This bold move to incorporate anglicanism is B16's way of sending a signal to the Orthodox communion. The big prize is the orthodox church. If a way can be found to get all branches of Christianity on the same page - B16 will go down as the greatest pope in history.
John Paul II's command to B16 (while he was in charge of the college of the doctrine of the faith) to clean up the Catholic Catechism took over 10 years to finish. It was published in English in the 1990's and is easy to read, easy to understand. B16 is a master of taking on hard jobs and finishing them.
By the time it was done, B16 knew more about the structure of the catholic faith than anyone else. This assignment by JPII was hard but necessary and providential. B16 has the academic and ecclesiastical credentials to make sweeping upgrades to the Roman communion. We are blessed that this is happening in our lifetimes.
As for the queen - she will have to jump out from under the bus.
The political union with the Orthodox will not happen so quickly. I feel it’s better for us to hasten in an alliance againstIslam and secularism. We have much to learn from the East and both need each other to fight these two demons ofIslam and secularism.
I agree with Cronos...Orthodoxy is going to be a harder nut to crack.
This development required no less than a hurricane of liberalism blowing through the Anglican Communion. It stripped the roof off the building and made people go looking for alternative shelter. People were forced into solutions that were less than ideal (foreign oversight, continuing churches) for the sake of maintaining orthodoxy.
Like camping, sure, it’s fun for a while to be out in the elements....but stay out there long enough and most people will be begging for a roof and 4 walls. Even if it’s a stranger’s house.
The TAC specifically requested to come in and put no preconditions on their re-entry. They made it easy for Rome to welcome them. No similar situation exists for Orthodoxy today, and moreover, there is still considerable resistance to reunion among the Orthodox faithful. I’m still hopeful that a reunion can be worked out in time, but without some other kind of pressure bringing itself to bear, I don’t think it’ll be anytime soon.
“As for the queen - she will have to jump out from under the bus.....”
Hmmm, I suspect the Queen had that bus idling in neutral..awaiting Benedict...
“When Pope Benedict visits this country next year, he is expected to stay at Buckingham Palace as a guest of the Queen. The warmth of her welcome will come as no surprise to the Pontiff, if senior sources at the Vatican are to be believed. According to informants quoted in The Catholic Herald, the Queen has ‘grown increasingly sympathetic’ to the Catholic Church over the years while being ‘appalled’, along with the Prince of Wales, at developments in the Church of England. The usually well-informed newspaper adds that the Queen, who is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, ‘also said to have an affinity with the Holy Father, who is of her generation.’”
http://www.practicalbible.com/content/queen-england-has-affinity-with-pope