That is amazing and I sincerely hope and pray that all is made well and this group of Anglicans is received into the CC in good faith. What an example and for all and an exciting time, too.
Because their faith has been corrupted. Women priests, women bishops, homosexual marriage etc. Christ promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against HIS Church. This does not apply to the Church of England.
The Catholic Church cannot accept them in mass. I believe that over 400,000 Anglicans and 500 priests want to come back to the Catholic Church. We must proceed slowly. We must insure that they will adhere too ALL of the teachings of the Church. Only then can they be allowed to join the Church that they left 500 years ago.
Please… I would like to see where 400,000 Anglicans want to join Rome. I don’t buy it.
The 400,000 number probably comes from the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC). That is their reported membership and they formally applied to Rome late last year for full communion. I don’t really see that happening, but I’ve been wrong before. There’s plenty info available, just do a Google search on TAC +Rome.
I don’t see any viable evidence of 400,000 Anglicans falling over each other to go to Rome. Sorry.
On their OWN news page is the partial text of their statement requesting full reunion with Rome.
And yet, there is precedent for precisely that… admitting them all at once. It has happened several times, with the reunion of the Eastern Catholic Churches…
If you have not already done so, you should read about the TAC (schismatic) and their petition to Rome. As I said, I don’t think it will happen; in fact I don’t think it should happen with ANY Anglican/Episcopal or other ecclesial community. If people wish to become Catholic, they should only do so after prayer, study, contemplation and personal “witness” that the Catholic Church retains the deposit of faith and is that which brings them closest to God. Conversions en-masse, based on decisions made by an ecclesiastical hierarchy, could be largely superficial, divisive, and therefore not beneficial to anyone. It also raises the question of how to handle those who cannot come into full communion with the Catholic Church; e.g., civilly divorced and remarried laypersons and Priests.
Well I welcome my brothers and sisters back home. It is not their fault they are where they are. It is corruption of years long past that created this schism. It would be wonderful had they maintained the rite of ordination so as to have valid holy orders and eucharist, but that’s another thread. I can’t wait to see the reunion that would be a much needed addition to the faith. We need more orthodoxy within the Church and I beleive these folks would bring that with them. We have a community that converted near our home. I love it. They still kneel at the rail. Look communion with no hands and from a priest. He’s married, and a priest. That works for me. I go frequently to support them.
I think the Anglican communion, by ordaining of Anglican priestesses, ordaining ‘married’ homosexual couples, Bishopesses(is that what women bishops would be called?), etc. has pretty well had the effect of “radically crippling the Catholic party in the communion” permanently all by themselves.
I would recommend reading the Balamand Statement (an agreed statement between Catholic and Orthodox), also know as “Uniatism, method of union of the past, and the present search for full communion.”