ANGLICAN APOSTASY
Note: Although Anglicanism (Episcopalianism) has become grossly apostate, it is important to note their ecumenical tendencies since they appear to "lead the way" for other Protestant ecumenical groups. See Study of progression of Anglican ecumenism
From THE RECORD (Louisville, KY) May 20, 1999, page 9
A 'SHARED' UNIVERSAL PAPAL PRIMACY? By JOHN THAVIS, Catholic News Service
Catholic-Anglican dialogue report on authority proposes it as step to church unity
A Catholic-Anglican document has proposed that both churches might accept a "shared" universal papal primacy, one that would offer prophetic leadership, uphold legitimate diversity of traditions and welcome theological inquiry. The document describes papal primacy and other forms of authority in the church as a divine gift and says its application should be modeled on Christ's role of service. Such authority is often exercised by the hierarchy but must be open to renewal and influence from the lay faithful, it says.
Titled "The Gift of Authority," the 12,000-word document was presented May 12 by Catholic and Anglican members of the Second Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II). Its authors said the text was an important step forward on one of the most difficult issues in Catholic-Anglican dialogue.
"Within the ecumenical landscape, it is fair to say that no other community has come so far along with Roman Catholics in common agreement about the primacy of the bishop of Rome," Capuchin Father William Henn said in a commentary released with the text at the Vatican.
The document outlines a dynamic relationship among Scripture, tradition and the exercise of teaching authority in the church. Far from being seen merely as a "storehouse of doctrine and ecclesial decisions," church authority should be open to new insights and new formulations, it says.
The faithful are bound to receive and accept the authoritative teaching of their pastors, it says, but the people of God and local churches also help discern the truth. And at all levels of church authority, "loyal criticism and reforms are sometimes needed," it adds.
The document - which will be reviewed and discussed by officials of both churches - does not propose solutions for specific controversies like the ordination of women priests, although it says the Anglican decision to do so has raised new questions about how authority functions for both churches.
In examining the role of the pope and universal primacy, ARCIC II proposed that Anglicans be open to recovery, under certain conditions, of the exercise of the universal primacy by the bishop of Rome, and that Catholics be willing to offer such a ministry.
"Such a primacy could be offered and received even before our churches are in full communion," it says.
As envisioned in the document, this universal primacy would be carried out in collegial cooperation with bishops. It would encourage the churches in their mission and would promote a type of church communion that "does not curtail diversity."
"Such a universal primate will exercise leadership in the world and also in both communions, addressing them in a prophetic way," the document says. He would promote the common good, gather the churches for consultation and address difficult moral issues, in a style that would "welcome and protect theological inquiry."
Touching upon a crucial point in the 400-year separation between Anglicans and Catholics, the document recognizes that the pope has a specific ministry in discerning the truths of faith. It says that when the pope pronounce 'wholly reliable teaching," he is in fact, articulating the faith of all the local churches.
In that sense, definitive papal teachings may express "only the faith of the church," in accordance with the college of bishops and not outside that college, it says.
The document examines how the churches view authority in the context of Scripture and tradition. To help explain how authority involves the whole church and is not simply a top-down process, the document relies on a key scriptural image: St. Paul's description of the church's authority as an "Amen" to God's revelation.
It says individual Christians are called throughout their lives to "say Amen to all that the whole company of Christians receives and teaches as the authentic meaning of the Gospel and the way to follow Christ."
It says Christ provided a model for the church by the way he exercised authority - in teaching, healing, preaching and, most of all, in his "self-giving service in sacrificial love." The authority Christ bestowed on his disciples was primarily the authority for mission, and that remains true for today's church, it says.
The document says Scripture, as the inspired word of God, has a unique authority in guiding the church's teaching and action.
Tradition, the process by which the revealed word is communicated through the life of the church, is also essential, but should not be understood as a static reality, the document says. Instead, tradition must be open to rediscover new insights by theologians and even new formulations in modern contexts.
. . . infallible teaching should be understood as a teaching of the whole college of bishops, "which may be trusted because it expresses the truth of God surely."