“Passage”, not a rift

It will take months, perhaps years, to obtain a clear picture of the number of Anglican faithful who asked to enter the Roman Catholic Church, to ascertain whether this step did promote greater understanding between Anglicans and Catholics, as is to be hoped for, or whether it will foment clashes and resentment. The point of departure was considered eventful while the announcement of a special Apostolic Constitution raised hopes for the progress of ecumenical dialogue. The Anglican Church is experiencing one of its most severe crises since the times of Henry VIII, involved in a debate on fundamental issues that caused dissent and unsuccessful negotiations. Cardinal Ivan Diaz bluntly defined it a sort of “Ecclesial Parkinson”. The proposed passage to the Catholic Church, while retaining significant elements of the Anglican tradition, could result in the onset of a solution with no alternatives to be found. The joint communiqué of the Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols Primate of the Catholic Church of England and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Primate of the Anglican Communion, points to an agreement meant to wipe out resentment and rifts, like those that hit Orthodox Christianity and that are still under way. The departure and arrival of a consistent group of Anglicans to the Church of Rome is the result of acute distress and unbearable suffering united to the yearning to preserve the fundamental principles of their own religious faith and tradition. As known, thorny issues include the ordainment of women presbyters and the consecration of gay ministers. These are not the only reasons, nor are these questions pertaining to the Anglican Church only. Notably, disquietude is felt across Christian communities, which strain to place the reasons of faith within the realm of historical developments, and Christian ethical code within the ambit of ethical pluralism marked by the ‘dominion’ of relativism. During a conference held October 22 at the St.Francis of Assisi Sacred Convent, Franciscan Anglican friar Benedict Winsper, while refraining from addressing this issue specifically, traced the story of the Franciscan movement’s reassembly, which has been ongoing since the mid 19th century, pointing to the different dynamics operating within the Anglican Church. Fr. Benedict remarked that present events “aren’t problems pertaining to Anglican faithful. Rather, they are shared by all secularized Christians”, thus the response ought be no other than “the prayer for unity according to God’s plans and time”. The “return” to Rome – claims pastor Olger Milkau, deacon of the Lutheran Church in Rome – is not the way towards Christian union. Indeed, he claimed, it’s a modality, which promotes a schism inside the Anglican Church (Nev 47). Perhaps it ought to be said that the schism that many Anglicans recall dates back to the mid 16th century, which, as known, did not bring a change in Church doctrine or practice. This memory promoted the rise of nostalgia for Rome, felt by a large part of the Anglican community, extending beyond the famous Oxford movement, and the ‘return’ to the Catholic Church by outstanding personalities such as Newman, elected to cardinalship, anticipated recent events. Although the “return to Rome” and the ensuing “Uniatism” don’t exemplify ecumenical progress towards mutual understanding – these days recurs the 10th anniversary of the Joint declaration of Catholics and Lutherans on Justification (Augsburg October 31 1999) – it will nonetheless help interpret the passage of our Christian Anglican brothers not as a rift, as a laceration, and neither as a ‘conversion’, as Valdese pastor Paolo Ricca affirmed during the above-mentioned conference. Accordingly, passing from one Church to the other ought to be viewed as passing to a “different ecclesial environment”. Reductive though it may appear, as if all contexts were to be viewed as appropriate regardless of their adherence to the Gospel, this claim does indeed contribute to reducing intra-Christian conflict. Today Churches are experiencing problems linked to faith and religious witness, to charity and communion, in their endeavor to be the true proclaimers of hope at a time in dire need of the light of the yeast of Christ offered to the world by true Christian “believers” and by “believable” Christians.