Pope gets radical and woos the Anglicans

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Pope gets radical and woos the Anglicans

By Damian Thompson

Excerpt:

Two and a half years after the name “Josephum” came booming down from the balcony of St Peter’s, making liberal Catholics weep with rage, Pope Benedict XVI is revealing his programme of reform. And it is breathtakingly ambitious.

The 80-year-old Pontiff is planning a purification of the Roman liturgy in which decades of trendy innovations will be swept away. This recovery of the sacred is intended to draw Catholics closer to the Orthodox and ultimately to heal the 1,000 year Great Schism. But it is also designed to attract vast numbers of conservative Anglicans, who will be offered the protection of the Holy Father if they covert en masse.

The liberal cardinals don’t like the sound of it at all.
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Yes…I read somewhere that Cardinal Kasper is not too pleased. I am not sure of the accuracy of what I read but it noted he favors the Archbishop of Canterbury and not upsetting them by receiving 400,000 Conservative Anglicans (TAC). The ABC of course is heading a Communion in disarray and one in which women’s ordination is generally becoming accepted and women Bishops are growing in number. Benedict apparently favors receiving TAC.

Personally, I suspect Rome will benefit by doing so. If TAC is received without being absorbed, then as the Anglican Communion (third largest in the world behind RCC and EO) continues fragmenting between issues of overly liberal Western churches, polarization between the global South, and frustration with Canterbury…there will be a solid choice for conservative Anglican (esp Anglo Catholics) who can be in communion with Rome but maintain the very distinctive and beautiful tradtional Anglican liturgy. Win-win situation. Anglicanism begins to reunify with the parent it left. I doubt there is much hope for the Anglican Communion itself due to the issues of women priest and Bishops which is pretty far down the road already.
 
I was baptized, confirmed & married in the Episcopal church. My conversion to Catholic was later. I think it’s great that Our Holy Father is “wooing” the Anglicans. It’s past time for reconciliation.

I think that the Anglicans/Episcopalians would add a lot to our church. The English Mass is arguably a better English translation than the NO and the church would do well to review it as they come out with proper translations (and it was my current Pastor who pointed this out ~ although I have to admit that I had clue since saying “and also with you” was a bit startling for me at first.)

The Anglicans/Episcopalians have also kept many traditions, especially traditional music, alive, something I found out right after conversion when I knew the chants during Holy Week and most of my congregation did not.

I don’t know that the US Episcopal church can come back, it might be a parish-by-parish situation, since the entire US church appears to be at least in danger of breaking from the rest of the worldwide church.

But for the rest, the restoration of the Anglican Church, the “unbreaking” of the break created by Henry VIII and his ego, I think is achievable and it would be good for everyone.
 
If I may be so bold. The Holy Father has recognized the decline. It is essential to bring the lost parts together.

John
 
That would be wonderful! Being an ex- Anglo-Catholic I’d adore being able to go to an Anglican-Use Mass (but there aren’t any TAC groups around here 😦 ).
 
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