Free Republic

On Tuesday the Vatican unveiled a brand-new structure designed to facilitate groups of traditionally minded Anglicans entering into corporate communion with Rome, something many on both sides of the divide have aspired to for more than 40 years. On Wednesday the global primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, Archbishop John Hepworth, gave Inquirer an exclusive interview.Inquirer: In place of conventional dioceses, the new arrangements envisage "personal ordinariates". Are they akin to the military ordinariates for dispersed groups of personnel in the various branches of the armed forces?John Hepworth: Yes, and they are at the heart of what the Pope proposes....

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 22, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A Bulgarian Orthodox prelate told Benedict XVI of his desire for unity, and his commitment to accelerate communion with the Catholic Church. At the end of Wednesday's general audience, Bishop Tichon, head of the diocese for Central and Western Europe of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, stated to the Pope, "We must find unity as soon as possible and finally celebrate together," L'Osservatore Romano reported. "People don't understand our divisions and our discussions," the bishop stated. He affirmed that he will "not spare any efforts" to work for the quick restoration of "communion between Catholics...

Nothing of the Old Life! "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" —2 Corinthians 5:17 Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death. We tend to think that God has some special interest in our particular prejudices, and are very sure that He will never deal with us as He has to deal with others. We even say to ourselves, "God has to deal with other people in a very strict way, but of course He...

TAC Primate Archbishop John Hepworth Blackwood, Australia, Oct 22, 2009 / 02:57 am (CNA).- The Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion has responded to the Vatican’s announcement of a new provision for Anglicans who wish to convert to Catholicism, saying his church is “profoundly moved” by Pope Benedict’s generosity. He added that the provision will now be taken to the national synods of his Communion.In an Oct. 20 statement published on the website of the communion’s The Messenger Journal, Traditional Anglican Communion Primate Archbishop John Hepworth said he had been speaking with bishops, priests and lay people of the...

Santiago, Chile, Oct 22, 2009 / 01:03 pm (CNA).- In an interview with the Chilean daily, “El Mercurio,” the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, Bernard Fellay, acknowledged that the Vatican is considering the possibility of converting the Lefebvrist group into a personal prelature as part of the discussions aimed at bringing about reconciliation. Fellay, who visited members of the SSPX movement in Chile, is one of four bishops whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI last January. Asked about the speculation that the Society of Pius X could be made into a personal prelature similar...

In 1994, after intense study, discussion, and prayer, we issued a statement titled “Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium.” In 1997, we bore common witness to “The Gift of Salvation,” underscoring God’s unmerited justification of sinners because of the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, and our only hope of salvation. In our third statement, “Your Word is Truth” (2002), we affirmed a convergence in our understanding of the transmission of God’s saving Word through Holy Scripture and tradition, which is the lived experience of the community of faith under the...

Liberals are beginning to twit. They are just warming up, but soon it will be a grand mal twit. They are panicking about Pope Benedict and his provisions for Anglicans who, after their long nightmare with liberal on their side of the Tiber, may want unity in the Catholic Church. Be alert. The liberal Catholics will try to pull a sleight of hand. They will attempt to get you to believe that what Pope Benedict is doing is not true ecumenism. They will claim to be the sole arbiters of true ecumenism. They will claim that conservative Catholics, traditional Catholics...

The entry of anti-modernist Anglican dioceses and parishes into the Catholic Church has been announced. The ecumenism of Pope Ratzinger appears increasingly influenced by fidelity to tradition. That's the way it is with the Lefebvrists. And even more so with the Eastern Orthodox ChurchesROME, October 20, 2009 – Until yesterday, they were entering the Catholic Church one at a time, the priests and bishops of the Anglican Communion who felt more in agreement with the pope of Rome than with the "modernist" tendencies of Anglicanism. In the United States, to regulate these transitions, a "Pastoral Provision" had been in effect...

