A top Vatican official has told members of a joint Anglican-Roman Catholic commission that his church could recognize the validity of Anglican priesthood if the Anglican Church officially adopts statements agreed to by an earlier joint commission on priesthood and the Eucharist. Cardinal Johannes Willebrands of the Vatican Secretariat for Christian Unity raised the possibility in a letter to the commission, representatives of the panel told a news conference in London. The new Vatican approach could be a major development in ending the 450-year-old rift between Rome and Canterbury. Bishop Cormac Murphy-O’Connor and Bishop Mark Santer, the Catholic and Anglican chairmen of the commission, said they hoped shared communion would result from the changes as soon as the end of the century. … Read more »… lire la suite »
[Reuters] Pope John Paul II has told the Archbishop of Canterbury the ordination of women priests in some Anglican churches poses an “increasingly serious obstacle” to progress toward eventual reunion with Rome, the Vatican said Monday. The Vatican released an exchange of letters between the Pope and Archbishop Robert Runcie, and between Runcie and Johannes … Read more »… lire la suite »
[Los Angeles Times] Pope John Paul II reiterated this week that the ordination of women in the Anglican Church poses “serious obstacles” to relations with the Roman Catholic Church. In a year-end address to cardinals, the Pope, speaking with “sincere pain,” deplored a resolution adopted by the world’s Anglican bishops in August. The Anglican bishops … Read more »… lire la suite »
On 2 January, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a Notification, signed by the prefect, Cardinal Ratzinger, and by the secretary, Archbishop Bertone, and approved by Pope John Paul II, which declared that Fr Tissa Balasuriya OMI of Sri Lanka “has deviated from the integrity of the truth of the Catholic faith and, therefore, cannot be considered a Catholic theologian; moreover, he has incurred excommunication latae sententiae (can. 1364, par. 1)”. This canon states that an apostate from the faith, a heretic or a schismatic incurs an • automatic excommunication. The charge of “deviation from the truth of the faith” indicates that it is for heresy, rather than for apostasy or schism, that Fr Balasuriya has been excommunicated. … Read more »… lire la suite »
For many Anglicans, the eleventh day of the eleventh month stirs memories of present as well as past conflicts: last Tuesday was the fifth anniversary of the General Synod’s vote in favour of women priests. By common consent the decision presaged the biggest upheaval in the Church of England since the Reformation, prompting 300 clergymen to resign their orders in protest at what they saw as a fracturing of the apostolic ministry. But in ordaining its women deacons in 1994 the Church gained nearly seven times as many new priests as it lost, and the new recruits are now serving at all levels of the hierarchy up to the rank of archdeacon. There appears to be ready agreement among most church people that the ordained ministry has been refreshed by “more open and collaborative styles of leadership”, and that women priests are accepted with enthusiasm by an evergrowing majority of congregations in consequence. “It’s an incarnational thing”, said one erstwhile sceptic. “When you see someone doing the job effectively, you’re quickly won over.” … Read more »… lire la suite »
With our short ecclesiastical memories, we have almost forgotten that in the run-up to its dogmatic definition in 1854, Mary’s Immaculate Conception was often justified on the grounds of her being a priest. Tradition frequently applied the words found in Hebrews 7:26 to her: “It is fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens.” The Benedictine prior Jacques Biroat wrote in 1666 that “Paul’s reasoning” in Hebrews 7:26 “is relevant to Christ’s mother. She shares in the priesthood of her son and is the origin of our reconciliation to God. Therefore, she had to be entirely innocent and separate from sinners. She had to be preserved from original sin.” Mary was immaculately conceived because she had to be a priest without stain. Mary has captured the Catholic imagination more than any other person except Jesus. Generation after generation has seen in her the highest reflection of saintliness and love. Catholics have been fond of Mary because she is Jesus’ own mother. They also respected her as his closest associate in redemption, as his first “priest”. … Read more »… lire la suite »
The underground Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia in Communist times ordained married men and a woman vicar-general. The aim was to bring the sacraments to those who otherwise would have to do without. Our Vienna correspondent has been reading a new biography of Ludmila Javorova. … Read more »… lire la suite »
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity has given “a clear and helpful contribution” to the Church of England’s debate over the consecration of women bishops, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams. The gracious response offered by Williams was to be expected between two close friends and theological colleagues. Nevertheless, Kasper’s frank address to the House of Bishops was a sign of the significance that the Vatican places on the English church’s decision. As an exercise in ecumenical brinkmanship it may be unparallelled in recent times. … Read more »… lire la suite »
On Monday, the General Synod of the Church of England voted to proceed towards the ordination of women to the episcopate. The vote begins a process that is expected to take three years before a final synodal vote. The earliest ordination would likely be in five years. The fallout from the decision is expected much sooner, both at the Lambeth Conference in late July and in the ecumenical dialogues with Roman Catholics and the Orthodox.
The Church of England is not the first province in the Anglican Communion to make this decision. It does, however, come at a time of tension in the Anglican Communion. The Lambeth Conference meeting later this month will address numerous strains on the Communion, including those arising from the ordination of homosexuals and women, and the blessing of same-sex unions. Women’s ordination has been a controversial issue in the Communion since 1976 when the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the USA decided to ordain women as priests. In the intervening years, many of the other provinces in the Communion have followed their path, including the Church of England in 1992. Once women were ordained as priests, questions were immediately asked about whether women would be ordained as bishops as well. … Read more »… lire la suite »