I think that happened circa 1995. I really cannot recall the name, but I seem to recall that she joined up with some Poor Claires as a religous sister.

Again, I am compelled to raise the issue of charity. Whether Anglo-Catholics can come to an accord with Rome and the terms of such are valid topics of discussion - to include whether there are real stumbling blocks in bringing any such accord to fruition. At the bottom line, however, is the very real thought that there is a Christian imperative to seek unity for God's people.

Thus, dismissing out of hand the desire of peoples to come to such unity, generalizing Anglo-Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians - or any group of peoples, for that matter - fails the basic concepts of charity and love. Being exclusionary, dismissing the motives of others on premises so flimsy as third-hand observations and speculation, and presuming to know the minds and souls of others are likewise unacceptable start-points for discussion nor solid bases on which to continue it.

It would not be remiss to devote some of the energy that is being spent on disparaging this effort to praying for its success.

Many years,

Neil

AMEN!

Serge(YF)

I'm well aware of the general nature of the CofI, historically Evangelical and Broad, now unfortunately Liberal too. As a rule the further north you go, the lower you go (as far as borderline Zwinglian in parts of the Ulster Bible Belt.) I was simply wondering whether any isolated pockets of Anglo-Catholicism, against all the odds, exist in Ireland.

I'm aware of two "Anglo-Catholic' (Hiberno-Catholic?) in Dublin. I think that's about it.

Fr. Serge

There is, believe it or not, a High Church Anglican parish right in the centre of Belfast, appropriately enough in High Street. It is dedicated to St George and boasts a beautiful panel sized icon of the saint, painted by an iconographer who worked for the Archbishop of Athens in the 1960s. It also has two more recently commissioned icons, one of Christ Pantocrator and one of Our Lady of Walsingham, painted in Byzantine style. But because it's Northern Ireland, it also has the Chair of King William of Orange

The parish website is here:

http://www.stgeorges.connor.anglican.org/index.htm

Doesn't sound very hopeful that this will happen:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pope-rides-to-rowans-rescue-868695.html

"In his first public comments on the Lambeth Conference, Pope Benedict XVI has warned Anglican leaders that they must find a "mature" and faithful way of avoiding "schism". On top of this the Pope has:

* Sent three cardinals to the conference in Canterbury, including one of his top aides from the Vatican, to act as personal intermediaries between the two churches;

* Let it be known that he does not support the defection of conservative Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church;

* Given behind-the-scenes support to the Archbishop of Canterbury's attempts to hold together the conservative and liberal wings of the Anglican Church, including at face-to-face meetings in Rome."

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/com...lit-868696.html

Patience, patience. We shall see.

Fr. Serge

One of the things that I most admire about this forum is the respect for opposing viewpoints and the ability to discuss issues without personal attacks. I am distressed about the use if the word "priestess" referring to women who have been ordained in the Anglican churches. I understand why the word "priestess" is used by those who believe that a woman could never become a priest. (Yes, I get it!) But this word is offensive, even insulting, to some members of this forum. This is like referring to all Israelis as "Zionists" or all Byzantine Catholics as "Uniates." The use of this word, in my opinion, is beneath the level of discourse appropriate to this forum. I would urge all members to continue open and frank discussion, but to use more neutral and inoffensive language when referring to those with whom they disagree.

raustin:

Actually it's standard English--like actor/actress, executor/executrix. But I see your point. We might say that the use of the word "priest" to refer to Anglican ministers is off when we consider what the Apostolic Churches mean by the term and what it means in the Anglican Communion. We refer to the Liturgy as being the anamnesis (re-presentation) of the Sacrifice of Calvary in an unbloody manner while the Anglican Communion has disavowed that for the most part--with the exception, perhaps, of some Anglo-Catholics.

Then we have Anglicans who would say--and I had one cleric say this to me outright--that they have ordained many women but have no women priests. Another made the remark that one can no more ordain a woman a priest than one can ordain a brick a priest, but I was allowing him to vent privately like the first.

Gotta be careful when the topic turns to this issue since there are still many who oppose this in the strongest terms. Those long, slow processions to cemeteries are often a wonderful learning experience and a look into another's ecclesial life. When we think we've got problems and discord, we only have to listen to others to know we're all in the same boat.

BOB

Again, "priestess" is simply standard English - not more, not less. I fail to grasp the objection.

Fr. Serge

I would think that "priestette" is far more derogatory.

As would be "priestinia" and "Sister Wanda B. Priest."

All of these are best avoided.

:-) FDD

One wonders why people would take offense at a word like "priestess." This is standard English. It suggests that there is some reality that they are trying to deny by playing with words.

To call a female Anglican minister a priest is to imply that sex is incidental to priesthood rather than integral to it. This is, I think, the fundamental issue.

The safest approach is simply to refer to Anglican clergy as ministers.

Perhaps what we are failing to grasp is that many Episcopalians refer, for the most part, to their "ministers" as priests, regardless of their gender. If you don't believe they have orders anyway, who is it hurting?

Common courtesy usually teaches that one refers to the clergy of another church in terms that they use, even if you don't agree with it or have a different understanding of that term. Me thinks that many who talk here would talk a different story in front of these peoples faces.

One could, of course, use the fine English word "cleric", which has been in use for centuries and does not indicate the gender of the cleric in question.

Fr. Serge