The Witness of the Spirit "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit . . ." —Romans 8:16 We are in danger of getting into a bargaining spirit with God when we come to Him— we want the witness of the Spirit before we have done what God tells us to do.Why doesn’t God reveal Himself to you? He cannot. It is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the way as long as you won’t abandon yourself to Him in total surrender. Yet once you do, immediately God witnesses to Himself— He cannot...

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Pope Benedict XVI are both noted theological scholars leading flocks through complicated times. In recent days, Archbishop Williams's already tough mission became even more difficult. Archbishop Williams is the top official in the Church of England and the "first among equals" of the global church leaders that guide the 80-million-strong Anglican Communion. That puts him in the crucial position of holding the Anglican faithful together in the wake of the Vatican's surprise move this week to make it easier for disgruntled Anglicans to convert to Catholicism. For several years, Archbishop Williams has attempted to...

Speaking before the announcement of Pope Benedict’s decision to permit Anglican communities to join the Catholic Church as communities, a leading Anglican prelate predicted that his diocese would survive as a “small but wealthy cult.” Reflecting on why God might have permitted the diocese to lose 60% of its investments during the financial crisis, Anglican Archbishop Peter Jensen of Sydney said his diocese is “up against a large challenge and there is no guarantee whatever that we will survive except as a small but wealthy cult.” “The cultural mood is not flowing with us,” he added. “Immigrant numbers are not...

AUSTRALIA'S largest and most conservative Anglican diocese will tomorrow approve changes that would permit couples to marry in church, whether or not they are Christian. The change to be passed at the Sydney synod tomorrow makes the diocese the 14th of the country's 23 to approve the reform that would allow an unbaptised Australian to be married in church provided he or she meets the basic standards for civil marriage: a union between a man and woman voluntarily entered into for life. The change was first mooted at the Anglican general synod in 2007. It has since been put to...

Hundreds of Anglican clergy who oppose women bishops are meeting this weekend to discuss whether to abandon the Church of England for the Roman Catholic church. About 500 members of Forward in Faith, the leading traditionalist grouping, will be in London to debate Pope Benedict XVI’s offer of an Anglican “ordinariate” or diocese to operate under a new Apostolic Constitution. Many are waiting for the publication of a Code of Practice by Rome to flesh out the detail of what is on offer before deciding whether to go. More than 440 took the compensation package on offer and left the...

As I caught up on the day-after coverage of the pope’s welcome mat/hostile takeover (take your pick) of the Anglican Communion, what remained in my brain were the U.S.-based elements Laurie Goodstein had in the NYT story (with Rachel Donadio): Bishop Martyn Minns, a leader of that group [the new breakaway Anglican Church in North America], welcomed the pope’s decision. “It demonstrates his conviction that the divisions in the Anglican Communion are very serious and these are not things that are going to get papered over,” he said.However, both Bishop Minns and Archbishop Robert Duncan, primate of the Anglican Church...

"Old England isn't finished yet," joked The Goons in the 1950s, "It's finished . . . [tick, tick] . . . now!" And if you'd wanted a good benchmark for deciding when England would be finished, the demise of the Church of England as an international force would fit the bill. Well, it looks like that might be happening. The Bishop of Rome, as the CofE always used to refer to the Holy Father, has announced a special provision for Anglicans converting to Roman Catholicism, preserving parts of the wonderful Anglican liturgy. As The Anchoress says, this is big for...

This from a good source in Rome: apparently both Lambeth Palace and elements in the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity were “implacably opposed” to Pope Benedict XVI’s dramatic new arrangements for Anglicans. The source also reports speculation that Archbishop Rowan Williams put pressure on Vatican ecumenists to stop the Apostolic Constitution being issued. For all I know, he did persuade Cardinal Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council, that it wasn’t a good idea. But this particular portfolio was taken out of Kasper’s hands a long time ago; indeed, it looks as if the cardinal was simply “informed” what...

