More on Anglicans...and other things

Anglicans and Catholics. The Vatican's recent invitation to Anglicans who desire full communion with the Catholic Church continues to generate some interesting commentary. Here are a few that came to my attention...

• Pope Benedict on Unity. Although the comment that follows was made in 2005, it's certainly applicable to the current situation. Indeed, to understand what's really behind the Vatican's reaching out to the Anglican Church, one must first understand how seriously Pope Benedict takes the Lord's desire for unity among all of His disciples. After a Mass he celebrated with the cardinals who had just elected him, a new Pope Benedict said the following: “Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but feel encouraged to strive for the full unity for which Christ expressed so ardent a hope in the Upper Room. The Successor of Peter knows that he must make himself especially responsible for his Divine Master's supreme aspiration. Indeed, he is entrusted with the task of strengthening his brethren (cf. Luke 22: 32). With full awareness, therefore, at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome which Peter bathed in his blood, Peter's current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, his impelling duty.” I suspect we will see more similar initiatives, especially toward our Orthodox brothers and sisters, in the very near future. (The above quote by Pope Benedict taken from a timely commentary by Deacon Keith Fournier published by Catholic Online.)
  

• George Weigel, Catholic theologian and author, provides an interesting and quite likely correct take on the subject in the Washington Post's On Faith blog: Catholicism and Anglicanism: The End of an Era

• Chuck Colson, founder of the Prison Fellowship Ministries and an evangelical Christian author, writes the following comments on the same Washington Post blog: "Of course there's a substantial overlap between Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism -- and all Christian denominations for that matter. We all confess the same creeds and read the same Bible. The only thing that has divided the Anglican community is the failure of orthodoxy on the part of the Episcopal Church in the United States. The Catholic Church didn't contribute to that. Sadly, the Episcopalians did it to themselves."

• The rest of the comments on the Washington Post blog run the gamut from those celebrating the Vatican's announcement to those who would apparently like all religions to just disappear. Click here to read them all.
  

• Statement by the Most Reverend John Hepworth, Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion. The Traditional Anglican Communion had petitioned the Vatican some time ago requesting a process for entering into full communion with the Catholic Church. This is their Primate's response to the Vatican's announcement of an Apostolic Constitution that will pave the way for Anglicans to return to Catholicism.
  

• The Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester in the UK, has said that he is seriously considering converting to Catholicism. A senior Anglican bishop, his conversion could well lead many others to follow him to Rome. Click here to read the article in the London Telegraph.

The Rapture. Here's a quick look at a completely different subject: the rapture. The rapture, the idea that the elect will be taken off the earth to be with Jesus before the period of tribulation, is a relatively new concept that didn't appear until the 19th century. It is also an idea that directly contradicts Catholic Church teaching. I mention this because so many Catholics, influenced by some fundamentalist and evangelical writings, have asked me about the rapture in recent years. The following are two good discussions of the subject from a Catholic perspective:

• The Rapture on Catholic.com
• Recent post on Vivificat!: Farewell to the Rapture

Blessings...