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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5253 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Fri May 9th, 2008 11:53 am |
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London, May 9, 2008 / 02:34 am (CNA).- Cardinal Walter Kasper has called for the Anglican Church to “clarify its identity,” saying the church must make “certain difficult decisions” to determine whether it belongs to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches of the first millennium or the Protestant Churches of the 16th century.
The cardinal’s remarks precede the Anglican Communion’s upcoming Lambeth Conference, a worldwide gathering of Anglicans that takes place every ten years. Controversies concerning biblical authority, sexual morality, and the ordination of women and homosexuals as bishops are expected to dominate the conference.
According to the Catholic Herald, Cardinal Kasper said the Anglican Church must ask itself where it belongs.
“Does it belong more to the churches of the first millennium -Catholic and Orthodox - or does it belong more to the Protestant churches of the 16th century? At the moment it is somewhere in between, but it must clarify its identity now and that will not be possible without certain difficult decisions,” said Cardinal Kasper, who is president of the Pontifical Council on Christian Unity.
The cardinal said he hoped that there would be a deciding moment for Anglicanism at the Church’s next Lambeth Conference. Cardinal Kasper has been asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the head Anglican prelate, to address the conference.
“We hope that certain fundamental questions will be clarified at the conference so that dialogue will be possible.
"We shall work and pray that it is possible, but I think that it is not sustainable to keep pushing decision-making back because it only extends the crisis,” Cardinal Kasper said.
The Church of England is considering proceeding with the ordination of women bishops and the sanctioning of homosexual partnerships, both of which are serious obstacles to unity with other Christian bodies and within the Anglican Church itself.
Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, sparked controversy as the first openly homosexual Episcopalian bishop. His plans to enter a civil union with his partner have also angered conservative Anglicans. Bishop Robinson plans to attend public events at Lambeth despite the fact that he was not invited by Archbishop Williams.
Conservative bishops, led by Archbishop of Nigeria Peter Akinola, have been dismayed by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s refusal to condemn homosexuality outright. According to the Catholic Herald, they plan a rival conference in the Holy Land in June.
Cardinal Kasper in 2006 said that Anglican plans to ordain women as bishops would lead to “a serious and long lasting chill.” However, last month the Church of England’s Legislative Drafting Group published a report preparing for women bishops, who are already ordained in several Anglican provinces.
The above article is reposted with permission from Catholic News Agency.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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EMarshallBuckles
Member
| Joined: | Mon Nov 19th, 2007 |
| Location: | Rockville (Near Richmond), Virginia USA |
| Posts: | 616 |
| First Name: | Marshall | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Christian Church,Episcopal Church,Baptist denomination,learning about RCC |
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Posted: Sat May 10th, 2008 06:32 am |
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Frankly, I think that what is probably going to happen is that the Anglican Communion is going to diminish greatly until all that is left is a very SMALL group of, pardon my expression, "liberal whacko" so called "churches" which have little or nothing to do with Christianity, sort of "cults", more or less. There will also likely be several small to medium sized "splinter" churches of Anglican origin which will be very conservative, try to call themselves "Catholic" but will be just splinter groups playing at being Catholic. After a while, if things keep on as they have, they will probably all disappear or become very obscure. Meanwhile, many Episcopalians, here in the United States, and Anglicans elsewhere are continuing to "bail out" either going to the Roman Catholic Church or going to one of the other liturgical denominations or to the Baptist denomination (I always say Baptist denomination because the local Baptist churches are the authority in that denomination and the churches, doing missions, education, etc. in cooperation with each other are the "denomination" -it's not a church, it's a denomination with local autonomous churches, in other words and, yes, that may all seem very confusing but don't blame me, I had nothing to do with getting it started, ha, ha  ). I think that what the Roman Catholic Church ought to do, as it has with some other former Episcopal Churches, is to allow them to become attached to the Catholic Church, recognizing the Pope as their head, and also allow some of them who wish to do so to use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and previous editions, assuming that is at all supportable in Catholic doctrine and policy. Anyway, in other words, I think that the Anglican Communion may be sort of like a candle which has been blown out (by the liberals) and the wick is still glowing but growing colder and will soon be extinguished and the candlestick disgarded. The Roman Catholic Church will continue to pick up members from them as will some other denominations. Sadly, some others will go off into cults or become pagan or agnostics or atheists. Again, I would risk a prediction that, should the Lord not return before then, "The Episcopal Church" , as the denomination formerly known as "the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" formerly called itself, will be very, very small or not exist any more and, if it does exist, it will have gone off into total heresy, in my humble opinion. All we can do is to pray for them.