As many as 1,000 priests could quit the Church of England and thousands more may leave churches in America and Australia under bold proposals to welcome Anglicans to Rome. Entire parishes and even dioceses could be tempted to defect after Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to offer a legal structure to Anglicans joining the Roman Catholic Church. His decree, issued yesterday, is a serious blow to attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to save the Anglican Communion from further fragmentation and threatens to wreck decades of ecumenical dialogue. Dr Williams was notified formally only last weekend by the...

The editors of The Globe and Mail, Canada’s second most popular newspaper, have lashed out at the Vatican’s decision to permit Anglican communities to join the Catholic Church as communities. “The Vatican's welcome of some Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church is a Trojan horse,” the editors write. “In the face of an inflexible hierarchy, liberal Catholic voices have had little effect; the grudging loyalty of those who remain is in jeopardy. The Vatican announcement will make the Catholic Church more conservative and the Anglican church more liberal. Is that what ecumenism is meant to accomplish?” Similar criticisms were made...

Impulsiveness or Discipleship? "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . ." —Jude 20 There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of...

Rome has parked its tanks on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s lawn after manoeuvres undertaken by up to fifty bishops and begun two years ago by an Australian archbishop, John Hepworth... In the US, where a similar “Anglican usage” model has been in operation for years and will now be incorporated into the new ordinariate structures, there are 77 million Catholics alongside a mere 1.8 million Episcopalians. A few incoming conservative Anglicans have made little difference. In England and Wales, the proportions are reversed, with 25 million baptised Anglicans but four million Catholics.... Set against this, however, is the more confident...

<p>Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, left, from the Anglican church listens as Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols from the Roman Catholic Church speaks during a news conference in London, held in reaction to the announcement of a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church, Tuesday.</p>

BANNER-WAVING Orthodox protestors yesterday put a stop to a Catholic wedding ceremony at Ayios Yiorgios church in Chlorakas after shouting a string of abuse at the priest and others in the church. The protestors had gathered for the second day outside a conference of the Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. The small church is opposite the venue. Protestors were incensed when the Catholic priest, who has permission from the Church of Cyprus to hold ceremonies, asked them to leave. Instead they heckled him to leave. “We peacefully call on you to...

Traditional Anglican Communion Responds to Pope's Offer of Ecclesiastical refuge by John Hepworth 20th October 2009 I have spent this evening speaking to bishops, priests and lay people of the Traditional Anglican Communion in England, Africa, Australia, India, Canada, the United States and South America. We are profoundly moved by the generosity of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. He offers in this Apostolic Constitution the means for "former Anglicans to enter into the fullness of communion with the Catholic Church". He hopes that we can "find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to...

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- The Vatican said Tuesday it has worked out a way for groups of Anglicans who are dissatisfied with their faith to join the Catholic Church. The process will allow groups of Anglicans, including bishops and married priests, to join the Catholic Church some 450 years after King Henry VIII broke from Rome and created the Church of England. The number of Anglicans wishing to join the Catholic Church has increased in recent years as the Anglican church has welcomed the ordination of women and openly gay clergy and blessed homosexual partnerships, said Cardinal William Joseph Levada,...

Something big seems to be brewing in Rome and London. This from the Vatican: We inform accredited journalists that tomorrow, Tuesday 20 October 2009, at 11am, in the John Paul II Hall of the Press Office of the Holy See, a briefing will be held on a theme pertaining to the relationship with the Anglicans, at which His Eminence Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and His Excellency Mgr Joseph Augustine Di Noia OP, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will take part.

Is God’s Will My Will? "This is the will of God, your sanctification . . ." —1 Thessalonians 4:3 Sanctification is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me— is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me everything that has been made possible through the atonement of the Cross of Christ? Am I willing to let Jesus become sanctification to me, and to let His life be exhibited in my human flesh? (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). Beware of saying, "Oh, I am longing to be sanctified." No, you are not. Recognize...

Pope Benedict approves decree setting up new worldwide institution to receive Anglican communities More than half a million Anglicans are set to join the Roman Catholic church following an announcement from the Vatican today that Pope Benedict XVI had approved a decree setting up a new worldwide institution to receive them.

