The Times of London: “Churches back plan to unite under Pope”
Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt.
The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches.
In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope.
The statement, leaked to The Times, is being considered by the Vatican, where Catholic bishops are preparing a formal response.
It comes as the archbishops who lead the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion meet in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in an attempt to avoid schism over gay ordination and other liberal doctrines that have taken hold in parts of the Western Church.
The 36 primates at the gathering will be aware that the Pope, while still a cardinal, sent a message of support to the orthodox wing of the Episcopal Church of the US as it struggled to cope with the fallout after the ordination of the gay bishop Gene Robinson.
Were this week’s discussions to lead to a split between liberals and conservatives, many of the former objections in Rome to a reunion with Anglican conservatives would disappear. Many of those Anglicans who object most strongly to gay ordination also oppose the ordination of women priests.
Technorati Tags: Episcopal Church, Roman Catholicism, Global South Primates, Pope
Suggested by Dave D.
One Comment
What do you call a person who starts a rumour?
What do you call a person who repeats a rumour?
What do you call a person who believes a rumour?
Ruth Gledhill, the author of this article, originally published in the Times of London, has seriously distorted the document that she later leaked. Her exaggerations have been described by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, as “remarkably garbled.â€
There has been a clarification issued by IARCCUM, the group that drafted the report that Gledhill was referring to. When the complete text is issued it will be obvious that there is nothing in the text that suggests that a reunion or reconciliation is immanent between these two churches. The report actually calls for cooperation and common mission in similar ways and forms as earlier documents from the past 40 years. There’s nothing new here. In fact, people will be somewhat disappointed because it is not calling for more.
I’m not saying this simply because I trust the IARCCUM participants, although I do. I have read the text and I know it is not what Gledhill said.
Post a Comment