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Steven Barrett
Member
| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 856 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 12:29 am |
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Marshall,
Excellent points. It must've been a particularly humbling moment, (and I'm really understating it here) for the Anglican prelates to have heard what Cardinal Kaspar told them in their "own house" (as our ball players like to say over here regarding "home court/field advantage".) No doubt Cardinals Newman, Manning, Wolsley, Pole and St. Thomas More, not to mention all the other martyrs of Henry, Elizabeth & Co are getting in a good smirking session. Long overdue.
You know the Old Dominion better than I, but one thing I do know about the Episcopalians is that they're not going to feel all that much at home in the more contemporized Baptist and "free" evangelical churches that are fast cropping up. They like a more traditional setting, with old tyme traditional hymns, not to mention a liturgy that's based on ancient traditions and teachings, etc. If the Congregationalists in this area hadn't joined their Episcopal brethern in keeping the trappings of tradition while chucking the Teachings of Truth, the Episcopalians here might feel more at home with Congregationalism. (At least the Congregationalists here are willing to send their conservatives to the Baptists or Catholics. Either they're being good sports or practicing "theological cleansing." Perhaps more of the latter with a kindly sporting display of manners thrown in for a nice cover.
There is a very small traditionalist Anglican community that borrows a little used small Cong. chapel a couple of towns over, and they meet on Saturdays. No way in a pro-gay Episcopalian church's view of hell will they allow any pro-Southern Cone Episcopal parish/congregation to use their churches. Good heavens, they can't hold on to the ones they still have!--and for good reason.
Back to der Kardinal: he all but took the tattered remains of the 39 whatever they still call 'em, threw them in a hole and tossed some dirt on top for good measure. It must've been a helluva sight to behold! And to take it from a German Cardinal, that has to be the kicker.
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For anybody interested in reading commentary from a Catholic's socially conservative/fiscally liberal viewpoint, go to my new blog at http://www.politicsramble.com/ .
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JasPax
Member
| Joined: | Wed Nov 22nd, 2006 |
| Location: | North Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 230 |
| First Name: | James | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Episcopal to Catholic |
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 12:58 am |
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CajunRick wrote: London, May 9, 2008 / 02:34 am (CNA).- Cardinal Walter Kasper has called for the Anglican Church to “clarify its identity,” saying the church must make “certain difficult decisions” to determine whether it belongs to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches of the first millennium or the Protestant Churches of the 16th century.
Well, getting the Anglican Communion to "clarify" its identity will be a neat trick.
Their leadership are masters of the, "now you see me, now you don't" method of operation.
The previous Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church (TEC), famously remarked, "You have your truth, and I have mine, and we'll all live together in creative tension." That was the final comment that sent me out the door.
Let's pray that all the Anglicans loyal to Christ's teachings will find their way home to Rome.
God's Blessings,
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James
"Abide in me, and I in you..." John 15:4
"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." John 6:56
RSV-2CE
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Steven Barrett
Member
| Joined: | Tue Nov 14th, 2006 |
| Location: | Hadley, Massachusetts USA |
| Posts: | 856 |
| First Name: | Steven | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic, Episcopal communicant, Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 01:27 am |
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The previous Presiding Bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church (TEC), famously remarked, "You have your truth, and I have mine, and we'll all live together in creative tension." That was the final comment that sent me out the door.
As the wrong rev'd Barney might also saith, "I love you, you love me ..."  
"Creative tension." Isn't that also something our Pre-Cana sessions try to help young folks try to avoid knowing full well "creative tension" doesn't always trump good old human nature?
Tell me, how fast did you bolt ... ?
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For anybody interested in reading commentary from a Catholic's socially conservative/fiscally liberal viewpoint, go to my new blog at http://www.politicsramble.com/ .
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