In the wake of yesterday's vote in the Church of England's General Synod, the improved, new-look Society website is here
A satirical take (although perhaps too close to the truth to be be truly satirical - are we now beyond satire in Anglicanism?) from Eccles and Bosco here
Some interesting further comment on Ancient Briton's post from yesterday here
Stella Maris here has it about right when he says unity has now been sacrificed. This should be noted by those in mitred fantasy land who think - or at least are prepared to state in public or in private - that 'catholic' ecumenism is still on track ...
Thinking Anglicans now has the text of Prime Minister's Questions, and Dave's response to Sir Tony Baldry (he of Garrick Club tie fame...)
Not directly related to all this but of interest nonetheless are Francis' Phillips' thoughts on the Radio Four broadcast of the Screwtape Letters this week to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis [at The Catholic Herald here]
Now far too passé for the insular Anglican 'modernisers' - a reflection by Fr Dwight Longenecker on nostalgia and desire in C.S. Lewis and T.S. Eliot: Looking for Another Country at The Imaginative Conservative
But what will happen when the present Wilfred & Hilda bishops have gone to heaven and their successors have to be consecrated by the Archbishopess of Canterbury?
ReplyDeletePrecisely.
DeleteIf, as many of us fear with good reason, any space we are given to survive turns out to be so restricted and short-term as to preclude any kind of ecclesial flourishing, then the future of the Catholic Movement - within the official structures - will depend on how far its leadership is prepared to countenance a large measure of imagination and inventiveness not so say canonical disobedience or illegality.
The future isn't so hard to predict.
But, of course, the Society, as envisaged at present, does not apply to those 'British' Anglicans in provinces outside the Church of England...
In the letter I received from Wilfred & Hilda bishops today the 'The Society' as it is to be known in future is described as the flip side of the Forward in Faith coin. If Credo Cymru is FiF in Wales, why not a flip side for members in Wales? Bishops are ready to cross borders but I hear complaints from members that CC offers no leadership leaving the few like yourself to struggle on. Such a shame.
DeleteThere is only so much one can say in difficult 'political' circumstances at present, but to be fair to the leadership of Credo Cymru, the English example is not so easy to follow this side of the provincial boundary in a small (and declining), separate Anglican province and without 'native' traditionalist episcopal input and direction and with a different set of legislation and structures to contend with. The situation will become very much clearer after the Welsh Bench produces its 'Code of Practice' in response to the submissions which will be made. As I have said repeatedly, given their track record I'm not optimistic .... but things will be clearer .....
ReplyDeleteIt is very naughty of me, I know, but I can't help but ponder the saints upon whose intercessions the new Anglican society rests. Saint Hilda accepted the decision of the Synod of Whitby to calculate the date of Easter according to the Roman calendar, despite having argued against it - she is, in fact, an excellent example of submission to lawful authority. Saint Wilfred was a Romaniser who refused consecration at the hands of English bishops - believing many of them to be invalidly, or at least illicitly consecrated - and his consecration was delayed as he travelled to France to be consecrated by bishops who were more to his liking.
ReplyDeleteI'm not wholly convinced that these saints are the best representatives of the Great Cloud of Witnesses that the society could have chosen.
Well, that's me off to confession.
As I have posted elsewhere, it would be better to have the Vicar of Bray as a patron - you can accept everything that is given to you by those lovely gracious people in General Synod!
ReplyDeleteAnd Anthony Kitchin, of course.
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