Vatican City, Oct 19, 2009 / 06:41 pm (CNA).- Several Italian newspapers speculated today that the Vatican may possibly welcome a large number of members from the Traditional Anglican Communion into the Catholic Church on Tuesday. The group previously separated from the Anglican Communion due to issues such as the ordinations of both women and sexually active homosexuals. According to Giacomo Galeazzi from the Italian daily La Stampa, the press conference to be held tomorrow at the Vatican press office by Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Archbishop Augustine DiNoia, Secretary...

I made this video from a sound recording of a recent shape note singing and images gleaned from the web. Before I say much about it, I would like to get some reaction / input from FReepers.

Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster at joint press conference UPDATE: Fr Z is speculating that tomorrow’s press conferences will confirm that the Traditional Anglican Communion... is to be received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.*snip*Something big seems to be brewing in Rome and London. This from the Vatican: ....A briefing will be held on a theme pertaining to the relationship with the Anglicans, at which His Eminence Cardinal William Joseph Levada... and His Excellency Mgr Joseph Augustine Di Noia OP will take part. *snip*You are invited to a press conference with Archbishop Vincent Nichols (Archbishop of Westminster) and...

The second meeting for dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, taking place in Cyprus, sees strong protest and progress at a standstill for fear of "subjugating the Orthodox to the Pope in Rome." Even among Catholics there is dogmatic resistance. A call to all from Johannes Zizoulas, Metropolitan of Pergamon, tenacious advocate of the value of dialogue.Paphos (AsiaNews) - The 2nd round of dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox is being held in Paphos (Cyprus) from October 16 to 23. Progress, however, appears a distant goal. Two days ago, groups of traditionalist Orthodox monks and Orthodox priests from Larnaca interrupted the meeting...

Vatican City, Oct 16, 2009 / 01:07 pm (CNA).- During the presentation of the book, “Harvesting the Fruits. Fundamental Aspects of the Christian Faith in Ecumenical Dialogue. Consensus, Convergences and Differences,” the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper, announced that Pope Benedict XVI will soon visit the Lutheran Church of Rome. During the ceremony, Cardinal Kasper explained that “the Pope has the intention of visiting the Lutheran Church of Rome,” although a date has not yet been set. Regarding the book, the cardinal said it was the result of “two years of...

The Unheeded Secret "Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world" —John 18:36 The great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament but comes from the systems of the world. This work insists upon endless energy and activities, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" ( Luke 17:20-21 ). It is a hidden,...

The Key to the Missionary’s Devotion ". . . they went forth for His name’s sake . . ." —3 John 7 Our Lord told us how our love for Him is to exhibit itself when He asked, "Do you love Me?" ( John 21:17 ). And then He said, "Feed My sheep." In effect, He said, "Identify yourself with My interests in other people," not, "Identify Me with your interests in other people." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 shows us the characteristics of this love— it is actually the love of God expressing itself. The true test of my love...

A manifold witness I have placed in you , All that is faithful and true , A oneness of The Father and I in one breath , Can you imagine this depth , For what once rested upon me , Was the one and the three in complete harmony , And so it is even now My fullness with you , For as you witness me all 3 come through ~ ~ ~ John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father,...

The Key of the Greater Work ". . . I say to you, he who believes in Me, . . . greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father" —John 14:12 Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God....

The Key to the Master’s Orders "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" —Matthew 9:38 The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders—...

Oracles of my servants are true and report what I am doing today for as my word forget the former things behold I do a new thing and I shall speak it through whom I choose without man's approval or their vain imaginations rooted in pride and knowledge of the flesh and not the kingdom for they know not of my ways as long as they seek to admire their flesh . So "my" chosen and few shall speak of new things and things to come and the shallow minded shall not conceive the things of the Spirit of The...

