When compromise trumps
apostolic tradition
August 25, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit to Great Britain next month will unfold along a pilgrim’s path metaphorically strewn with landmines.
Headline-grabbing new atheists like Richard Dawkins, along with their allies in the international plaintiff’s bar, may try to have the Pontiff arrested as an enabler of child abuse.
More subtly, but just as falsely, homosexual activists and their allies will portray John Henry Newman, whom the Pope will beatify, as the patron saint of gay liberation.
No challenge facing Benedict in Britain, however, will be greater than the challenge of re-framing the Anglican-Catholic ecumenical dialogue, which is on the verge of de facto extinction.
The death of that once-promising dialogue would have been unimaginable 40 years ago. Then, in the aftermath of Vatican II, it seemed possible that Canterbury and Rome might be reconciled, with full ecclesiastical communion restored.
That great hope began to run aground in the mid-1980s, when the Church of England faced the question of whether it could call women to holy orders (a practice already under way in other member communities of the worldwide Anglican Communion).
As I discovered when researching the biography of Pope John Paul II, a theological Rubicon seems to have been crossed in a 1984-86 exchange of letters among Dr. Robert Runcie, the Anglican primate, Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and the Pope.
John Paul and Willebrands made quite clear to Runcie that the bright hope of ecclesial reconciliation would be severely damaged were the Church of England to engage in a practice that the Catholic Church (and the Orthodox churches) believed was unauthorized by apostolic tradition, and in fact contradicted that tradition.
While admirably candid, Dr. Runcie’s attempt to explain why the Church of England believed it could proceed to the ordination of women demonstrated that
Anglicanism and Catholicism were living in two distinct universes of discourse, one theological, the other sociological.
For Runcie advanced no theological arguments as to why apostolic tradition could be understood to authorize the innovation he and many of his Anglican colleagues proposed; rather, he cited the expanding roles of women in society as the crucial issue. Sociological trends, Runcie’s letter implied, trumped apostolic tradition — which was not, of course, something the Catholic Church could accept.
The same issue recently re-emerged in the Church of England’s debate over the ordination of women as bishops. Dr. Rowan Williams, the current Anglican primate, and his colleague in York, Dr. John Sentamu , proposed a compromise in which the Church of England would ordain women to its episcopate, but parishes unable to accept this innovation would be allowed to invite a male bishop to preside over those rituals for which a bishop’s presence is required.
This compromise was rejected by the General Synod of the Church of England, leading the London
Telegraph to deplore editorially the loss of the Anglican “ tradition of compromise that has preserved the church for more than 400 years.”
The
Telegraph’s sense of what has “preserved the Church for more than 400 years” is misplaced, I fear. Elements of sanctity, intelligence, and beauty have been nurtured in the Anglican Communion for more than four centuries by the work of the Holy Spirit, who distributes gifts freely, and not only within the confines of the Catholic Church.
Thus there have been great Anglican theologians and noble Anglican martyrs in the Anglican Communion, which has also given the world a splendid patrimony of liturgical music and a powerful example of the majesty of the English language as a vehicle of worship. None of this has had much, if anything, to with a “tradition of compromise.”
The sad truth of the matter is that the “tradition of compromise” is what is destroying the Anglican Communion. For that “tradition” has come to mean that the apostolic tradition of the Church — the essential constitution bequeathed to the Church by Christ, which can be discerned in the Scriptures and which was articulated in the creeds — has ceased to have any normative claim within Anglicanism.
Thus an ecclesiological rule-of-thumb: when anything goes, the first thing to go is apostolic tradition.
The wonder to me is how someone as intelligent as Rowan Williams cannot see the obvious: The Catholic Church remains what it is today after 2000 years, despite the Great Schism and the Reformation, because she has not compromised her basic beliefs in any way - which means, she has not compromised the faith she professes. She is literally keeping the faith and keeping faith. She is an example for other faiths, because faith is no longer faith when it makes itself subject to change.
Cost-benefit look at the visit:
'The global exposure will be invaluable'
Editorial
25 August 2010
IF the date of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Edinburgh was not in your diary yet then, like it or not, it will soon have to be.
Of course, tens of thousands of people will be looking forward immensely to September 16, many with happy memories of Pope John Paul II's visit to Murrayfield Stadium 28 years ago.
However, the details of the preparations announced today - especially the massive road closures - spell out just how much disruption the Holy Father's visit will bring. Edinburgh, or large parts of it, will grind to a halt for much of the day.
There will be those who question whether it is all worth it, particularly when you consider the estimated £400,000 cost as well.
Aside from the wider significance to many both in and outside of the Catholic Church, the day does represent a rare opportunity for the city.
The Pope begins his visit to Britain here, and past experience shows that interest is greatest on the first day of these events, with the global television audience expected to reach one billion.
We all know television producers and newspaper editors across the world will choose pictures of the Pope meeting the Queen amid the splendour of Holyrood Palace ahead of ones of the faithful gathered in a park in Glasgow.
It doesn't take a marketing genius to work out this kind of exposure is invaluable to Edinburgh's tourist trade.
We have grown used to living with the disruption of being a Capital city over the years, and on this occasion at least the benefits are clear and well worth it.
OK already...'Susan Boyle to sing for Pope' is dominating the online headlines about 'the Papacy' now, but we've known that for some time. Now we also know what she will sing... but the way it looks, the Pope may not hear her solo performances at all...
Boyle will sing 2 songs
before the Mass and sing
with the choir at Mass
LONDON, Aug. 26 (AFP) – Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle confirmed Wednesday that she would perform for Pope Benedict XVI when he visits Britain next month, saying it was her "greatest dream come true".
Boyle, who was catapulted to global stardom after appearing on a British television talent show, told Scotland'M Daily Record newspaper that she would sing at an open-air mass in Glasgow on September 16.
"It is my greatest dream come true," said the 49-year-old, a devout Catholic and former church volunteer.
Before the Mass, she will perform "I Dreamed A Dream", the song which propelled her to fame last year when a clip of her singing received more than 120 million views on YouTube, as well as the hymn "How Great Thou Art".
"To be able to sing for the Pope is a great honour and something I've always dreamed of. It's indescribable," Boyle told the Daily Record.
"I think September 16 will stand out in my memory as something I've always wanted to do. I've always wanted to sing for His Holiness and I can't really put into words my happiness that this wish has come true at last."
She said the Pope's four-day state visit -- which some in Britain have criticised because of the cost and the scandal over clerical child sex abuse -- was a "very big event" for Scotland's estimated 670,000 Catholics.
"My own faith is the backbone of my life. I pray and say the rosary each day and am very close to my religion," the singer said. "I am humbled and honoured by this invitation and I hope I can do my best."
The pope will visit England and Scotland from September 16 to 19, taking in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Birmingham, where he will preside over the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/08/2010 23:38]