The Times of London has published a story about leaked Anglican-Catholic documents laying out a possible path to reunification between orthodox Anglicans and Rome. While I am encouraged by the partial repair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic schism on the whole, it seems a shame that this reunion is being driven by schism within the Anglican Communion and that the radical elements within the Anglican Communion are driving it to suicide by changing fundamental teachings on issues of faith and morals (ordination of active homosexuals, the blessing of homosexual unions, etc.). The pursuit of Christian unity should be driven by the desire to see Christ's prayer in John 17 that all Christians be one, not in an attempt to avoid being dragged over the edge of a cliff by those who would subjugate eternal verities to progressive ideology. In other words, I would rather see a reunion between London and Rome than see Rome gather up the survivors as London wrecks itself on the shoals of fashionable ideology.
Still, I can't possibly imagine any Pope plunging the Roman Catholic Church into the sort of crisis in which the Anglican Communion now finds itself. Homosexual acts have always been considered immoral by the Roman Catholic Church, and as defender of the deposit of faith as defined by Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium, no Pope would ever knowingly sanction any practice that undermined the Church's teaching on this matter. This means the ordination of those known to be active homosexuals will never receive official sanction (even if many bishops have turned a blind eye, with disastrous consequences from which the Church has yet to recover), nor will the blessing of homosexual unions (never mind polyamorous relationships). The Church must rest upon eternal verities (indeed The Eternal Verity), else she will surely founder and sink. And by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, it is the Pope who strives to ensure that the three-fold cord of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium binds the people of the Roman Catholic Church to Christ, the bridegroom, and through Him, to God the Father, Creator of all things and their Foundation.
Still, I can't possibly imagine any Pope plunging the Roman Catholic Church into the sort of crisis in which the Anglican Communion now finds itself. Homosexual acts have always been considered immoral by the Roman Catholic Church, and as defender of the deposit of faith as defined by Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium, no Pope would ever knowingly sanction any practice that undermined the Church's teaching on this matter. This means the ordination of those known to be active homosexuals will never receive official sanction (even if many bishops have turned a blind eye, with disastrous consequences from which the Church has yet to recover), nor will the blessing of homosexual unions (never mind polyamorous relationships). The Church must rest upon eternal verities (indeed The Eternal Verity), else she will surely founder and sink. And by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, it is the Pope who strives to ensure that the three-fold cord of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium binds the people of the Roman Catholic Church to Christ, the bridegroom, and through Him, to God the Father, Creator of all things and their Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment