Should we be praying for the dissolution of the Anglican Communion?

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Should we be praying for the dissolution of the Anglican Communion…so that many Anglicans will “rejoin” the Catholic Church and the 500 year schism will end?
 
Lepanto said:
Should we be praying for the dissolution of the Anglican Communion…so that many Anglicans will “rejoin” the Catholic Church and the 500 year schism will end?
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Better we should pray for unity, not through the discomfort of any, but by the Holy Spirit moving in the hearts of our various leaders to come to agreement on issues that divide us.

Jon
 
JonNC said:
Better we should pray for unity, not through the discomfort of any, but by the Holy Spirit moving in the hearts of our various leaders to come to agreement on issues that divide us.

Jon
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Good points. I definitely agree. But how do you define “unity”?
 
** Originally Posted by Lepanto View Post
Good points. I definitely agree. But how do you define “unity”?
Convergence in doctrine, primarily.**

**I don’t think doctrinal convergence is going to happen if it involves those who insist on identifying themselves as “Anglicans” on the one hand and “Catholics” on the other.

Consider the historic tension between the Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical wings of Anglicanism (forget about Broad Church). Their unity was not in a common faith, but in a common liturgy (which each interpreted and even celebrated differently) and common words about the faith (which each defined differently).

See where it leads? **
 
If the Anglican Communion “dissolves”, then certainly some good may come out of that. Nevertheless, I would not pray for that dissolution.

Similarly, if a Protestant told me that he/she was praying for the dissolution of the Roman Catholic Church, I would consider that presumptuous.
 
Peter_J said:
If the Anglican Communion “dissolves”, then certainly some good may come out of that. Nevertheless, I would not pray for that dissolution.

Similarly, if a Protestant told me that he/she was praying for the dissolution of the Roman Catholic Church, I would consider that presumptuous.
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I don’t see it as a parallel. The Church of England has had no stable doctrine in common with itself in some time now, from what I gather, and some Anglicans feel that they are Catholic and some feel they are Protestant. This isn’t the case with the Catholic Church. Its as if three members of a club left to form their own club in protest of some rule and then the three couldn’t write a charter they all agreed on. It’s simply time they returned.
 
Well, I voted “No,” and I would like to point out that even H.H. Benedict XVI is praying that the Ang. Com. will not dissolve and schism.

And, while the Catholic Curch is visibly one, let’s be honest- there is a mental schism among countless Catholics anyhow. All Christian communions/churches face mental and visible schisms and disagreements, as do all revealed religions. It’s a shame.
 
I said yes. I wouldn’t have if it would have been almost any other Protestant denomination (not counting a few really extreme evangelical sects) but the Anglican Communion has really veered off course from what most people would consider (even most Protestants) true Christianity. I mean, gay clergy…really…come on Church of England…REALLY?

I’m hoping for dissolution because the liberals who want all of the bad parts of modern culture to poison the church will go elsewhere, and the conservative clergy who cling to orthodoxy will hopefully reunite with the Church of Rome.
 
If the Anglican Communion “dissolves”, then certainly some good may come out of that. Nevertheless, I would not pray for that dissolution.
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Similarly, if a Protestant told me that he/she was praying for the dissolution of the Roman Catholic Church, I would consider that presumptuous.
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strngrnrth said:
I don’t see it as a parallel. The Church of England has had no stable doctrine in common with itself in some time now, from what I gather, and some Anglicans feel that they are Catholic and some feel they are Protestant. This isn’t the case with the Catholic Church. Its as if three members of a club left to form their own club in protest of some rule and then the three couldn’t write a charter they all agreed on. It’s simply time they returned.
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Go ask a variety of Protestants for their opinion of the Catholic Church, and I expect that the typical answer will be as bad or worse than our (Catholics’) opinion of the Anglican Communion.

