With the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Revolution this year there seems to be a heightened enthusiasm for ecumenism with the Lutherans.
Far be it from me to rain on anyone’s parade, but when Cardinal Kasper says he hopes the Pope’s next statement will open the way to inter-communion in special cases I wonder exactly in what kind of wonderland he is living.
Then I see in the wave of ecumenical “dialogues” that are going on, that one presentation is entitled, “From Conflict to Communion.” Hmm. Surely we need to resolve the conflict before going on to communion?
The elephant in the room is the fact that the mainline Lutherans and Anglicans don’t really give two hoots about ecumenism, and they should be called on this.
Time and again the ecumenists on the Catholic side of the table have said, “If you ordain women priests this will present a serious obstacle to re-union.” They did it anyway. “If you endorse same sex marriage this will provide a serious obstacle to communion. ” They did it anyway. “If you have women bishops, if you have gay clergy, if you have re marriage after divorce, if you endorse abortion, if you condone cohabitation…these present a serious obstacle to re-union.”
They do it anyway. Then they all sit down at the ecumenical dialogues again and pretend none of this has happened.
Surely part of the dialogue should involve some plain speaking and common sense. Catholics should ask a few tough questions like, “We said all these things would put obstacles in the path to unity. Why did you do them anyway and what are you going to do about this?”
The even bigger elephant in the room, of course, are the Catholics who actually endorse all the things the Protestants have done. These are the modernists who, rather than disapproving of the steps the Protestants have taken, wish the Catholics would get up to date and do the same thing.
They perceive the Protestants as being “brave pioneers” who are “launching out with faith” and who are responding courageously to the “God of Surprises.”
Someone needs to point out that these Catholics could achieve “unity and shared communion” with the Protestants tomorrow by giving up on their Catholic faith (which they’ve done already) clearing off and joining the Lutherans and Anglicans.
But no. They will say people like me are being harsh and rigid. They want to stay and continue with the “dialogue.”
The final bit of ecumenical common sense is this: Continue Reading
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