Abp. of Canterbury: Anglicans and Catholics not reuniting yet

[QuisUtDeus]

From The Star

 

Anglican head says Catholic merger not on the cards

By Rebecca Harrison

PRETORIA (Reuters) - The Archbishop of Canterbury said on Friday there was no plan to reunite the Anglican and Catholic churches after a split almost five centuries ago but the two would work to keep a 40-year-old dialogue alive.   

"There is no plan at all (to reunite)," Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the world's 77 million Anglicans, told Reuters after meeting South African President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria.   

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (L) and South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki chat after their meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, March 9, 2007. Williams is in South Africa for an Anglican conference on tackling poverty. (REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko)

"We will continue discussions as we have for the past 40 years," he said, when asked whether he wanted the two churches to merge, and whether he expected it to happen under his tenure as archbishop.   

Williams, who is in South Africa for an Anglican conference on tackling poverty and HIV/AIDS, has been battling to save the Anglican church from schism amid a bitter debate about homosexual priests and same-sex unions.   

The mother church in England, the heart of the federation of 38 national churches, was founded more than 450 years ago when King Henry VIII broke ties with Rome to divorce his first wife.   

Anglican and Catholic leaders said last month a statement was expected to be published later this year about the possibility of reuniting the churches under the pope, although they said merging could be a long journey.   

Many outside the church struggle to understand why Anglicans and Catholics remain divided over what may seem minor issues.   

But commentators say significant differences on thorny topics could prevent a full merger. Anglicans allow women to be priests but Catholics do not. Catholic priests must remain celibate while Anglicans may marry and have children.   

And while some Anglican churches conduct traditional services, other evangelical congregations eschew liturgy and have adopted informal worship styles that are a world away from Catholic ritual.   

The Anglican church's debate over homosexuality could also scupper any hopes of reunification if it opts to allow gay priests who do not remain celibate -- something the Catholic church has clearly condemned.   

While the Catholic church is a hierarchical system with Pope Benedict in charge, Williams is only a focal point and each province has autonomy.   

Copyright © 2006 Reuters

[Martinus]

 

And while some Anglican churches conduct traditional services, other evangelical congregations eschew liturgy and have adopted informal worship styles that are a world away from Catholic ritual.   

Ah, if only...

[Dilexisti]

Can there be such a thing as being "reunited" with the Catholic Church?

To "reunite" transitive verb         : to bring together again           intransitive verb         : to come together again : rejoin

There is nothing to bring or to come together again because there was no unity to begin with in the first place.  

Perhaps at one time, some 500 years ago, the Church in England subsisted in the Catholic Church, but when Henry VIII made himself head of this church he severed his church from the Catholic body:  he committed the crime of schism.  He placed his church outside the fold (the Barque of Peter, outside of which there is no salvation) and essentially formed his own religion.

There are many things to be accomplished before the C of E can even remotely think about becoming a part of the fold.   First, abolish their "priesthood," and abjure the re-ordinations/re-consecrations by valid but illicit holy orders (Old Catholics), and submit to the Pope.  Second, return Canterbury back to Rome (Rowan Williams will be referred to as "Mr" and not to "Archbishop").  And who is Mr. Williams to say reunion is still not in the cards.  It's upon to Rome to made that declaration, not a heretic like him.

[Martinus]

There are many things to be accomplished before the C of E can even remotely think about becoming a part of the fold. First, abolish their "priesthood," and abjure the re-ordinations/re-consecrations by valid but illicit holy orders (Old Catholics), and submit to the Pope. Second, return Canterbury back to Rome (Rowan Williams will be referred to as "Mr" and not to "Archbishop"). And who is Mr. Williams to say reunion is still not in the cards. It's upon to Rome to made that declaration, not a heretic like him.

Well, actually Dr. Williams I think, but I only know that because he actually is referred to as that most of the time anyway.

[Dilexisti]

There are many things to be accomplished before the C of E can even remotely think about becoming a part of the fold. First, abolish their "priesthood," and abjure the re-ordinations/re-consecrations by valid but illicit holy orders (Old Catholics), and submit to the Pope. Second, return Canterbury back to Rome (Rowan Williams will be referred to as "Mr" and not to "Archbishop"). And who is Mr. Williams to say reunion is still not in the cards. It's upon to Rome to made that declaration, not a heretic like him.

Well, actually Dr. Williams I think, but I only know that because he actually is referred to as that most of the time anyway.

You're right.  He probably has a doctorate in philosophy or theology.  But he is referred to as the "archbishop of Canterbury," who ministers to the head of the C of E -- Queen Elizabeth.

A sad memory, where in 1170 AD, St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury was murdered, by the order of another King Henry (the Second, I think).

[Michael_G]

Archbishop Williams (and I think his doctorate is from one of the universities, who are entitled to call people Doctor) is different from either of his two predecessors (Carey and Runcie) in that his writings have a spiritual depth and seriousness that theirs didn't.  Unlike either of them, I think he has it in him to be a Catholic.