(I don’t mean those who consider the Pope the anti-Christ, etc. For those particular Protestants, I think it actually makes sense for them to pray for the dissolution of the Catholic Church, given their assumptions; but their assumptions are so messed up that I wouldn’t spend time debating with them about what follows from those assumptions (except perhaps as a reductio ad absurdum).)
 
Wyatt said:
… the Anglican Communion has really veered off course from what most people would consider (even most Protestants) true Christianity. I mean, gay clergy…really…come on Church of England…REALLY?
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Yeah, its real crazy!
 
Lot’s of ECUSA Homosexuals have come over here for the Lambetgh conferance to cause trouble.

These heretic ministers of Satan are hell bent on destroying the Anglican Communion.

They think that if they destroy the third largest denomination in the world, they’ll destroy The Church.

The Pope has told Conservative Anglicans to fight rather than jump ship.

Please pray for us as part of Christ’s Church.
 
Anglicans act as a buffer zone between Catholics and other Protestant denominations, often (i) being a buffer zone between conflict and (ii) serving as an intermediate step which many Protestants, I believe, make, before crossing the Tiber.

I currently fellowship mostly in the Anglican Church and while I am seriously thinking about Catholicism, would like to see this denomination survive and have its course “righted”.

Blessings,

Brian
 
Robbinson said:
Anglicans act as a buffer zone between Catholics and other Protestant denominations, often (i) being a buffer zone between conflict and (ii) serving as an intermediate step which many Protestants, I believe, make, before crossing the Tiber.

I currently fellowship mostly in the Anglican Church and while I am seriously thinking about Catholicism, would like to see this denomination survive and have its course “righted”.

Blessings,

Brian
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Amen.

It’s the North American breach needs repairing.
 
John 17:20 shows Jesus, on the night before his passion, praying that they may all be one. That should be our prayer too, as JP II shows in his encyclical Ut unum sint. This would require the dissolution of the Anglican community, so the answer to your question is ‘yes’. However, let your intentions be pure. I am sure that there is much good left in the Anglican church, with disciples that truly seek the Lord but have not arrived home yet (in the fullness of truth found only in the Catholic Church). If we are praying for dissolution to equate chaos, then your prayer is probably better left unsaid. I definitely pray for the Anglicans on the individual level - they don’t have to follow their mistaken shepherds in their protest - they need a lot of humility and courage to slough off a culture that is nigh 500 years in fruitless protest. I can’t imagine any path is easy.
 
East_Anglican said:
Amen.

It’s the North American breach needs repairing.
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My argument is that the entire 500 year-old breach needs repairing. ECUSA is just a minor splinter of that. A schism within a much larger schism.

People are talking about parts of the Anglican Communion falling into schism…but the reality is the entire Communion has been in schism for half a millennium. It’s time we ended this shameful scandal, and the current troubles may just be the impetus.
 
My answer to the original thread poster: No, don’t pray for dissolution, instead pray they embrace the Magisterium and the authority of the Pope. Let them have their Anglican Communion. As for the others who wish to remain liberal, just let them wait another 50 years or so before they decide to join the Unitarian Universalism Church, only to find out they were in the midst of former Protestants (that had enough of all the theological bickering amongst the other 34 thousand Protestant denominations) and started their own PC, washed down version of Christianity and got bored of it. So, they decided that “hey”, lets incorporate Hinhuism and Buddhism and Scientology as well, maybe Islam and Baha’i as well. Hmm, something is not quite right…okay throw in a few Atheists. Now that should make our “Church” spicy enough.

Maybe in the further future, gay marriages and animal-sex relations will be viewed as something normal. Next thing to ponder is whether a human can marry an alien?
 
jay29 said:
I still can’t believe my eyes. :eek:
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I don’t understand why some Catholics are so upset that some Churches in the Anglican Communion ordain women. These Churches do it because they think it’s the right thing to do, not just to spite you. You don’t consider these Churches to have valid orders anyway (you don’t even consider them to be “Churches” either). I think we could both show some charity by agreeing to disagree on this issue.
 
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