The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has been called a lot of names over the years. In the last few months leading up to Lambeth he has been called many, many more. However, I think it is fair to say that never before has Rowan Williams ever been called the name he was called today. Papal Puppet.
Canterbury is being criticized to attending a mass at the famous Marian shrine at Lourdes. Moreover, in his remarks he seemingly accepted the apparitions there to Bernadette Soubirous 150 years ago and implicitly the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
[Mail] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was yesterday branded a ‘papal puppet’ after he became the first leader of the Church of England to accept visions of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes as historical fact.
He asserted that 18 visions of Our Lady allegedly experienced by Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 were true.
His words shocked millions of Protestants worldwide because they not only signified a break with Protestant teaching on the Virgin Mary but also Dr Williams’s personal acceptance of the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, which is explicitly linked to the apparitions.
[SNIP]
‘When Mary came to Bernadette, she came at first as an anonymous figure, a beautiful lady, a mysterious “thing”, not yet identified as the Lord’s spotless mother,” Dr Williams said.‘And Bernadette – uneducated, uninstructed in doctrine – leapt with joy, recognising that here was life, here was healing,’ he said.
‘Only bit by bit does Bernadette find the words to let the world know; only bit by bit, we might say, does she discover how to listen to the Lady and echo what she has to tell us.’
[SNIP]
Afterwards he was severely criticised by the Protestant Truth Society, a group of Anglicans and nonconformists committed to upholding the ideals of the Protestant Reformation.The Rev Jeremy Brooks, director of ministry for the group, said: ‘All true Protestants will be appalled that the Archbishop of Canterbury has visited Lourdes, and preached there.
‘Lourdes represents everything about Roman Catholicism that the Protestant Reformation ejected, including apparitions, mariolatry and the veneration of saints.
‘The archbishop’s simple presence there is a wholesale compromise, and his sermon which included a reference to Mary as “the Mother of God” is a complete denial of Protestant orthodoxy.’
He added: ‘At a time when our country is crying out for clear Biblical leadership, it is nothing short of tragic that our supposedly Protestant archbishop is behaving as little more than a papal puppet.’
Now that has to be the first time Williams has been called that particular epithet. I like it. Usually Williams denial of orthodoxy, protestant or otherwise, heads in the other direction.
However, I don’t think that our reactionary protestant brethren should get too upset. It is unlikely that Williams believes a word that he said. His religious views have proven to as amorphous and unreliable as the mortgage industry’s business model.
William’s took this trip with 10 Church of England bishops, 60 Anglican priests, and about 400 Anglican laypeople who are favorably disposed to joining the Catholic Church if the Anglican meltdown continues down its current path. Williams Catholicesque overture is likely an effort to convince that there is some Catholic left in Anglo-Catholic. I don’t suppose it will go very far in this regard.
When Williams returns home, he will eventually address the more liberal wings of his Church. When that time comes, he will probably throw the Anglo-Catholics overboard as quickly as Joe Biden threw over those coal miners.
Williams religious views are kind of like very variable weather, wait 15 minutes and it is likely to change.
September 25, 2008 at 4:47 am
Amorphous Anglican? I like that as well.
Why does the Proto Theo Soc care where Dr. Rowan stands? Apparently he doesn’t stand for anything but wanting to be liked.
September 25, 2008 at 4:56 am
I admit its nice to see the Anglicans getting something right these days. Too bad the Dr. Williams speaks only for himself (and even that is questionable). Most Anglicans reject the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and will continue to do so. There is no authoritative voice in the Anglican Church at all. I agree that it was probably nothing more than a ploy to placate the potentially schismatic Anglo-Catholics thinking about swimming the Tiber. Was there any evidence prior to this trip that Williams believed in the Immaculate Conception?
Some classic Protestant moments:
“…his sermon which included a reference to Mary as ‘the Mother of God’ is a complete denial of Protestant orthodoxy.”
I don’t really get it (and neither should Protestants). Jesus was born of Mary (reference: the Bible). Jesus is God (reference: Bible). The only way Mother of God would be an inappropriate title was if one of those statements was not true.
“…Protestant Truth Society, a group of Anglicans and nonconformists committed to upholding the ideals of the Protestant Reformation.”
Nonconformists? I laughed out loud when I read that. Wonder what ideals they had in mind. Maybe the Protestant ideals about legitimizing homosexuality, abortion, contraception?
You can’t get a two Protestants to agree on just about anything. Never mind, they can certainly agree on one thing: the Catholic Church is wrong.
September 25, 2008 at 4:58 am
Haha! It is indeed an unlikely comment. I’m a bit hung up that what’s his name is hung up over the term “Mother of God.” Now, Protestants can disagree as they wish regarding the issue of Mary’s sinlessness and Jesus’ brothers, but Scripture says Mary gave birth to Jesus, and that Jesus is God. If that doesn’t make her the Mother of God, well, maybe it’s not really Sola Scriptura so much as ‘Sola What-I-think-a.’
~Nzie
September 25, 2008 at 4:59 am
Wasn’t this the same “archbishop” who said that the UK should adopt Shari’ah law? If anything, he sounds like a danger to Catholics, not a boon. Watch him closely, he’ll be one of the first to convert to Islam.
September 25, 2008 at 12:58 pm
English Protestants may argue like it’s 1908, but they are irrelevant in Britain’s atheist present and will be eliminated in Britain’s Islamic ascendancy. This is the end result of Henry and Elizabeth’s police state.
— Mack
September 25, 2008 at 1:23 pm
“Protestant Orthodoxy”??? Isn’t that an oxymoron??
September 25, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Protestant ‘Truth’ Society. Oh my, I hadn’t heard about that.
Hasn’t Mr. Williams also written a biography of Teresa of Avila. He strikes me as a genuinely good man who’s trying hard to hold together a divided ‘communion.’
September 26, 2008 at 3:27 am
I’m with nzie on this one. I can’t for the life of me fathom why certain of our Protestant brothers and sisters get all outta joint over the Marian title “Mother of God.” Mary is the mother of Jesus, Jesus is God, therefore Mary is the Mother of God. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Whenever I hear of such galloping anti-Catholicism, I always think of a line from a Flannery O’Connor short story, “Someone said they both wanted to be Church of God preachers ’cause you don’t have to know nothin’ to be one.”
September 26, 2008 at 7:36 am
“Protestant Orthodoxy”??? Isn’t that an oxymoron??
Unless they mean “protesting against orthodoxy”?
September 26, 2008 at 10:02 am
“Only bit by bit does Bernadette find the words to let the world know; only bit by bit, we might say, does she discover how to listen to the Lady and echo what she has to tell us.”
This is totally untrue. Bernadette did not “find” the words nor was her ability to listen to the lady developed “bit by bit”. Our Lady identified herself as the Immaculate Conception. Bernadette may not have understood what She said but she had no problem hearing it. Her perception did not evolve it was confronted by an external manifestation.