Our local Roman Catholic Archbishop has issued a letter to be read in his churches this week on the subject of Christian Unity.
I’m not going to say a huge amount about it because I’m still thinking about it and its important to read these things carefully and initially without much added commentary.
I note in passing though that the letter itself makes no mention of the prospects of Personal Ordinariates, the Pope’s invitation to groups of disaffected Anglicans to convert to Catholicism in company with one another and form a new membership organisation within his church. That invitation seems to me to have the potential to be a complete ecumenical gamechanger. Indeed, I’d say that the manner in which it was announced moved the goalposts considerably. Certainly it made some unlikely people like myself feel some sympathy for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Anyway, I was going to say that the ordinariate issue (and the lack of any mention of it in the Archbishop’s letter) might be thought to be something of an elephant in the ecumenical room. However, I’ve done my homework (ie read a few blogs) and find that I may be mistaken. It seems that there may not be a Scottish Ordinariate in the near future due to lack of interest. There may be no elephant in the room after all.
As I’ve said before, I give all good wishes and blessing to those who feel the desire to belong to the Roman Catholic Church in this way. I’m not one of them. However, I spend enough time with people moving in the opposite direction that I know how joyful it can be to find oneself feeling fully at home in church that I do wish a blessing of peace to anyone travelling.
Anyway, Archbishop Mario’s letter can be found on the Glasgow Churches Together website and it would be a great discipline for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity for individual non-Roman Catholics to read it in company with individual Roman Catholics. Episcopalian members of St Mary’s reading this might take this as an invitation to do just that and then put a comment on here saying how you got on.
Interesting times, no?
Hope you are feeling better, proper flu really does pull you down (and probably not wise to make political comments while under its influence:-).
> the Pope’s invitation to groups of disaffected Anglicans to convert to Catholicism
Either you mean *Roman* Catholicism or you are saying that I have spent my entire life labouring under a misapprehension.
I do indeed mean Roman Catholicism, Robin and I was trying to see things from his point of view.
You are labouring under no misapprehension at all.
> I was trying to see things from his point of view.
He’s not infallible, you know 😉
Unfortunately there is a bit of deception involved in Roman ecumenism, so you need your RC dictionary in hand when you read things such as this because the words have meanings other than what most us exspect. The Vatican has made it more than clear that ecumenism is for all of the rest of us to surrender and return to Mother Rome, accepting the Vicar of Christ as the only earthly head of the only undivided church of Christ.
Personally I’m a bit surprised at bishops being so happy at accepting a ‘demotion’ to being mere priests. Do they have to renounce their former orders as being ‘null & void?’ or is just assumed? See the TV news is still getting Ann Widdecomb to comment on these issues. She must be the world’s only Famous Convert, religious commentator, *and* ice-dancing reality tv star.
Apropos Bishops etc,
I note that there is a an advert for a Sung Eucharist commemorating the Martyrdom of King Charles I at St Mary’s Edinburgh (organised by Royal Martyr Church Union) in last week’s Church Times. +Brian is the celebrant and +Gregor the preacher. However, in the advert they are both titled ‘The Lord Bishop of ….’.
I have never seem them addressed as such. Are these official titles or does it reflect the aspirations of the organising body rather than any reality.
Just curious.
My view is that these are not official titles and that they do reflect the aspirations of the organising body.
They were, however, commonly used as styles for our Scottish Bishops in our past.
> My view is that these are not official titles and that they do reflect the aspirations of the organising body.
At present they are only de jure, rather than de facto, Lords Bishop. When the King returns, however, they will resume their seats in the Estates and be de facto Lords again.