Pope again calls for disgruntled Anglicans to join the Catholic Church en masse
Pastor Dale Morgan
Pope again calls for disgruntled Anglicans to join the Catholic Church
en masse*
VATICAN CITY (AP) (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI defended his decision to
invite disaffected Anglicans to join the Catholic Church en masse,
saying Friday it was the "ultimate aim" of ecumenism.
Benedict told members of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith that the invitation wasn't an attack on the church's
reunification efforts with other Christians but was rather designed to
help them by bringing about "full and visible communion."
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The Vatican in October announced it was making it easier for traditional
Anglicans upset over women priests and gay bishops to join the Catholic
Church while retaining many of their Anglican traditions, including
married priests.
The move roiled the 77-million Anglican Communion, already on the verge
of schism over woman and gay clergy, particularly since its spiritual
leader, Archbishop Rowan Williams, wasn't consulted and was only
informed at the last minute.
Anglicans split from Rome in 1534 when English King Henry VIII was
refused a marriage annulment. For decades, the two churches have held
theological discussions on trying to reunite, part of the Vatican's
broader, long-term ecumenical effort to unify all Christians who have
separated from Rome over the centuries.
The Vatican denied that it was poaching for converts in the Anglican
pond and said its unprecedented invitation was merely a response to the
many Anglican requests to join the Catholic Church.
The Vatican's invitation "is not in any way contrary to the ecumenical
movement but shows, instead, its ultimate aim which consists of reaching
full and visible communion of the Lord's disciples," Benedict told the
members of the congregation, which he headed for a quarter century
before becoming pope.
Benedict has made healing the divisions in the church a priority of his
papacy, reaching out not only to Anglicans but also to Orthodox
Christians and breakaway Catholics as well in a bid to unify all the
Christian faithful.
In that vein, he told congregation members that he hoped they resolve
the remaining doctrinal problems with a group of traditionalist
conservatives, the Society of St. Pius X, which includes a
Holocaust-denying bishop.
The society, founded in 1969 by the late ultraconservative Archbishop
Marcel Lefebvre, split from Rome over the modernizing reforms of the
Second Vatican Council, particularly its outreach to Jews. Lefebvre and
four bishops were excommunicated in 1988 after Lefebvre consecrated them
without papal consent.
Last year, Benedict removed the excommunications, sparking outrage
because one of the bishops, British Bishop Richard Williamson, had
denied that any Jews were gassed during the Holocaust.
Benedict apologized for mistakes in the Williamson affair but has
insisted that his overall aim of bringing the society back under Rome's
wing was necessary to prevent greater division in the church and promote
unity.
"Achieving the common witness to faith of all Christians is a priority
of the Church at all times," Benedict said Friday. "In this spirit, I
trust in the commitment of the (congregation) so that the doctrinal
problems that remain with the Society of St. Pius X ... can be overcome."
Jewish groups have denounced Benedict's rehabilitation of Williamson as
well as his moves to put the World War II-era pontiff, Pope Pius XII, on
the path to possible sainthood. Some historians and Jewish groups say
Pius didn't sufficiently denounce the Holocaust.
The criticism has overshadowed Benedict's planned visit this weekend to
Rome's main synagogue, prompting at least one rabbi and one prominent
Jewish community member to announce they will not attend.