Letters
from 25 April to 1 May 2005
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Wishful
thinking
It
is difficult to imagine that
the analysis that you refer to in your news stories
by Australian journalist, Christopher Pearson, is
anything but wishful thinking. (Something that is
not altogether foreign to him).
In
it he states that the so-called 'Traditional Anglican
Communion' (TAC) is likely to be drawn into closer
relationship with the Roman Communion if the
new Pope has his way. Whatever else Pope Benedict
might be he is certainly no fool, and will certainly
have good intelligence on the TAC and recognise that
they are given to rather overstating their importance
in the scheme of things. One must be careful
since it is difficult to get a handle on such things,
and membership numbers of the TAC would seem to be
slippery indeed; though I am told (having one of
their conventicles in my parish... actually the seat
of the Primate!) that two visitors to worship one
Sunday morning recently doubled the congregation.
As
a local convenor of Affirming
Catholicism in South Australia, I think it's
vital that modern Catholic Anglicans should not
allow the world to believe that Anglo-Catholicism
has retreated into the Forward in Faith group,
or worse still into the TAC. There is little
doubt in my mind that the majority of Catholics
in our church find that sort of approach to the
living faith rather moribund.
Stephen
Clark
St John's Coronado, & All Hallows' Blackwood
Blackwood, South Australia, AUSTRALIA
25 April 2005
Waiting
to see
While
the new pontiff and the challenges he will face are
in our sincerest prayers, I cannot help the his election
will give us pause as Anglicans.
As
close companion and advisor to Pope John Paul 2,
Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in May of 1998 a commentary
in which he suggested the 'invalidity of priestly
ordinations in the Anglican Communion.' He went further
in June of 2000 writing a position on Anglican churches
considering themselves 'sister churches' to the Roman
Catholic Church. He
denounced this position citing that the 'Roman Catholic
Church was the mother of all churches, not merely
a question in terminology but a basic truth of the
Catholic faith'. To consider the Anglican Communion
as equal to Roman Catholicism would be 'improper'.
We
must continue to pray for him to become a builder
of bridges, but as a historical conservative I believe
the new pope will not change such issues that face
the Roman Catholic church today: ordination of women,
reunion of the divorced, marriage for clergy and
acceptance of homosexuals.
In
my prayers too, I thank God for my Anglican faith.
Fr
Bryan Wolf, S.R.
The National Anglican Catholic Church of the United States
Aberdeen, New Jersey, USA
FatherBryan@optonline.net
25 April 2005
What
really matters
As
always, your
opening essay was both thoughtful and
thought-provoking.
As
one who, in the last twelve months, has experienced
the pleasure of working with interfaith groups on
two projects — one a stewardship conference sponsored
by the Anglican, Lutheran, Mennonite, Roman Catholic
and United Churches and the other
a 'Buy Nothing Christmas' event, a joint effort of
Anglican, Lutheran, Mennonite, Quaker, Roman Catholic
and United Churches — I have come to appreciate the
fact that there is more uniting the various Christian
denominations than there is separating them. I'm
also old enough (ah, me!) to remember the ARCIC document,
a fine piece of ecumenical work. I can find it in
me to pray that our Anglican brothers and sisters
in the Global South will come to be as open and accepting
of our Anglican diversity as our Christian brothers
and sisters in other denominations are of our Christian
diversity.
In
response to the query about 'Last Rites' in the Anglican
Church: While we do not refer to the practice as
Last rites, it is not uncommon for those on the point
of death to receive Holy Communion and to be anointed
by a priest. The use of holy oils for baptism and
confirmation, ordination and healing is widespread
— in the Canadian Anglican Church at least.
Thank
you for providing a wonderful forum for exchanging
information, learning, and sharing our faith journey
with others.
Rene
Jamieson
The Cathedral Church of St. John
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA
25 April 2005
Who
are the saints?
Ever
since the media coverage of
Pope Benedict XVI's inauguration. I have heard several
times the 'Litany of Saints' where all the people
present in St. Peter's Square invoke the Saints to
pray for them. This had me wondering. How many saints
are there in the Anglican Church? And where would
there be a detailed list of them? I know that in
the US 1979 Book of Common Prayer it lists the days
that are memorials to memorable Christians. But which
of these are Saints? I know that we have many of
the same Saints as the Roman Catholic Church does.
But where would I find a list of all of the Anglican
saints?
Phillip
Clark
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
rollerblader749@hotmail.com
30 April 2005
Earlier
letters
We launched
our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All of our
letters are in our
archives.
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