Sir, In her letter on Anglo-Catholicism (Mar 11) Rev. Sister Rosemary stated “Those of us who are of this persuasion are Catholic in doctrine, worship and spirituality” — in contrast to who?
Martin Luther believed himself and his followers to be Catholic. So did John Calvin; as did Thomas Cranmer, Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer and Jan Laski. So does the Reverend Ian Paisley, whether he admits it or not, but I assume Rev. Sister Rosemary will not be joining the next Orange Order march as a mark of Catholic solidarity. Catholic, despite what many people think, is not the opposite of Protestant.
The Church of England is Catholic, according to its own definition, as is every other Christian denomination founded on the Nicene and Apostolic Creeds. At issue is what the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church is and what that Church does; “Catholic” is a self-defined term. “Anglo-Catholics”, whether they belong to Forward in Faith, or the Society of Catholic Priests, ought to know that.
Reformed Churches, officially including the Church of England, have an understanding of the Church, its ministers, its sacraments and its role in salvation which is very different from that of the Roman and Orthodox Churches. Calling your ministers Bishops, Priests and Deacons, dressing them up in lovely robes and burning incense around them does not alter that fact; neither does valuing the sacraments or using traditional liturgy. Anyone who thinks that, female ordination aside, the Churches of England and Rome are theologically similar should think again, as John Henry Newman did, because they are not. It is an all-too-common Anglican mistake to assume that they are.
Aidan Hargitt
PhD Student (Reformation Studies and Anglicanism),
Dept. Of Theology and Religion,
University of Durham