(ENS) Bishop Edward Little of Northern Indiana and his Roman Catholic counterpart Bishop John D’Arcy of the Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend jointly sponsored an event, titled “An Introduction to the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue,” on May 28 at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in South Bend.
“It was a joy for me to welcome Bishop John D’Arcy in what we hope will be the first of many helpful and positive discussions,” said Little.
During the evening event, which began with prayer in the church, both bishops underscored the need for closer ties and better understanding of one another’s churches. This was followed by a church supper and presentations by Mary Reath, chairman of the American Friends of the Anglican Centre in Rome, and Lawrence S. Cunningham, professor of theology at Notre Dame College.
Pardon me if I chuckle, but it’s hard to get serious at the thought of a Roman Catholic bishop even being present at Compline with a woman priest of The Episcopal Church!
“Introduction to Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue offered to dioceses”
Are the next episodes in this series “Introduction to the Dodo bird for zoo-visitors” and then “Gnosticism — The answer to today’s problems?” All three seems about equally “relevant” to the current culture.
I had to laugh out loud at Dr. Tighe’s comment. In a similar vein – and referring to the thread on Mormon baptisms – may I suggest the RC would find it more fruitful to jump start discussions with the LDS than the current incarnation of Anglicanism.
Pardon me if I chuckle, but it’s hard to get serious at the thought of a Roman Catholic bishop even being present at Compline with a woman priest of The Episcopal Church!
You don’t have to be priest to lead an Office, which is what Compline is. While she would not be recognized as a priest, she certainly could be recognized as a church leader and one who could lead an office. It’s not the same as a Catholic bishop taking communion from a female Episcopal priest. (He wouldn’t take communion from a male Episcopal priest, either, actually.)
Maybe Bp Little can explain why he went to Lambeth to beg for Gene Robinson’s invitation or why Ms Schori dissed the pope to go bless a garden at a gay church in Dallas?
Cenydd, I personally have witnessed the current prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith attend Eucharist celebrated by female Episcopal clergy. Then Archbishop Levada didn’t receive, but he did attend (and come forward for a blessing), as did all Roman Catholic members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the US.
The Indiana event was following the format suggested by the American dialogue when Levada was chair. Not so strange.
Dirk Reinken
I know……and I’ve also led Compline……several times. But given the situation existing between Rome and 815…..and the Anglican communion in general, I find this ironic.
Not so strange, actually. There has always been a strong Anglo-Catholic presence in the “Biretta belt”. Because of this there has traditionally been close relations between the Episcopal See and the Catholic See at South Bend, and if memory serves me right the Episcopal bishop has a standing season pass to Notre Dame football games. I imagine that +Little roots for the ND Irish against the NU Wildcats (the traitor!).
Then, +Little is orthodox. Evangelical rather than Anglo-Catholic, but orthodox. If he needed counsel from a spiritual leader, where could he turn? To an orthodox bishop in the Episcopal church or Global South? To a liberal bishop? +Schori perhaps? To one of his priests? To his seminary dean at Seabury-Western – a seminary that is folding?
It must be lonely being a bishop. I suspect that he and +D’Arcy are friends. (They would almost have to be, wouldn’t they).
It does make me wonder, a little bit. What has always baffled me about +Little is that he always seemed to be acting against his better self. He is neither a fool, nor a knave. And he is orthodox. I think he may finally be coming to his senses. I hope so.
Cennydd,
I’m with you. It seems a church with a male rector would have been more appropriate for hosting this event.
#9, why would we want to hide who we are in ecumenical dialogue? There is no way to overcome differences if we decide to be something that we’re not. Believe me, Roman Catholic bishops are not scandalized that there are female clergy and bishops in TEC. They know we have them. They don’t expect us to keep them locked up or hidden in the sacristy.
Heck, even the Roman Catholic bishop of Providence gave Bishop Geralyn Wolf his zuchetta and let her officiate an evening prayer service in his cathedral during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity!!
Dirk C. Reinken
It’s hard to imagine that the RCs even take this profit shop seriously enough to chat, much more dialogue.
#10
Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because WO is one of the most obvious and visible obstacles to any sort of eccuminical progress between the RC and Anglicanism.
#12, yes – Roman attitudes towards women’s ordination and the presence of ordained women in Anglican churches are major obstacles. So is the presence of a supreme pontiff, yet we’re not asking Rome to jettison the pope before we pray with them.
The Episcopal Church’s position is that we seek full communion with our ecumenical partners, which includes recognition of all orders, not just male orders. Rome knows this. There’s no duplicity, no poking fingers in eyes, nothing offense offered or received. The question is, why do Anglicans perceive it as a slight that an ordained women should be in a sanctuary with a Roman prelate?
Dirk