifice which is now simply passed over by a national church as if it didn’t exist (as, indeed, the Episcopal Church in the U.S. has done in other areas), then what’s the point? Catholics may squabble like wild men over various issues, but in the end, there IS a place where “the buck stops.” There IS doctrine, and there IS Apostolic authority to sustain the truth. I thank God that in the Anglican Church I was brought from raw biblical fundamentalism to a full Catholic appreciation of doctrine and sacraments. But when the full realization came that everything I had learned as an Anglican was, in fact, Catholic – at that point I HAD to cross the Tiber.