The message says a lot. Once, there are still people in the Western world in whom de-Christianization is advancing at a disturbing pace, asking to be accepted into the fellowship of the Church. And they do it even when the confusion in the doctrine of faith, in pastoral care, and last but not least in the liturgy and scandals like those of the mainly homosexual abuse of minors filling the front pages of the media. The past year can be described as annus horribilis, and yet the number of neophytes is increasing, preparing for baptism for several months.
Some of the baptism candidates are converts, others have been without religion.
At a preparatory weekend, Bishop Alan Hopes of East Anglia, who is a convert himself and previously an Anglican pastor, said:
"It is your celebration of hope and trust in Jesus Christ, to whom you turn for your salvation."
Although there is no breakdown, it can be assumed that most of the converts come from the Church of England. The Anglicans are experiencing even more dramatic signs of dissolution through the decline of churchgoers and vocations than the Catholic Church.
If the decline continues to the same extent, it is calculated that the last Anglican will have died before the end of the century. Above all, the Anglican Church lives by its entanglement with the British monarchy. The magnificent ceremonies that take place in Canterbury on certain occasions of state and royal family, however, deceive beyond reality. The queen is not only the head of state, but also the head of the church, but a church without members.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: InfoVaticana
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
Not so long ago, it would be unthinkable for the Archbishop of Canterbury to be quoting agents of Rome, but times change. The two churches have been holding talks about possible reunion since 1970, but since the C of E admitted female vicars their paths have tended to diverge. Ten years ago, the Vatican made it easier for vicars to defect to Rome. Hundreds did so and now, by some estimates, one in ten Catholic priests is a former Anglican vicar.
ReplyDeleteI ask what he thinks about all this. ‘Who cares?’ he says. ‘I don’t mind about all that. Particularly if people go to Rome, which is such a source of inspiration. I had an email from a very old friend, an Anglican priest who has decided to go to Rome. I wrote back saying: how wonderful! As long as you are following your vocation, you are following Christ. It’s just wonderful. What we need is for people to be disciples of Jesus Christ. I don’t really care whether it’s the Church of England or Rome or the Orthodox or Pentecostals or the Lutherans or Baptists. They are faithful disciples of Christ.’
If you think this is an unusual thing for the Archbishop of Canterbury to say, then you don’t know Justin Welby. He is a bridge-builder, so keen on fostering greater unity amongst Christians that he has assembled in Lambeth Palace a group of young Christians of various denominations called the Community of St Anselm. ‘One of the prayers we say every morning is for the unity of the church. That seems to me to be much more important. God called the church into being. We, as human beings, have managed to mess that up and split it up.’
https://anglicanorumcoetibussociety.blog/2019/01/25/who-cares-if-anglicans-become-catholic-says-the-archbishop-of-canterbury/
Sorry to disappoint but this report is quite wrong. They are figures for the whole Archdiocese, not just Westminster Cathedral. They include candidates, ie those who have been baptised but not confirmed, including cradle Catholics who missed out on Confirmation. Incidentally most Protestant converts are not baptised, as the Church recognises baptism by non-Catholic ecclesial communities, provided the correct form and matter are used. And the figures are substantially down on what they were a few years ago, from memory little more than half of what they used to be. Not remotely large enough to make up for substantial attrition from apostasy.
ReplyDeleteAkshuyally
DeleteLast year there were four baptized at the cathedral.
DeleteWhere does it say anywhere in the article that the baptisms are exclusively for this parish?
I assumed that the cathedral wanted to baptize catechumens from the entire diocese at the cathedral. It’s done in other places. Why not Westminster?
Canon 212 Headline: "Chinese baptisms soar? Can the SSPX tell the difference between the fake chicom government francischurch and the true underground catholic church?" [one could ask the same of everyone (including FWalker) who continue to belong to francischurch, i.e. receive and advocate others receive 'sacraments' there]
ReplyDeleteChina Allows 50,000 Baptisms, Reversing a Slowdown
https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/china-allows-50000-baptisms-reversing-slowdown-46046?fbclid=IwAR18_myZmzc4eClqqDS3P0g6ApgsawdQ_Xgt5qG2JCgJd_rFSGXe_WbRQUY
Are you trying to say that baptisms connected by the Patriotic Church are invalid?
Delete