THE POPE TALKS LIKE A CATHOLIC: Why That's Good News to Protestants

VirtueOnline has a good piece by the Rev. Canon J. Gary L'Hommedieu , Canon for Pastoral Care at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando, (an Episcopalian.)
It must be painful to see a Church whose leaders are not afraid of a Hard Saying, when your own denomination is self-destructing through your leaders willingness to appease the world, and thereby, its prince.
We must all pray for a true ecumenism, serious efforts at which have not yet been seen coming from the Church (it is not unlike what happened in liturgical reform -- the need was observed, the ideas were expressed, the groundwork was laid ; and then the loudest, most impatient, most energetic of the troops marched off to battle in the wrong direction. As a result, an astounding numbers of "Christians", were the simple question put to them, "Do you not desire for all of mankind to come to know and believe in and follow Jesus Christ?" would give the wrong answer.)

Last week the Vatican released a document [that] has upset many Protestants, and in particular those who have labored in the ecumenical movement...

Ecumenists lament that the clock has been turned back and that the Roman Church must not be serious about its prior overtures toward mutual acceptance by Christian bodies. ... Apparently the ecumenicists forget who broke up the party to begin with.


...To me it just sounds like the Pope is talking and acting like a Roman Catholic.

...Protestants, including Anglicans, believe that theirs are true churches every bit as much as the Roman Church .... It's as if all churches and all theological systems are entitled to an equal claim to truth...

It doesn't trouble them that the same God can be found to contradict, even denounce, Himself.

...What I found refreshing about the Pope's repackaging of the old ecclesiology is the fact that it was not the product of a church diplomatic corps. It is not a contrived doctrine that aims only at hitting the right buttons succeeding only in avoiding offense. Such is the daily fare of ecumenists. The Vatican statement has a purpose that goes beyond validating the members of a bureaucracy. Perhaps the era of ecumenism is over. If it is, good riddance. The limited potential for religion by committee is by now very clear. Ecumenical groups can be very effective at doing public service projects. These do not require the lofty interventions of experts. Christians who understand themselves very differently can still do real good for their local communities. At the same time there is no need to pretend that the finer points of doctrine are unimportant -- or worse, that mutually exclusive doctrines are really the same.

...If Protestant bodies could only clarify their own distinctive positions, without fear of criticism by non-constituents, then they too would be ready to compete honestly and convincingly in the marketplace of ideas. The Roman Catholic Church is apparently ready to enter its own future with eyes open. Unfortunately the historic Protestant churches cannot say the same thing.


Read the whole piece:
http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=6347