A Church that renounces her Apostolic characteristic by Atila Sinke Guimaraes

NEWS: December 28, 2007

Bird’s Eye View of the News

Atila Sinke Guimarães

A CHURCH THAT RENOUNCES HER APOSTOLIC NOTE - In late October a significant part of the Anglican sect in Ireland called the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) asked to become Catholic. TAC says it gathers more than 400,000 Anglicans from 12 countries. Its members are offended by recent liberal steps of the general orientation of Anglicanism. To wit: its decision to ordain women as priests (1992); its decision to admit homosexual bishops (2003); its decision to open doors to women bishops (2005).

The petition to the Holy See to be accepted in the Catholic Church was decided by 60 bishops at the last plenary meeting of TAC in Portsmouth, England. According to their official statement, “The bishops and vicar-generals unanimously agreed to the text of a letter to the See of Rome seeking full, corporate, sacramental union” (Catholic News Agency, online edition, October 26, 2007). The letter was duly sent to Rome, where its reception was acknowledged.

Kasper only listens to progressivist talk. His ears are closed to those who want to enter the Catholic Church

On December 6, The Catholic Herald posted online an interview with a top Vatican official, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, in which he formally declared: “It is not our policy to bring that many Anglicans to Rome.” Further he affirmed: “We are on good terms with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and as much as we can we are helping him to keep the Anglican community together.”

In clear words, Kasper denied TAC’s request, even though, in typical Vatican style, the door was not completely closed.

It is astonishing that when such a quantity of people knocks on the door asking to convert and enter the Catholic Church, the Vatican sends them away. Card. Kasper affirms that “it is not our policy to bring that many Anglicans to Rome.” He should have an ardent zeal to bring not only the 400,000 members of TAC, but all the Anglicans to the Catholic Church. It is the only appropriate thing to do if he were a real Catholic. Any Catholic, especially if he is a Bishop and successor of the Apostles, has to spread the Catholic Faith everywhere. Indeed, Our Lord gave this mandate to the Apostles: “Go therefore, teach ye all nations: baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt 28:19).

This is what Pope Gregory the Great did when he ordered St. Augustine of Canterbury and his heroic monks to convert as many English pagans as possible to Catholicism. This is actually what St. Augustine did for the glory of God, the exaltation of Holy Mother Church and the institution of Christendom. This is what St. Patrick did with the pagans in Ireland, and St. Columba with the pagans in Scotland. Many other regions and nations of the world were converted by the saints coming from the British Isles. One may say that the golden pages of the history of those peoples were written after they became fully Catholic.

But what if St. Augustine, St. Patrick and St. Columba would have adopted the policy of not converting too many pagans? None of those glorious missionary actions would have been made, and most probably they would have lost their own faith and souls. This is what we are witnessing Walter Kasper do right now. He wants to maintain those 400,000 Anglicans in their heresy for the sake of the failed ecumenism of the Conciliar Church.

But is Card. Kasper the only one to blame for adopting this policy? No, other persons were involved in several other sad precedents. They reveal that not just a few Prelates were responsible for this policy, but a whole progressivist agenda has been carried out along the same lines.

Sad precedents

After the decision was made in 1992 to ordain women as priests by an organ representing the ensemble of Anglicans, a strong reaction arose among some of their bishops and priests. Those Anglicans asked to convert and be accepted into the Catholic Church.

In 1993 Cardinal Hume discouraged Anglicans from converting to the Church

However, in April 1993, Card. Basil Hume, then Archbishop of Westminster and Primate of England and Wales, discouraged the move with these words: “There is no doubt that we should not interrupt our ecumenical dialogue and amiable relations with the Church of England” (Avvenire-Catholica, April 20, 1993).

In 1996 the book The Roman Option by ex-Anglican priest William Oddie was published. It reports that several Catholic English Prelates placed serious obstacles to block the conversion of seven bishops, 700 priests and deacons who had publicly announced their decision to convert to Catholicism. The argument given by the Prelates was that the conversions would represent “an invasion of intolerance” that should be avoided.

In 2005 the same TAC that is in today’s news had already tried to convert and establish unity with Rome. Its primate, archbishop John Hepworth, told the press that the group asked to be accepted as an “Anglican Rite” in the Catholic Church. He expressly said: “My broad vision is to see the end of the Reformation of the 16th century” (National Catholic Register, December 24, 2005). That is to say, the primate of TAC was clearly tending toward rejecting its heresy and becoming fully Catholic. He also foresaw that his conversion could trigger the conversion of all Anglicans to the Catholic Faith, and was willing to do so.

But the Vatican did not accept the initiative and advised TAC “to grow in number, and build structures of dialogue with other churches” (ibid.). Again, it was a way to say, no.

A Church that is no longer Apostolic

Supporting Kasper, at left, is Benedict XVI, who continues the progressivist agenda of the conciliar Popes. Here, he receives Rowan Williams at the Vatican

When I was a child, in my catechism classes I learned that if by some absurdity the Catholic Church would loose one of her five distinctive notes – One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman – she would cease to be herself.

Now then, the policy that we are witnessing in the post-conciliar Church regarding the conversion of the Anglicans seems to frontally deny the Apostolicity of the Catholic Church. How can the Catholic Church be considered Apostolic if she refuses to convert those who desire to enter her bosom?

Actually, this policy shows that those Vatican Prelates have no intention of bringing people to the Catholic Faith. The Vatican leaders prefer for them to remain in their heresies as if they were good houses to live in, without any concern for the eternal salvation of their members.

It is really difficult to maintain that this Conciliar Church is still Catholic.

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