Posted on 07/17/2014 10:58:01 AM PDT by NKP_Vet
With hindsight, we can see that the real battle in the Church of England has been with her founding principles. She was founded in the Protestant Revolution on an essentially liberal principle: that the circumstances and situation in the current culture determine the identity and mission of the church. She was now, and always has been the Church of ENGLAND. Therefore, the circumstances, personalities and cultural factors determine which way she will go. As society became increasingly secular, liberal and antipathetic to a Catholic worldview, the Catholic tendency in the Church of England could not survive.
From the first discussions of the possibility of women’s ordination the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic authorities reminded the leaders of the Church of England that such a decision would not be Catholic and Apostolic. Gradually the Church of England came to understand that she was not a historic Catholic Church, and by her voting process informed the Catholics and Eastern Orthodox of her decision. Catholics and Eastern Orthodox leaders should understand that the majority of Anglicans (for many different reasons) have never really considered themselves Catholic. Their attitude was summed up for me in a dissuasion in the mid 1980s with a female Anglican seminarian. When I pointed out that women’s ordination was an obstacle to unity with the Catholic Church she raised her voice and protested, “You don’t get it! I am not a Roman Catholic and I don’t want to be. I don’t care about so called unity with the Catholic Church. That is not something I want at all!”
She spoke the true wishes not only of the majority of Anglican clergy but also the majority of Anglicans in the pew. The ecumenical movement, for most of them, has never been more than the nice idea that they might have the occasional hymn sing with the other churches and perhaps run a soup kitchen together. The idea that they would become “Roman Catholics” was abhorrent to most Anglicans for most of them who thought it through at all were convinced of the Tractarian myth that they were already Catholic…just not Roman Catholic.
Therefore the vote on Monday by the General Synod was not really about women bishops. It was about the Church of England ratifying her original charter: to be the Church of England and to do what England wants. The vote was about the Church of England identifying herself very clearly and unapologetically as a Protestant Progressive Christian sect along with the Episcopalians and Lutherans. Monday’s vote ended the interesting chapter in Anglican history called “The Anglo Catholic movement.” Monday’s vote was a clear repudiation of any semblance of authentic Catholicism and an endorsement of the principles of Protestantism.
Does this mean ecumenism with Anglicans is over? Not at all. Ecumenical discussions continue. It’s just that now everyone should be much clearer about the identity of our ecumenical partners.
Before you start labeling others as false churches, false religions you might want to look in the mirror. You might see praying to Mary, worshipping Mary, indulgences, penance, working for your salvation, mortal sins vs venial (little sins as I like to call them) sins, saying repeated prayers over and over and over like the rosary, the papacy itself, Mary's so called immaculate conception, etc.
The RCC is the last one to call anyone else's religion false.
You were just bemoaning that, "It’s too bad that non-Catholics don’t take your advice about criticizing other faiths. All I do on FR is take up for my Catholic faith from the constant attack by non-Catholics.", now you are criticizing other faiths, going so far as to declare any church not Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox is a "false church" and a "false religion". Can't make up your mind?
But this thread you posted isn't about Roman Catholicism. It's a hit piece on the Anglican church. You just got done asserting, "All I do on FR is take up for my Catholic faith from the constant attack by non-Catholics.", actually it's not ALL you do after all. Didn't you claim in the past that you never see threads of Catholics initiating an argument with protestants on FR? So, what do you call this one??? You either need to get out more or at least remember from post to post what you say.
“It’s a hit piece on the Anglican church”
Then why don’t you write Father Dwight Longnenecker and complain to him. He only tells the truth and you cant handle the truth.
Did Fr. Longnenecker FORCE you to post this thread on FR??? It's humorous you cannot recognize that when you say one thing and then turn around and contradict yourself, you don't make sense. Can you handle THAT truth?
Father Longnenecker is the perfect person to tell you how far off scripture the Angelican Church has drifted with their doctrine on female clergy, support of homo “marriage”, and homo clergy. He was a Angelican priest before his conversion to Catholicism. So why on earth would it bother you when I post an article from a Catholic priest who used to be a protestant. He was not just your typical Angelican priest. He graduated from fundamentalist Bob Jones University. I enjoy everything that Father Longenecker writes. You of course could care for him because he used to be a protestant. Everything he said about the Angelican Church is fact, but of course because he’s a Catholic you disregard anything and everything he says.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.