Catherine of Aragon – the Spanish princess married to Henry VIII, King of England – after having been repudiated by him, could well have exclaimed:
“our division is nothing less than a scandal,” and the Catholic world, upon discovering this monarch’s concubinage with Anne Boleyn could well exclaim:
“Your union is nothing less than a scandal!” The history of the ‘Anglican Church’ is a mixture of scandalous unions and divisions. And there is still scandal…The scandal of division, since many of them do not wish to recognize their errors and return to full communion with the Church, a return which was favored in every way by the Popes throughout almost five centuries.
There is also the
scandal of union, caused by those who wish to work with the Anglicans and receive them as if they had never broken with the true Church of Christ. What do historical facts and the Magisterium have to tell us about this delicate matter? From whom does this scandal proceed, and what does it consist of?
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| Francis |
The Lord’s question – ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ (Mk 9:33) – might also apply to us. When Jesus put this question to his disciples they were silent; they were ashamed, for they had been arguing about who was the greatest among them. We too feel ashamed when we ponder the distance between the Lord’s call and our meagre response. Beneath his merciful gaze, we cannot claim that our division is anything less than a scandal and an obstacle to our proclaiming the Gospel of salvation to the world. Our vision is often blurred by the cumulative burden of our divisions and our will is not always free of that human ambition which can accompany even our desire to preach the Gospel as the Lord commanded (cf. Mt 28:19). (Address to Justin Welby, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, June 16, 2014) (
more...)
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| ... and Catholics are right |
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