The Anglican Way is in crisis; the Anglican family is dysfunctional; friends have become enemies; and the Anglican Communion exhibits impaired communion within and between provinces. It seems that there is little time to resolve problems before there are permanent schisms, which will leave the once 38 member Communion fragmented into various (regional) parts. What I want to focus on is the sense that there is a general agreement that there is little time; that the matters causing division are urgent and need to be resolved, not in the distant future but today or the next day, certainly by next year.
Across the Tiber, as it were, is the massive Roman Catholic Church which has a variety of crises all going on at the same time, but where there is nothing like the same sense that they must be resolved immediately or else everything will fall apart. In fact, there is an amazing readiness to be patient and expect a resolution sometime in the future.
Why such a big contrast between the Anglican and the Roman Ways? Are not the issues they face similar – homosexual priests who are not celibate; liturgies whose content and quality of English leaves much to be desired; poor translations of ancient texts for worship; excessive emphasis upon human rights leading to rejection of church teaching in several important areas and so on?
The answer to the question lies in their respective polity, practice of authority, and organization.
Anglicans have a way of resolving problems that works only if everyone in all thirty-eight provinces thinks and behaves calmly, reasonably, patiently and charitably for most of the time. For each province, while committed to interdependence, is in fact self-governing and autonomous and thus not, by canon law, required to take into account what others are doing (a situation that the recent Windsor Report seeks to address and to “tighten up”). So, if any province goes ahead with a controversial innovation then this raises problems not only internally but also in relations with some or all of the other provinces – and this has been demonstrated recently with the innovations of women’s ordination and the blessing of homosexual unions. While there are the so-called “instruments of unity” in place, and while there is an assortment of commissions working on this and that, to facilitate understanding and communion, these varied collections of persons have no authority, except that of moral persuasion.
Thus because there is no sure way in the present, or likely in the near future, to resolve major problems a great sense of urgency descends upon all involved that they must work for resolution today, since tomorrow may be too late. The intense controversy over the consecration of Gene Robinson, a divorced, gay man with a male partner, to the office of bishop is tearing the Communion apart and thus there is heated frenzy to seek to find ways to hold the Communion or the major part of it together and find a way forward. As of now, these efforts seem to have achieved very little. And neither the Archbishop of Canterbury nor the Primates’ Meeting has a sufficient moral authority to cause the warring parties to find some common ground and come to peace with justice.
In contrast, the Roman Church has a central authority and is definitely a hierarchical Church. At its center is the Pope, whose face is usually one of the best known in the whole world. There are long established ways of deciding what is right and wrong, what is orthodoxy and heresy, what is permitted and what is not allowed, how to interpret the Bible, and how to go about resolving issues, problems and controversies. Now these ways and procedures are cumbersome and move slowly; but they do move and people know that eventually they will come to an authoritative word on the subject. Some people will get frustrated and others will get angry but most will recognize that they can hang on even in difficult circumstances for a right resolution will be forthcoming and that this will be the mind of the Church for all to accept.
The genius of the Anglican Way, including within itself both mutual interdependence and responsible autonomy/self-government for provinces, will never be able to handle major crises that spill over provincial borders well, if at all. It is suited to a situation where before a major problem arises it is widely shared, prayed over, and resolution sought in shared wisdom through mutual interdependence and then the right decision can be taken by the local province. It seems that the types of problems arising in the context of a Church situated within post-modernity in the West lead to such emotion and conflict that it is highly probable that the Anglican system will never be able to hand them – even if the recommendations of the Windsor Report which create more centralization are adopted by all.
For committed Anglicans the picture is depressing and provides few signs of encouragement, if one is looking for the maintenance of the Communion as it has been. Optimism is hardly an option but the God who has allowed the present crises to develop is the One who, should He choose, is able by His providence to change the direction of things and thereby cause affairs to look different quickly. Meanwhile, unless we decide to cross the Tiber, we all need to be open to doing all we can to pursue truth in love and orthodoxy in charity, always open to honest dialogue with those with whom we disagree.
petertoon@msn.com November 16, 2005
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