At Westminster Abbey, it was the Pope’s turn to speak first. He chose to recall St Bede the Venerable (always a popular choice for Anglicans) who, he said, “understood ”¦ the need for creative openness to new developments”, perhaps an unexpected turn of phrase from this Pope. Dr Williams, in turn, recalled Sts Augustine of Canterbury and Gregory the Great, but also noted that “Christians have very diverse views about the nature of the vocation that belongs to the See of Rome” He went on to quote John Paul II’s encyclical Ut Unum Sint, saying that “we must all reflect together” on how the Petrine ministry may speak to all Christians. A partial agreement here perhaps between these two, but many Anglicans hold dissenting views.
Only at the very end of the visit did the Pope mention Anglicanorum Coetibus, the apostolic constitution to enable Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church through a special structure, and then to his own bishops, not those of the Church of England. In his radio interview, Dr Williams said: “A relatively small number of people in the Church of England have wanted to explore this. I hadn’t ever expected it to be a huge number.”
So, overall, did the Pope surprise Anglicans? Most people I asked said that his remarks were softer in tone than they expected. Does this mean that any fundamental changes are likely? No, but it might mean that dire predictions being made earlier for the future of ecumenical relations were not accurate. A more interesting question might be whether the image of the Church of England among Roman Catholics has been affected by the obvious warmth of feeling that Pope Benedict has displayed on this visit. Yet a concern remains for Anglicans that Rome does not perceive a need for any fundamental rethink of its own position on the divisive issues.
A concern that remains for this Anglican is that some Anglicans do not perceive a need for any fundamental rethink of its own (reapprasing) position on divisive issues.
🙄
I was hugely amused by the comment attributed to an unnamed bishop of the Church of England, saying that Cardinal Kasper is not usually so gauche. Oh dear. It seems to that speak clearly and frankly is equivalent to being gauche.
Today’s gauche is tomorrow’s sinister. Left-footers of the world, unite!
Appropos of nothing, the comment in #3 reminded me of a favorite bumper sticker: Dyslexics of the world UNTIE!
RE: “Yet a concern remains for Anglicans that Rome does not perceive a need for any fundamental rethink of its own position on the divisive issues.”
So amusing.
Let’s rewrite for accuracy.
“Yet a concern remains for revisionist Anglicans that Rome does not perceive a need for any fundamental rethink of its own position on the divisive issues.”
Among the rest of us, we couldn’t give a hoot about the lack of WO, blessings of sex between men, or even priestly celibacy [it’s what RCs believe — why demand they change that?].
I read this post when it first appeared and a couple days later actually read the article, after having written the below comment but not sending it:
Dear me – poor Mr. Sarmiento was not able to share the joy, was he. As if Rome needed to re-think its position, when in fact some Anglicans have come knocking on their door asking to be received and committing themselves to the Magisterium(!) – such an attitude isn’t likely to induce the RCC to re-examine its own position, is it now? He may feel rather aggravated with those various Anglicans, more than with Rome. Nevertheless, setting up of the Ordinariates is unavoidably introducing some novelties to the Western Latin Church, and that is exciting, not to mention bold on their part.
But more regrettable is the apparent inability to notice that while CofE et al. proceeds headlong with their worldly innovations, Benedict XVI has ‘innovated’, in fact, only in line with the thoughts of his predecessor, who had advised Cardinal Ratzinger on receiving the first Anglican enquiries in the early 1990s, “Be generous”. Thus in his remarks to (only) the Catholic bishops, graciously made at the end of the visit and not earlier which could have stirred real animosity, this Pope has merely passed on the advice he received nearly 20 years ago from Pope John Paul II. I believe that is called ‘obedience’.
More than anything I would be really interested in how the tone of the posted article is perceived within the UK, as the layers of media can distort outside perception of what is reported. I ask this as one who watched nearly all the main events of the UK visit live on video and has reviewed some more retrospectively, such as the St. Peter’s Vauxhall visit (on thepapalvisit.org).