The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith released a note today in which it is stated that the Pope is going to promulgate an Apostolic Constitution (the most authoritative kind of document) in which provision is made for the reunion of Anglicans who, after almost 500 years of schism, desire to return at long last to the one true Church of Christ.
Read the note here, with Fr. Z's commentary.
A spokesman for the Traditional Anglican Communion has issued a statement of extreme gratitude to the Holy Father for his generosity in offering a way of reunion which will also allow them to preserve what is good in their spiritual and liturgical heritage.
Let us pray that many Anglicans will respond to the Pope's fatherly invitation.
4 comments:
I'm not looking for Rowan Williams to swim the Tiber any time soon. Maybe the Queen, though.
The Queen? That would be interesting. Isn't she technically the head of the Church of England?
Well, now she can convert while maintaining her traditions and the whole Church of England would be Catholic de facto! But if she were Catholic, she wouldn't be the head of any church...so there's the hole in that argument.
I've long thought that something like an 'Anglican Rite' would be an appropriate way forward. Besides being compassionate toward those orthodox Anglicans whose church (if it can properly be so-called) has walked away from them.
And besides that, we get the Book of Common Prayer (altho, I say let 'em keep any BCP versions dated 1975 or later. . .)
As re the Queen, my understanding is that Catholics are constitutionally barred from the English monarchy, so any 'popery' on her part would come with an abdication attached. Of course, there's a part of me that would love to watch that particular 'constitutional crisis' unfold. . .
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