Rev. Canon Charles Nalls
The internet has proven to be a goldmine of information. Where else can one learn about the latest "Church" of Scientology scandal or check in on that all-important British tabloid coverage of Carmen Electra? Idle surfing (particularly when deadlines loom) brings all manner of interesting news. So was the case today when the latest story on the Apostolic Constitution popped up on Catholic News Service and was picked up on several other services and blogs.
It seems that Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the visit Nov. 19-22 of Archbishop Rowan Williams to the Vatican "demonstrates that there has been no rupture and reaffirms our common desire to talk to one another at a historically important moment." Heaven forbid! Might cut into the Cardinal's London theatre weekends.
Kasper, who is no friend of the traditional Anglican (or Roman Catholic, for that matter), was hot to maintain that the Apostolic Constitution establishing special structures for Anglicans who want to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church "absolutely is not a signal of the end of ecumenical dialogue with the Anglican Communion." One can only uncharitably speculate whether the cardinal has been making ecumenical visits to peyote-based faith communities to make such a claim, but no matter.
In an interview published in the Nov. 15 edition of L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Kasper assailed commentators who have said that the pope made this decision just to "expand his empire" as "ridiculous. Let's stick to the facts." Said Kasper, no stranger to the Vatican-mandated press retraction. "A group of Anglicans freely and legitimately asked to enter the Catholic Church. It was not our initiative/" Rather, the whole thing is based on "the Second Vatican Council and of 40 years of Catholic-Anglican dialogue." Now for the interesting bit.
Cardinal Kasper also spoke about the Traditional Anglican Communion-"a group that claims more than 400,000 members and describes itself as 'a worldwide association of orthodox Anglican churches, working to maintain the catholic faith and resist the secularization of the church.'" The cardinal bluntly said that while "TAC leaders asked the Vatican two years ago to find a way for them to join the Catholic Church, they did not participate in the conversations that led to the pope's recent provision." This would seem to directly contradict the center-stage taken by the TAC since signing and transmitting a Catechism of the Catholic Church and accompanying letters in Portsmouth, England two years past.
The good cardinal didn't let it lie there. He went on to note, "Now, however, they [TAC] are jumping on a train that already has left the station. If they are sincere, OK, the doors are open. But we cannot close our eyes to the fact that they have not been in communion with Canterbury since 1992" and therefore are not technically leaving the Anglican Communion to join the Roman Catholic Church, he said.
Again, the Cardinal has been known to have to down healthy servings of crow from time to time. Nevertheless, as chief ecumenical officer of the Roman Catholic Church and having been entangled with the CofE for some time, he must know a little something. It lends weight to the idea that the Apostolic Constitution is an instrument directed to departing "mainstream" Anglicans in the U.K. and elsewhere, (you know, folks who already have the altars in the nave and use the Novus Ordo liturgy) rather than continuing church Anglicans who may not be up to scratch in any number of areas specified in the plain language of the document. Perhaps the answer lies in the "special secret Apostolic Constitution" that is alleged to be manifesting itself shortly.
At least it is cause to ask, "When did the train leave the station?" There is much at stake in the answer.
Origin: http://lilith-dark-moon.blogspot.com
