WSJ–Pope's offer colors first U.K. visit

The [Ordinariate] offer sent shock waves through the Anglican Communion. Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, first among equals in the Anglican Communion, the world’s third-largest Christian group after Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, indicated that he had little warning of the Vatican move and reacted coolly to it at the time.

Most people who will act on the Vatican’s still-undefined arrangement, called a special ordinariate, are expected to come from groups that have already split from the Anglican Communion. That reality, along with the resumption of the official ecumenical dialogue between the churches, has helped to smooth relations between Pope Benedict and Archbishop Williams, who will host the pope at Lambeth Palace in London on Friday.

“The Vatican offer “felt like a hard thing at first, especially since we were in Rome preparing for the next round of ecumenical talks when it took place,” said Rev. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, director of unity, faith and order for the Anglican Communion, who leads the Anglican side of the official dialogue between the churches. “But I think it won’t cause disrepair to the Roman Catholic-Anglican Communion discussions.”

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Culture-Watch, * International News & Commentary, * Religion News & Commentary, Anglican Provinces, Archbishop of Canterbury, Church of England (CoE), England / UK, Other Churches, Pope Benedict XVI, Religion & Culture, Roman Catholic

3 comments on “WSJ–Pope's offer colors first U.K. visit

  1. TridentineVirginian says:

    [blockquote]”The Vatican offer “felt like a hard thing at first, especially since we were in Rome preparing for the next round of ecumenical talks when it took place,” said Rev. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, director of unity, faith and order for the Anglican Communion, who leads the Anglican side of the official dialogue between the churches. “But I think it won’t cause disrepair to the Roman Catholic-Anglican Communion discussions.”[/blockquote]

    Good grief, talk about the power of denial. She is narrowly correct: Anglicanorum Coetibus itself won’t cause disrepair, it is the response to the fact that the relationship itself is already in disrepair beyond fixing, and the Church has made that clear again and again. Didn’t anyone listen to what the Vatican representatives said at Lambeth? For that matter, what Metropolitan Hilarion just said in England? So the Pope is going to visit Rowan Williams. The Pope also visited the Dalai Lama. He’s a nice guy, who maintains friendly relations with other religions.

    Actually the fact that the Anglican side of the dialogue is a female “priest” says a great deal, right there.

  2. MichaelA says:

    True, however it also seems likely that not many Anglicans will take up the offer, and most of those that do will be in groups that have already severed ties with Canterbury. I suspect that the liberals in CofE and TEC so believe, and therefore Anglicanorum Coetibus doesn’t worry them as much as it once did.

  3. Conchúr says:

    [i]When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became pope in 2005, observers believed his most likely ecumenical ally would be Archbishop Williams, and with some bumps,that has largely been the case.[/i]

    That is so blatantly inaccurate it’s hard to know where to begin.