Fr. Federico Lombardi Vatican City, Oct 15, 2009 / 12:40 pm (CNA).- Several months after Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of four Society of St. Pius X bishops, the Director of the Holy See's press office, Father Federico Lombardi, announced today that the first meeting with representatives of the society will take place in Rome on Monday, October 26. The meeting will be attended by a number of individuals, including Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Pontifical Commission; Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF); Dominican Father Charles Morerod, secretary...

Mandrake reported last week that the Queen is said by senior sources at the Vatican to have "grown increasingly sympathetic" to the Roman Catholic Church. Now, I hear that the Duke of Edinburgh has demonstrated his own affinities with Catholic traditions ahead of Pope Benedict's visit to Britain. The Duke has visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, the first time that a senior member of the Royal family has done so for more than 400 years. "We wrote to the Royal household to ask if someone could come to open the new wing and we were told that...

The Key to the Missionary’s Work (2) "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" —1 John 2:2 The key to the missionary’s message is the propitiation of Christ Jesus— His sacrifice for us that completely satisfied the wrath of God. Look at any other aspect of Christ’s work, whether it is healing, saving, or sanctifying, and you will see that there is nothing limitless about those. But— "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"— that is limitless (John 1:29 ). The missionary’s...

Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk is a rising star in the Russian Orthodox Church. Only 43 and an accomplished scholar, liturgist and composer, earlier this year he was appointed head of the Church’s external relations (effectively their foreign minister), replacing Metropolitan Kirill, who was elected Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox in January. In mid-September, Archbishop Hilarion made his first visit to Rome in his new capacity. In an extensive e-mail interview Oct. 5, the archbishop discusses that visit, recent speculation that Catholic-Orthodox union could be imminent, and the challenges in furthering the current dialogue. How happy have you been with...

Controversy Erupts as Catholic Bishop Asks Pro-Gay Bishop Not to Enter His Diocese By Peter J. Smith MARQUETTE, Michigan, October 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A public controversy has erupted between two bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, with one of the youngest bishops in the country publicly taking on one of his own colleagues in an effort to defend the Church's teachings on homosexuality and other issues. Marquette Bishop Alexander K. Sample, 49-years-old and one of the youngest US Catholic bishops, recently banned Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, 79, a retired auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit and...

The Key to the Missionary’s Work (1) "Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ’All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . .’ " —Matthew 28:18-19 The key to the missionary’s work is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the lost. We are inclined to look on our Lord as one who assists us in our endeavors for God. Yet our Lord places Himself as the absolute sovereign and supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say that the lost...

Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth ". . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens" —Exodus 2:11 Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that...

There is a storm brewing and this storm shall not stop or deviate from its path and the name of this storm is " Righteousness " " for my name's sake " ! My name is on my priests as a placard upon their foreheads and I shall not be defamed ! Therefore now I shall work my outstretched arm over the nations to perform this " My Will ", for The Father has said "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased !" . So watch now as I " well up " in my children yeah...

Getting into God’s Stride "Enoch walked with God . . ." —Genesis 5:24 The true test of a person’s spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person’s worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (seeJohn 1:35-37 and John 3:30 ). It is painful work to get in step with God and to keep pace with Him— it means getting your second wind...

I am calling you into a oneness of abundance and grace can you see it ?! For the children "know" ! This is not a work but a surrender \o/ \o/ \o/ Allow me alone to be and become your shepherd . Through times of darkness I am your light , Through times of division and hardship I AM The Love that brings " all " together . You see ?! See me in all things for I am your eyes and your submission to me must be complete that I may be resurrected in you ! Psalm 23 1The...

Numbers 13:30 30Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once and possess it; we are well able to conquer it. These are not "men" talities you are up against as the walls and Ezekiel but these are the strongholds I speak of to uproot and tear down ! So do not waiver or falter , do not feign awa y but stand ! Proceed ! and wipe off the dust of the earth for my will shall be done and my glory shall show and fall ! I AM with you , my angels...

God’s Silence— Then What? "When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was" —John 11:6 Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without...