The Vatican’s Anglican lure
What the pope gets by welcoming disgruntled Anglicans, including married priests, into the Catholic Church
Pope Benedict XVI
(Corbis/Alessandra Benedetti)
What happened
The Vatican made it easier for disgruntled Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church, giving whole Anglican congregations—including bishops and married priests—a way to join the Catholic Church while retaining their structure and some traditions. The move is aimed at conservatives opposed to the Anglican Communion’s more liberal stance on gay marriage and female clergy (The Christian Science Monitor).
What the commentators said
“If you’re going to pick a fight with someone,” said David Gibson in Politics Daily, it’s not a bad idea to choose an “already weakened” opponent like Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. There wasn’t much Williams could to do stop this “sheep-stealing” from his 77 million-strong flock, but, in a way, “Rome actually did him a favor” by making it easier for him to unite the remainder of his “fractious church.”
Some favor—this is “the end of the Anglican Communion,” said Andrew Brown in Britain’s The Guardian. Just as Rowan Williams sided with the “conservative minority” of the U.S. Episcopal Church on gay clergy, Pope Benedict XVI is now siding with Anglicanism’s conservative minority over ordaining women. “The process of disintegration seems impossible to stop” now, even if fewer than half the 2,000 expected Anglican priests jump ship.
There’s no reason Williams can’t return the favor, said National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen Jr. in The New York Times. If the Anglican Communion moved to “welcome aggrieved Catholics who support all the measures these disaffected Anglicans oppose,” the Vatican could hardly call that an “ecumenical low blow” now.
And what about the Vatican’s ban on non-celibate priests? said Andrew Sullivan in The Atlantic. Saying that “married priests are fine ... as long as they help build market share” is hardly a compelling argument. The ban has harmed the Catholic Church in the U.S. and Europe, so if it’s all right to lift it for Anglican converts, why not lift it for Catholics, too?
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10 Comments
Posted by Joel, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 11:39 am The Roman right doesn't allow priest to marry. However the eastern Catholic churchs do allow it. So before you go making conclusions, educatate yourself about Catholic teaching.
Posted by rayy, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 1:31 pm Easternrite priests are not under the pope, nor part of the Roman Catholic church. If they convert, they are allowed to stay married, but not allowed to remarry. Maybe you should educatate yourself, Joel.This kind of smacks of desperation, doesn't it? However, I don't think many Britons, who've been independent of the pope for 450 years are going to be anxious to come back under the papal yoke.
Posted by LTS, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:11 pm Joel is correct. Some Eastern churches are in communion with Roman and do allow priests to marry. Example: Maronite Rite.From the Catholic Encyclopedia:The definition of an EasternRite Catholic is: A Christian of any Eastern rite in union with the pope: i.e. a Catholic who belongs not to the Roman, but to an Eastern rite. They differ from other Eastern Christians in that they are in communion with Rome, and from Latins in that they have other rites.
Posted by Michelle Herman, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:28 pm Joel and LTS have said exactly what I would have. Eastern rites differ from the Eastern Churches in that they are still under papal authority, yet some do allow married priests. In the future, Week, please consider the actual Catholic teachings before trusting what journalists claim.
Posted by Bob, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 2:46 pm Some of you might take a moment to consider the religious aspects of this change. Rowan never supported the conservative Anglicans in the US or anywhere else, having a preference for dollars provided by the radical left revisionist Episcopal church in the US. A political appointee by the Left, Rowan has led the worldwide Anglican Communion to disintegration and at last His Holiness has opened a way for the faithful to remain just that. The conflict is based on Biblical and historical Faith, which the left has abandoned step after step.
Posted by Dan, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 3:05 pm Basically, Rome gave the same provision as it did with the Byzantine Church. Fall under Rome, keep your traditions. Only change in the Liturgy was the addition of Roman Saints and mention of the Holy Father in the Prayers of the Faithful. Will be the same for the Anglicans. What the article did not mention is the AngloCatholics have been in dialogue with Rome for 20 years for this to happen. Archbishop Williamson should not have been surprised.
Posted by nathan, Wednesday, October 21, 2009, 8:47 pm Why do we allow these extrastate kingdoms to continue to negatively effect western democratic nations that know better?
Posted by Mike, Thursday, October 22, 2009, 10:09 am Whatever. Main authority figure of ridiculous superstitious group A allows members of ridiculous superstitious group B to join group A, because group B members don't like some of the superstitions of group B. Say the magic words, spin three times and try to taste actual blood when the druids give you wine. I don't understand why rational people spend any time worrying about any of this.
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