Canterbury Tailspin Part II: Ecumania!

For kicks and giggles – a round up of the fun, the foreseeable, and the absurd.

What is it with the Brits? The are so delightfully overflowing with droll vitriol that I am left in a perpetual state of envy. Insult as art is so unappreciated this side of the pond. My appreciation for Damian Thompson is well recognized. Add to this list Gerald Warner. In describing blindsided ecumenists Rowan Williams and Cardinal Kasper, Warner built a picture in my head I will not soon forget.

While press releases spouted ecumaniac drivel, the Anglicans voted to ordain priestesses in 1992. In 2003 John Paul II suspended talks, following the consecration of the homosexual American bishop Gene Robinson. The Church of England is now moving inexorably to the consecration of women “bishops”. Only a clutch of flared-trousered 1960s relics still dance arthritically to the ecumenical tune. Now Rowan Williams and Walter Kasper have been left to dance around their handbags.

Totally awesome awesomeness. Take a moment and picture that. Heels. Pearls. Bad perfume. The macarena. Got it? Moving on…

A liberal Episcopal priest from Salem thinks that the Pope is a very bad man for being nice to the Anglicans. He has his talking points and he’s sticking to them.

The Rev. Paul Bresnahan of St. Peter’s Church in Salem said he is troubled by the Catholic Church’s unexpected overture this week, which appeared to be aimed at conservative Anglicans who have become disillusioned with their church, in part over its acceptance of openly gay bishops and female priests.

“It sends a terrible message to the gay community,” said Bresnahan, the father of two gay sons. “It says, in effect, you’re not welcome here. To me, that slams the door shut in your face.”
…

“What kind of message does it send to half the population of the world? What if a woman feels she is called to serve God as a priest?” Bresnahan said. It puts her in a position, he said, of “saying no to God.”

What with door slamming and misogyny, its a wonder the Pope has time for anything else. Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice… There is a group of so called Anglo-Catholic priests who still prefer the Anglo to the Catholic. Run of the mill stuff but I liked this part.

On the other hand, anglo-catholics have found the openness of the Anglican tradition, allowing for a wide range of views and different approaches, to reflect the realities of life in the Body of Christ as it is lived out in history and the world. For many within the catholic tradition, recent changes are a natural extension of our understanding of the evolution of tradition within the life of the Church. The catholic tradition has never been about simply safeguarding narrowly explicit interpretations of scripture but about engaging the contributions and experience of all the members of the Body of Christ in the life of the Church.

These are not the anglo-catholics you are looking for, move along. These are not the anglo-catholics we are looking for. Move along, move along.

Of course, no litany of the inane would be complete without a quote from FutureChurch.

Following news that the Roman Catholic church may accept more married ex-Anglican priests into its ranks, the grassroots network FutureChurch has called for the option of a married priesthood in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church too.

Sister Christine Schenk, the director of FutureChurch, said: “Parishes in Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom are closing, while thousands of Catholics in the developing world have virtually no access to Mass and the sacraments because of too few celibate priests.”

Up to 80 per cent of all Sunday celebrations in Brazil are led by lay leaders because there are no priests, she added.

“I think this may be painful news for married Catholic priests who are not permitted to serve the Church”, said FutureChurch board member Bill Wisniewski, himself a married Catholic priest.

I don’t even know what to say to that. Let’s finish up with something good. A senior prelate in the Church of England, The Bishop of Fulham, the Right Rev John Broadhurst after calling a former Archbishop of Canterbury a moaner for complaining about the surprise over something that was in the making for years had this to say.

Asked what his views were on giving up his title as bishop, Bishop Broadhurst said: “Who cares. Soon I’ll be in a wooden box in front of the altar. What matters is the bigger picture. God matters, the truth matters. We as individuals don’t matter. We think we matter but we don’t.”

The truth matters, eh? Oh, he will never fit in as a Catholic.