On The Roman Option


NO DOUBT, YOU'VE all heard that Rome is offering a home for Anglicans -- both in and out of communion with Canterbury. The offer: submit to the Roman Catholic Church and you can keep your thoroughly Anglican ways, everything from the Prayer Book to married Priests. This is an open invitation to whole communities who are dissatisfied with the current state of Anglicanism. Whether that dissatisfaction be the conversation over Women Bishops (in the C of E), the consecration of +Gene Robinson (in TEC), or anything else. Of course, what I find ironic about all of this is that the Anglo-Catholic parishes this is intended to reach probably don't use the Prayer Book and are more "Roman" in style and practice than the Roman Catholic St. So-and-So's down the street. Anyway, there is much commentary on a variety of blogs (just visit those in the sidebar) that I feel I have nothing more to offer in terms of understanding this action. That is, except my personal feelings.

SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT, many have come up to me and asked me if I have plans on taking the Papal offer. Friends from my Parish said they thought of me immediately when the announcement was made and my not-so-crypto-Papism. When I was back at my Alma Mater for a rehearsal on Wednesday, I was stopped by a few friends asking me what I was going to do.

OF COURSE, THEY are not without recourse for thinking that. I once wrote a serious of posts entitled Don't Be Shocked If You End Up Back Home, which detailed my spiritual journey to almost becoming Roman Catholic. It would have happened, if AO hadn't offered me to go to Church with him back in '06 (Thanks, Andy!). The real clincher, so to speak, was hearing ++Katherine. Anglicanism was the way that I could practice the Catholic faith once delivered to the Apostles and Saints without the Dogma and Pontiff of the Roman Church.

I AM A self-titled Anglo-Catholic (of the Prayer Book variety). I pray the Rosary, believe in the Transubstantiation and genuflect-to-my-heart's-content (bow to the altar, knee to the tabernacle) without disagreement. I make statements that I think that all should be facing East and that Latin is of high priority, though it is not Our Lady's native tongue (ie. the Queen's English). The Daily Office and the Mass are the bread-and-butter of my prayer life; I own a copy of the Anglican Breviary and know how to use it; The St Augustine's Prayer Book is always nearby. The Sacrament of Reconcliation at least once a month. I follow the calendar and I always set a goal to fast on Fridays. I personally prefer that the Eucharist be done with as much solemnity and holy awe as possible: to look and smell more like a Roman Mass than the Protestant equivalent. Oh yeah, and don't call me Protestant -- that pisses me off.

LIKE MY OTHER friends and fellow parishioners, you're probably asking yourself, "Is he going to take the Roman option?" Let me see if I can adequately answer this:

1. Obviously, I could easily become Roman without much change in my day-to-day life. But, I'm not Roman for a reason: the Anglican Ethos. In a few ways like our Roman mother (and in so many ways unlike her), Anglicanism is the home of a broad Catholicity. Within Anglicanism, we have and celebrate everything from the highest-of-the-high to the lowest-of-the-low and everything in between, celebrating all streams as a valid and authentic expression of the faith once delivered to the Apostles and Saints.
2. That's because, at least to me, the faith once delivered to the Apostles and Saints consists not in whether or not one prays the Rosary or engages the Confessional, but the faith once delivered is the Creeds. As long as a person professes that same faith in Creeds, I trust their own judgment (in union with their Bishop, spiritual director, and community) in how to best live out the faith they profess.
3. As far as I can tell, Rome defines Catholicity as specifically as possible. Everything from stances on contraception to disbelief in the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady are all grounds for excommunication (though seldom enforced). Yes, the Creeds are there, but there is so much more that is required to be a member in good standing. Faith, as I understand the Roman view, seems to be found in specific ideologies, not in the theology of the Church. While I agree with many of their ideologies, I do not and will not use those ideologies as a litmus test to see who is a truer Christian.

To me, therefore, becoming under the allegiance of the Roman Pontiff and their dogma (even though I believe most of it) would mean that I would give up this broad catholicity that Anglicanism so wonderfully incarnates. In short: in becoming Roman Catholic, I would give up being Catholic. Do I have my problems with The Episcopal Church? Yes, but in my opinion, these are not creedal issues; therfore, I do not see them requiring that I fly elsewhere.

FINALLY: ONE OF the things I loved about working at Atlanta's Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter is that the hot topics of Anglican politics never came up. I mean, they never came up (the one time that it did, a member said, "If we get kicked out of the Anglican Communion, will someone email us?"). My theory: the reason why it never came up was because we were too damn busy feeding, serving, praying with and loving those who were in need. We didn't have the time to care. And it taught me a very important lesson.

THEREFORE, MY SUGGESTION to my Anglo-Catholic brethren in the US, next time you think about +Gene Robinson or Women Bishops or whatever it is that makes you mad, get up and do something (this applies to my progressive brethren, too). Polish the pews. Straighten the Prayer Books. Visit the lonely. Feed someone who is hungry. Sweep the front walk of the Church. Put your anger and confusion to benefit the Church. Or you know, you could actually do the Anglican thing and pray. Next time you want to complain about the state of whatever, take you and your fellow complainers, go before the Most Blessed Sacrament and pray for whatever/whoever it is that makes you angry. I think the dialogue would get a whole lot more Christlike.