tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11611854.post994617518295957000..comments2023-12-25T10:39:26.102-06:00Comments on Timotheos Prologizes: Keeping hope aliveFr Timothy Matkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10794558184459092532noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11611854.post-579364400035035152007-02-22T15:08:00.000-06:002007-02-22T15:08:00.000-06:00We are actually in agreement as to the time frame ...We are actually in agreement as to the time frame required for whatever changes may come down the road. But as to the problematic exceptions: “There will be a lot of problematic exceptions to the ease of reunion (problems of succession, women's ordination, divorced and remarried couples, divergent moral standards)”, I really don’t see time healing these differences.<BR/><BR/>History teaches that the “genie doesn’t like being put back in the bottle”. Slavery was once condoned. That is gone and hopefully forever. Women were treated as chattel. They had no real rights. They were treated as property. I don’t see women every willingly giving up on hard fought rights. Homosexuality has come out of the closet. The governments of the world are now protecting us. We will not go back into hiding. We will no longer accept the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. <BR/><BR/>If there is agreement on these issues, it will be an agreement to be different. Whereas I think that the Anglican Communion could eventually accept this I really don’t see Rome signing on. I do love the Roman Church, I just no longer believe that they love me. Sad, but true.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05623709712119761741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11611854.post-73199117256015473342007-02-22T14:20:00.000-06:002007-02-22T14:20:00.000-06:00You make a good point about the individual issues ...You make a good point about the individual issues (or the issues of individuals) which will be a part of the process if unity. There will be a lot of problematic exceptions to the ease of reunion (problems of succession, women's ordination, divorced and remarried couples, divergent moral standards).<BR/><BR/>That's part of the reason that I think the process will need a century or so. Each generation will have to make its own adjustments and live into the process anew. That's why we need action on a long-term kind of strategy. If the call to unity is only seen as immediate, it tends to be viewed as an "all or nothing" solution. Practical concerns tend to push that toward the "nothing" outcome.Fr Timothy Matkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10794558184459092532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11611854.post-53705798937753423382007-02-21T10:27:00.000-06:002007-02-21T10:27:00.000-06:00I know that this will appeal to some, possibly th...I know that this will appeal to some, possibly the conservative faction in TEC and of course many Roman Catholics. But I have to tell you that it scares me. I have fairly recently left the Roman Church and become Episcopal. The reason I left had to do with homosexuality. This tortured me for years before I made the decision to leave. I have nothing but fond memories for the RC church. I grew up in it and went to school in it. But for one in my position it is neither friendly nor nurturing. I was going to have to ask myself certain questions at the altar and if I couldn’t respond with the current teachings of the RC church, I would have to deny myself participation in the Eucharist. I would effectively have had to estrange myself from God to stay as part of the Church. After years of soul searching I came to believe that Jesus would not have asked me to do this. Jesus is love and to deny someone access to him is not. The RC church will also look askance at having women as priests.. My rector is a woman and she is probably one of the finest priests I have ever met. The rules that are put in place by Rome, are just that, rules. Sometimes the rules change and that is the nature of rules. I don’t believe in the infallibility of the Pope. That was just another rule created in 1870 to stop the questioning of the people. The bottom line, is that I am happy where I am and would not like to see it change. I know that the two churches can work together for common humanitarian and spiritual goals, but there are some areas where they will never come back together. I left the RC church because of rules I could no longer live with. Three years ago I tried to take my own life over this. I survived and began to change. I can’t go back. I don’t ask Roman Catholics to believe what I believe. I only ask to be left alone to worship God in my way. I also don’t appreciate being told that I am damned to hell. So if anybody is busily tapping away at the keyboard to do that, please understand that I totally ignore responses like that. I hope that the two Churches can continue doing Gods work, but I really don’t see them coming together under one head. Thank you all for listening.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05623709712119761741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11611854.post-78243062737961246212007-02-21T10:15:00.000-06:002007-02-21T10:15:00.000-06:00Father, go to the Anglican Communion News Service ...Father, go to the Anglican Communion News Service site and you will find a "clarification" indicating the Times article is a "serious exaggeration." Apparently the new report simply summarizes the last thirty years of ARCIC and says little or nothing new. Too bad.Texanglican (R.W. Foster+)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07490925636491370254noreply@blogger.com