Meanwhile, there's been 'radio silence' from Lambeth Palace concerning the new law in Uganda making "aggressive homosexuality" a capitol offense. Those found "guilty" are sentenced to death.
The "crime" has carried with it a life sentence and prohibition from any treatment for HIV/AIDS, but this is a much more aggressive attack on those the Ugandan government considers "aggressive homosexuals".
Guess the law hasn't been "aggressive" enough.
Read it all.
And you really should read Lionel Deimel's blog post titled "Looking on the Bright Side":
The announcement was surely not a surprise. A number of Anglo-Catholic groups in the U.S. and elsewhere have appealed to the Vatican for such an arrangement, and the Vatican has not been unsympathetic. (One immediately thinks of the letter of support sent to the so-called Plano meeting of Episcopal Church dissidents in October 2003 by the current holder of the papal office.)
H/T to The Lead.
The response to the statement by the Episcopal Church is short and of the taking-it-under-advisement variety, which is for the best, as there is no need for a hasty response.
On the other hand, Mark Harris at Preludium posts the rather hasty (of necessity!) letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the bishops and primates of the Anglican Communion. An excerpt:
I am sorry that there has been no opportunity to alert you earlier to this; I was informed of the planned announcement at a very late stage, and we await the text of the Apostolic Constitution itself and its code of practice in the coming weeks. But I thought I should let you know the main points of the response I am making in our local English context – in full consultation with Roman Catholic bishops in England and Wales – in the hope of avoiding any confusion or misrepresentation. I attach a copy of the Joint Statement that I agreed to make alongside the Archbishop of Westminster, the President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. It can also be found on my website.
It remains to be seen what use will be made of this provision, since it is now up to those who have made requests to the Holy See to respond to the Apostolic Constitution; but, in the light of recent discussions with senior officials in the Vatican, I can say that this new possibility is in no sense at all intended to undermine existing relations between our two communions or to be an act of proselytism or aggression. It is described as simply a response to specific enquiries from certain Anglican groups and individuals wishing to find their future within the Roman Catholic Church.
+Rowan was so busy consulting with Roman Catholic bishops in England and Wales, that he missed consulting with bishops and primates in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. Oh dear!
I am saying little after my little FB foray this morning. I am getting too angry to speak.
ReplyDeleteDidn't I just tell you that I wasn't as angry lately?
Oh well.
Fran, I fear this will not be good for your church. It could draw in a host of conservative malcontents - just what you need, eh?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that in our house +Rowan is becoming +Rowan-the-Irrelevant. And the sad thing is I really feel sorry for him.
ReplyDeleteBy not taking the prophetic path when Akinola et al stormed out of the Holy Eucharist at Tanzania, by allowing the ensuing vitriol against ++Katherine & +Gene, and the Church in both our provinces to pass without with comment or censure, by turning Lambeth into essentially a meaningless, failed exercise in crisis control where the most powerful Christ-like witness was in the witness of the one they excluded, and by all that has ensued ++Rowan has much to account for.
My deepest sadness today is the realization that even he (++ Rowan)fails (along with the orthodites) to realize that Communion is about the sacred, on-going process and conversation in which the Holy Spirit enjoins us, so by spending his time working wih the Roman Catholic bishops for an exit mechanism for the malcontents (if this is indeed what he's done), Rowan has added his only little rent in the fabric of our beloved Communion.
Sad, sad, sad.
David@Montreal
David and I agree, it is a failed arch episcopate. But what possible excuse can there be for the ongoing silence on what Uganda and Nigeria are about. We are talking judicial murder here and still there is silence.
ReplyDeleteFWIW
jimB
Jim's Thoughts
David, Jim, I do not understand Rowan. Remember what he did to his good friend Jeffrey John? It's been downhill from there. If he had set out to make a mess of things, he could hardly have done worse. It truly is sad and tragic.
ReplyDeleteThat is a bold move but beware of the Catholic Church. I used to be Catholic but then I stopped practicing after I found out some disturbing truth. Some say the papacy is the antichrist. They changed the ten commandments which is the Law of God, the Pope claims to be a god, they have killed innocent people for centuries like the Spanish Inquisition and supporting the Nazis, and the priests have molested a lot of children. Jesus would not approve of any of these, it is not Christian, that is evil hiding behind religion. I pray people really to open their eyes. I know I did!!!
ReplyDeleteAmy, I was once a Roman Catholic, too. Some of what you say is true, but I simply can't agree with parts of your statement.
ReplyDeleteSome say the papacy is the antichrist. They changed the ten commandments which is the Law of God, the Pope claims to be a god....
Not true. It is true that some folks say these things, but that doesn't make them true.
Some Catholics supported the Nazis, and others resisted. Yes, there was child abuse and cover-up, and Jesus wouldn't like that. Jesus would not have liked the Spanish Inquisition, either. All Christian denominations have done things which Jesus would not have liked.
Today's reports seem to suggest that Rowan was only told on Monday what the Pope would be announcing on Tuesday. The Ecumenical Committee, or whatever it's called, was completely sidelined, and British Roman Catholic Bishops were as surprised as Rowan.
ReplyDeleteNote to readers: Amy above is a troll. She is all over the internet postings on the Rome invitation with the exact same message. This is not the same person as AmyJ who posts comments here frequently.
ReplyDeleteErika, I have no doubt that +Rowan and the English RCC bishops were surprised. I don't know what went on behind the scenes that made the Vatican rush this invitation out without consultation.
Benny and his boys could care less about consultation.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes right down to it; they don't recognize us as part of the Church Catholic and probably believe that we are condemned to the outer darkness.
Salvation is only through the Roman Gate in their minds.
Gerry, you'd think that the Vatican would inform, if not consult with, its own English bishops, if not with +Rowan.
ReplyDelete