Catholic Church reaccepting Anglicans allowing Anglicans to remain Anglicans in most things but name
Roland00 Send a noteboard - 25/10/2009 11:15:50 PM
I am surprised no one has posted about this.
The Anglican church was founded when Henry the VIII was not granted a divorce by the Catholic church; in retaliation Henry the VIII broke from the Catholic church, founded a new church with him as the head, and granted himself a divorce. Anglicans in theology, tradition, and liturgy are almost identical to Catholics with most common men not being able to tell the difference between them from a theology standpoint besides there is no pope with the Anglicans. The similar traditions between the two churches have often caused some people to refer to Anglicans as "Catholic lite." Episcopalians (the name for Anglicans in American) are also part of the greater Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church was founded due to the Revolutionary War. What happened was to be an Anglican clergy you had to serve an oath to god and the monarch of the England, thus an Anglican clergy supporting revolution would be committing treason and an offense in his church, thus the Episcopalian church was formed. After the war Episcopalians rejoined the Anglican Communion but without the oath to serve the monarch of England.
One major difference though between Anglicans and Catholics though is that Anglicans have a form of democracy in there church. If you don't like church policy you can vote on it. There has been a lot of changes in Anglican policies in the last few decades with the introductions of women clergy (1976), seeing women as equals before god and his church, using contemporary language in prayer books (1979) and being more and more okay with homosexuality(recently). This has caused some conservative clergy, practitioners, and entire congregations to want to switch from Anglican to Catholicism.
Well in 1980, due to various Anglicans asking to join the Catholic church, Pope John Paul II, through the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a clear although brief statement in June 1980. This statement more or less allowed three things
1) Allowed entire congregations to switch from being Anglican to Catholicism. If they do so they could retain there Anglican style mass (which is very similar to the Catholic mass) and the Anglican style prayer book
2) Individuals could switch from being Anglican to Catholicism
3) Finally married clergy from the Anglican church, could remain married, and get an exemption from the celibacy laws for Catholic priests and remain married.
Regardless the 1980 statement was more on a case by case basis, and only like 6 Anglican congregations switched to being catholic, and about a 100 Anglican clergy became priest and not all these priests were married (regardless as a child I lived in the same subdivision as a former Anglican now Catholic priest lived and he was allowed to be married).
Pope Benedict has now announced he is now going to be streamlining this process
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Here are some more stories on this (how do I post multiple hyperlinks now with the change to RAFO?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/world/europe/21pope.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/opinion/l24vatican.html
and a explanation from 1994 explaining how the rules changed in 1980
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/MARPRIE.htm
All Things Considered (NPR) on this
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113977725
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114149773
The Anglican church was founded when Henry the VIII was not granted a divorce by the Catholic church; in retaliation Henry the VIII broke from the Catholic church, founded a new church with him as the head, and granted himself a divorce. Anglicans in theology, tradition, and liturgy are almost identical to Catholics with most common men not being able to tell the difference between them from a theology standpoint besides there is no pope with the Anglicans. The similar traditions between the two churches have often caused some people to refer to Anglicans as "Catholic lite." Episcopalians (the name for Anglicans in American) are also part of the greater Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church was founded due to the Revolutionary War. What happened was to be an Anglican clergy you had to serve an oath to god and the monarch of the England, thus an Anglican clergy supporting revolution would be committing treason and an offense in his church, thus the Episcopalian church was formed. After the war Episcopalians rejoined the Anglican Communion but without the oath to serve the monarch of England.
One major difference though between Anglicans and Catholics though is that Anglicans have a form of democracy in there church. If you don't like church policy you can vote on it. There has been a lot of changes in Anglican policies in the last few decades with the introductions of women clergy (1976), seeing women as equals before god and his church, using contemporary language in prayer books (1979) and being more and more okay with homosexuality(recently). This has caused some conservative clergy, practitioners, and entire congregations to want to switch from Anglican to Catholicism.
Well in 1980, due to various Anglicans asking to join the Catholic church, Pope John Paul II, through the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a clear although brief statement in June 1980. This statement more or less allowed three things
1) Allowed entire congregations to switch from being Anglican to Catholicism. If they do so they could retain there Anglican style mass (which is very similar to the Catholic mass) and the Anglican style prayer book
2) Individuals could switch from being Anglican to Catholicism
3) Finally married clergy from the Anglican church, could remain married, and get an exemption from the celibacy laws for Catholic priests and remain married.
Regardless the 1980 statement was more on a case by case basis, and only like 6 Anglican congregations switched to being catholic, and about a 100 Anglican clergy became priest and not all these priests were married (regardless as a child I lived in the same subdivision as a former Anglican now Catholic priest lived and he was allowed to be married).
Pope Benedict has now announced he is now going to be streamlining this process
------------------
Here are some more stories on this (how do I post multiple hyperlinks now with the change to RAFO?)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/world/europe/21pope.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/opinion/l24vatican.html
and a explanation from 1994 explaining how the rules changed in 1980
http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/MARPRIE.htm
All Things Considered (NPR) on this
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113977725
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114149773
Catholic Church reaccepting Anglicans allowing Anglicans to remain Anglicans in most things but name
- 25/10/2009 11:15:50 PM
1001 Views
Ratzinger has to try something to offset the liberals in Catholicism. Why not appeal to...
- 26/10/2009 02:17:36 AM
643 Views
As you noted in your post, it's nothing new. And it's not likely to lead to much.
- 26/10/2009 03:35:18 AM
664 Views
I don't know about that, some have already left the communion, and you may have a schism
- 26/10/2009 04:27:01 AM
619 Views
Wouldn't you say not believing in transubstantiation is an important theological difference?
- 26/10/2009 08:39:00 AM
590 Views
I was going to mention that...
- 26/10/2009 01:08:09 PM
609 Views
It should be noted
- 26/10/2009 05:02:23 PM
604 Views
Catholicism = no ordination of women?
- 26/10/2009 06:31:44 PM
618 Views
Re: Catholicism = no ordination of women?
- 26/10/2009 07:40:45 PM
696 Views
what about the congregations that have a woman priest?
- 27/10/2009 03:56:45 PM
740 Views
Re: what about the congregations that have a woman priest?
- 27/10/2009 04:37:16 PM
626 Views
Calling women in the priesthood a Christological heresy is ridiculous, 
- 27/10/2009 10:31:02 PM
622 Views
- 27/10/2009 10:31:02 PM
622 Views
Re: Calling women in the priesthood a Christological heresy is ridiculous,
- 28/10/2009 01:26:24 AM
668 Views
- 28/10/2009 01:26:24 AM
668 Views
So in sum your response is tradition
- 28/10/2009 02:50:06 AM
624 Views
Not tradition, but Tradition (capital)
- 28/10/2009 04:15:40 PM
841 Views
Yes the priest class of both the old testatment and new testatment has always been male
- 28/10/2009 10:22:28 PM
727 Views
Re: Yes the priest class of both the old testatment and new testatment has always been male
- 29/10/2009 09:02:36 PM
824 Views