Canon David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral, estimated that as many as 200 traditionalist clergy could leave the Church, taking thousands of worshippers with them.
“People’s patience is running out and many will now be asking whether they should try and practice their Catholic faith in the Church of England,” he said.
“The vote was a severe blow to the archbishop [of Canterbury] and it has pushed us closer to the door.”
A group of 70 traditionalist clergy met with a Catholic bishop on Saturday to discuss plans to defect to the Roman Catholic Church. Earlier this year three bishops travelled to the Vatican to talk over an offer made by Pope Benedict XVI inviting disillusioned Anglicans to convert to Catholicism.
They will leave, taking the remaining shreds of the C of E’s religious street-cred with them. Bismarck’s dictum regarding the observation of sausages and laws being made obtains here. Over the past year the English people have been treated to an unobstructed view of the ideological lack of compassion of female clergy and their male minions. Who would want to attend a church where it’s all about power and gender and not about Jesus?
“Hundreds of traditionalist clergy poised to leave…” Reminds me of that joke “what do you call 100 lawyers going over a cliff in a bus?”
Democrats speak of “culling the herd” in the upcoming election. TEC Reappraisers have talked about the current exodus as “cleaning out the dead wood.” I expect there is some equivalent English term being used among those in the CoE who refuse to allow accommodation for Traditionalists.
deaconmark: I’m a lawyer that likes lawyer jokes. What do you call 100 lawyers going over a cliff in a bus?
If only these traditionalists, Anglo-Catholics and evangelicals alike, would form another province and be in communion with ACNA. Forward in the Faith UK once talked about the necessity of a new province, but perhaps those discussions stopped once the business of the Ordinariate got underway? I admit to still being baffled why the Anglo-Catholics amenable to the offer weren’t with the RCs long ago.
#4 A good start.
#5 ACNA border/ocean crossing alert?
I’ll believe it when I see it; hopefully when the ordinariates get started in a few years, probably at the same time the C of E gets its first woman bishop. Of course I hope it happens.
A Senior Priest, I agree with the liberals actually and with Rome of course; it’s not ‘lack of compassion’ (and the conservatives who complain thus sound pathetic) but consistency. Either do it or not; no halfway measures.
[i]I admit to still being baffled why the Anglo-Catholics amenable to the offer weren’t with the RCs long ago.[/i]
Perfectly sensible of you on paper. In practice: priests and their wives and kids who would have faced unemployment/homelessness. Well-meaning priests saying they were staying to minister to their congregations regardless of what the diocese or national church did (a kind of congregationalism but anyway). Hostile local liberal RC authorities – who didn’t want a bunch of conservatives coming in – even worse in practice than the local C of E ones.
I will surely not blame any conservative priest or layperson who chooses to leave; it is clear they have not been given graceful accomodation, despite multiple appeals and efforts. It would be hard to feel one has a place or is valued in such a setting. Quite reminiscent of why my parish left TEC in 2006….
Agreed, montanan (#8).
I thought the lame argument of the ABoY, ++Sentamu, was symptomatic of why the CoE is in the horrible mess it’s in. The threadbare, worn-out argument that the essence of Anglicanism is to seek the middle way shows all too clearly that the old Anglican ideal of “[i]comprehensiveness for the sake of (fuller) truth rather than compromise for the sake of peace,[/i]” has fallen victim, as usual to the reality that normally the CoE, like any state church, will almost always fall into the trap of seeking compromise for the sake of peace, no matter what may be the cost in terms of theological integrity.
Alas, that is the nature of Christendom style religion. “Twas ever so. And that’s why a wholly new, post-Christendom style Anglicanism is so desperately necessary.
David Handy+
I would say that the whole of the WWAC is in a horrible mess. The trinity of horrific TEc, CofE and CofC
But let’s not forget the imperfections on our side of the divide; to take a minor example, on those who insist upon associate membership in ACNA rather than make a commitment for the sake of unity.
More to the point, let’s be alive to the fact that Anglicans aren’t perfect just because they reside in the Third World. Kendall’s posted enough examples over the past few years of ecclesiastical squabbles within and without the GAFCON provinces to demonstrate that you don’t need an overt clash between liberal and conservative theology for Christians to indulge in unseemly conflict.
Good luck to them. The Catholics I know are all liberals and are quite appalled, some angry, about the possibility of our “misogynists and homophobes” joining their ranks. Their words, direct quotes. I’d have a hard time believing that most RCs in the UK are conservative. So, are these traditionalist clergy expecting to set up their own parishes with their own parishioners under the RC marquis, thinking that these pesky issues of gender and sexuality won’t touch them? If so, they’re in for a big wakeup call.
Fair enough, Dr. Bonner (#11).
You’re right to remind us that, of course, there are major problems within GS Anglicanism. And St. Paul himself could (and almost certainly was) lambasted by not only his Judaizing foes but by more moderate figures for utilizing some most uncharitable and even abusive language (just recall 2 Cor. 10-13 with his caustic accusations that his opponents were false apostles and agents of Satan, or Phil. 3:2, with its vituperative language of “dogs” and “evil workers,” etc.). I’ll bet there were church leaders who read Gal. 5:12 and reacted like the archbishop of York.
I’m not defending unChristian behavior here (whether in language or tactics). Rather, I’m just reminding us that, as always, “[i]The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.[/i]” And the main thing these days (alas) is to “[i]contend for the faith delivered once for all to the saints.[/i]” No matter how polarizing and unpleasant that is. Let the true gospel be preserved at all costs. Even at the unthinkable cost of irreparably dividing the Church.
David Handy+