Replies

The Anglican/Roman shift goes both ways. I am an Anglican, but I really can't see myself joining the Roman church. I am not willing to accept that the Pope is infallible, and I am not interested in the "Cult" of Mary.

Absolutely, do whatever your heart requires you to do. Roman Catholicism is definitely not for everyone, & most especially not for those who're too intellectually lazy to investigate the accuracy of trite misconceptions about papal "infallibility" and shopworn myths regarding "cults" of Mary and the like. ;)

Well, I'm an ex-ECUSA "high Anglican" . . . all I can say is, you need to investigate a little bit, maybe attend a couple of RCIA classes or invest in a copy of the Catechism, instead of just repeating tired old cliches that the "low" end of the Anglican church thinks it knows about Catholics.

After all . . . they haven't been too accurate or reliable about much else, have they?

If you're really interested, I can refer you to an excellent book that was written for Anglicans considering a trans-Tiber migration.

So many Episcopalians believe - in a quite uncritical manner - the old anti-Catholic, Know-Nothing rants about the Vatican, the Magisterium, and the Pope. The fact that the Catholic Church dares to have infallible teachings is seen by so many otherwise reasonable Episcopalians as reason enough to reject it outright with no further investigation into the matter. All I can say in response to that is that ECUSA now has a "magisterium" of it's own. It’s called the General Convention, and you better do as this “magisterium” tells you to or the penalties will be quite high. Just ask any orthodox priest who has been inhibited by one of these revisionist bishops.

And this “magisterium” is issuing infallible teachings on such matters as Holy Matrimony in ways that no Pope or curial official would ever even begin to consider. Why? Because the Pope does not have the authority to alter Holy Matrimony. Holy Matrimony was “...established by God in creation…Our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people." (1979 BCP - THE CELEBRATION AND BLESSING OF A MARRIAGE)

And what are the purposes of Holy Matrimony? Again, the Book of Common Prayer states it well..."The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children, and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord."

If all this sounds familiar it is b/c this has been, and still is, the teaching with regard to marriage for 99% of the world Christians - Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and any and all variants thereof. Only the enlightened “magisterium” of ECUSA feels they have some sort of divine right to change it. This assumes an “authority” that no Pope has ever assumed for himself. Ever.

"Cult" of Mary,

As a former ECUSA person who crossed the tiber in 1997,I can testify that I don't belong to now nor have I ever been a member of a cult of Mary.

The most interesting thing about the catholic church with respect to the baptists is that Mary does appear, from time to time to catholics - not to protestants.

The Anglican/Roman shift goes both ways. I am an Anglican, but I really can't see myself joining the Roman church. I am not willing to accept that the Pope is infallible, and I am not interested in the "Cult" of Mary.

Note that Papal infallibility is doctrinally noted as being very, very limited -- restricted ONLY to matters of the faith, dogmatic issues and ONLY when spoken ex-cathedra (i.e. on the seat of authority, San Pietro's seat). This means that the Pope is essentially letting himself be used by God as an arbitrator when dogmatic issues come up.

There is no "cult" of Mary -- I remember my parish priest saying "There's no special givt from attending novenas etc. -- but if people find it brings them closer to God, then GOOD!!" Similarly, I find myself under no obligation to go to the excesses -- I accord Mother Mary the respect due to her as Theotokos (the Mother of God) and the Church let's me -- the Catholic Church at the lowest, most simplistic level asks me to believe in the Nicene creed: do you follow this?