October 20, 2009
Why the Vatican Wants Anglicans
By The Editors
The Vatican announced on Tuesday that it would make it easier for Anglicans who are uncomfortable with the Church of England’s acceptance of women priests and openly gay bishops to join the Catholic Church. The Vatican will set up a formal conversion structure to allow Anglicans to preserve some of their liturgical traditions, including allowing married Anglican priests to remain married after they convert to Catholicism.
What does this announcement say about the Catholic Church and its willingness to grant such flexibility?
Colleen Carroll Campbell is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the author of “The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy” and host of “Faith & Culture,” a TV and radio show that airs on EWTN.
Tuesday’s announcement comes as welcome news to many tradition-minded, theologically conservative Anglicans who have sought a way to join the Catholic Church without jettisoning their Anglican identity.
Far from being a crafty attempt to lure content Anglicans away from their mother church, the creation of this new canonical structure is the Catholic Church’s long-awaited response to a persistent demand. That demand comes from Anglo-Catholics who feel marginalized and betrayed by the Anglican Communion’s willingness to adapt age-old Christian teachings to fit contemporary sexual mores.
It’s not surprising that some have labeled this action an affront to ecumenism. Ecumenism often is equated with a lowest-common-denominator approach to doctrinal differences that glosses over serious conflicts and seeks peace at any price.
But nothing in this action by the Vatican contradicts the principles of genuine ecumenism: the commitment to speaking the truth in love, to seeking common ground where it can be found and to honestly acknowledging deep differences — including those differences that have divided the Anglican Communion. Indeed, much of conservative Anglicans’ frustration with the Anglican Communion emanates from the relativistic, agree-to-disagree approach to fundamental moral and theological questions so prevalent among Anglican leaders, including Archbishop Rowan Williams.
Genuine ecumenism does not require that the Catholic Church turn away converts knocking on its doors, just as the Catholic Church’s genuine respect for tradition does not preclude the creation of a canonical structure that allows Anglican converts to retain some liturgical riches of their Anglican heritage while uniting with Rome. As the saying goes, “Unity in the essentials; liberty in the non-essentials; and in all things, love.”
Many disagree with the way the Catholic Church defines the essentials — including its defense of an all-male priesthood and its refusal to sanction homosexual relationships. But many others, including the Anglo-Catholics rejoicing today, see in that definition the markings of fidelity to Christian tradition that are increasingly rare in their own Communion. For these Anglicans, the Catholic Church’s decision to welcome them with open arms is good news, indeed.