Anglican-catholics call on Archbishop to tell the whole truth in Rome is the title of a press release issued by Affirming Catholicism:
The progressive Anglican organisation Affirming Catholicism marked the Vatican visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev’d Rowan Williams, beginning today, by calling on Dr Williams to tell the whole truth about the Anglican Communion when he meets Pope Benedict XVI this week. The Chair of Trustees, the Rev’d Canon Nerissa Jones MBE said today.
The word catholic comes from the greek for wholeness, which means that the Church should lovingly speak the whole truth about humanity and about God. For Rowan Williams this week, that means working with the Pope to concentrate on the really big issues facing humanity at large and not just a narrow Church agenda. We share a common concern for humanity and the world and tackling together issues such as poverty, the environmental crisis and the need for dialogue between races and religions will help hasten the unity for which Christ prayed.
Addressing the internal divisions in and between the Churches, the Director of Affirming Catholicism, the Rev’d Richard Jenkins said:
As well as discussing conflicts in the Church, we hope that the Archbishop will also bear witness to the real gifts Anglicans bring to the Universal Church such as the joyful reception of women’s ordination in many provinces. Even our honest struggling with the demands of unity and local diversity can help a world where division can easily spill over into violence and hatred. We have much to receive from the Roman Catholic Church, but we have much to offer too.
The organisation Affirming Catholicism celebrates its 15th anniversary at the beginning of December. Since its inception it has grown to encompass 1500 national members, local groups in nearly every English diocese, a one hundred strong presence on General Synod as well as groups in other Anglican provinces and a range of publications which include Rowan Williams himself as an author. The progressive organisation has stated that its sees Anglicanism as a reforming movement in the wider universal Church, seeking to show that Christianity is not essentially patriarchal and calling on the Church to become more inclusive and focussed on serving the needs of common humanity.
ENDS
The organisation celebrates its 15th Anniversary on 2 December at 11.30 am with a celebratory Eucharist at St Mary le Bow, Cheapside, London. The Rt Rev’d David Stancliffe, Bishop of Salisbury and President of the movement, will celebrate and the Rev’d Angela Tilby will preach.
Posted by Simon Sarmiento on Tuesday, 21 November 2006 at 3:03pm GMT | TrackBackYES ! What a marvellous, inspiring and timely word from AffCath !
Also what a joy to hear the Bishop of Southwark tell the world -via the Thought for the Day (radio 4) of the blessings of women and gay ministers.
They are blessings, not problems he said ! Great stuff ! Do listen again, if you can folks....
Posted by: laurence on Tuesday, 21 November 2006 at 3:24pm GMTSounds like a coffee, AffCath.
What Affirming Catholicism does is take out the traditionalism and obscurantism from the catholic tradition of the Church of England, and was able to do so after women were able to become priests. It gave a focus and place for the liberal identity that was one part of the catholic side of Anglicanism. Traditionalist catholicism has rather lost its anchor.
On the other hand, as well as being liberal it also wants to be moderate and tries to project a myth that it embodies the broad Anglican tradition. It might be centrist, but it does not follow that it embodies the central identity (although it does not mislead by its name, as Anglican Mainstream does when it is actually far from being mainstream). Its name does refer specifically to catholicism, but that (as we know) is an ambiguous term, meaning something that connects with the Oxford Movement, or something that means universal).
It is more centrist than the liberal Modern Churchpeople's Union, but overlaps; Sea of Faith is a different matter with a more radical identity.
The question is whether the centre-left is no more now than one specific position as all the others. It clearly is Anglican, but just a part.
Calling for the whole truth in the meeting with Rome might not lead to the position that Affirming Catholicism holds, and indeed there may only be truths and disagreement.
Posted by: Pluralist on Tuesday, 21 November 2006 at 4:17pm GMTsea of faith or puddle of unbelief?
note there is no sea in heaven - for a reason
Posted by: NP on Wednesday, 22 November 2006 at 3:36pm GMTFaith is not a scorecard of how many things you can tick off in belief, but an outlook that draws from the insight of a traditon (or traditions) and seeks to act faithfully; this to be done consistently with other intellectual insights such as science, history, sociology and psychology, and not in some cast off theological island of increasing distance. If there is going to be a critique of postmodern consumer capitalism, it is going to have to be done from an insight that can communicate with the world as it is, rather than dish up supernatural realist speculations from previous cultures that are increasingly incapable of saying anything to anyone who understands the this world as a practical, problem-solving yet homeless condition, offered to people looking for consistent ethical and religious guidelines.
Posted by: Pluralist on Wednesday, 22 November 2006 at 9:34pm GMTThe reason Sea of Faith is a different matter is because it does not claim a core Christian identity, nor (despite its tendency to non-realism) does it have a credal or confessional base. So it actually contains Christians and non-Christians with people of other faith, atheists and agnostics and theists, radicals and liberals, political radicals and conservatives, churchgoers and those who have given up. It has many Anglicans including ordained, and people of other formally credal denominations including ministers, the odd Roman Catholic, the odd Buddhist and Jews, and many Quakers and some Unitarians, and a few neo-Pagans. Its tag line (don't have to sign up to it) is that religious faith is a human creation: which can be interpreted completely or in the sense that God is mystery and some or all expressions are human.
I am not now a member, but whilst sympathetic it is not very good at remythologising. It tends to be for those stable with a religious humanism in or out of religious bodies, or those who retain an interest in religion that they would like to be positive but have come to reject religious institutions. This rejection can include Quakers and Unitarians, because of their bias towards theism of some sort and use still of historically derived language which fails to produce an active religious humanism (though others can be in those groups as religious humanists).
Posted by: Pluralist on Wednesday, 22 November 2006 at 9:44pm GMT