A New Missionary Martyr Spirit

Fr. Longenecker continues his reflections on Pope Benedict's initiative to Anglicans:

What is going to be required for Benedict XVI's Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans to succeed?

First and foremost, I believe that what is required is a 'paradigm shift' on the part of Anglicans. Very often Rome is perceived as ossified, inflexible, unimaginative and legalistic. Both Pope John Paul II ("Be generous to these men.") and now Pope Benedict XVI have been exactly the opposite. They have put together daring initiatives. They have stepped out in faith and made amazingly generous offers. They've taken risks for the unity of the Church. As the successor of Peter and the focus of unity this is part of their job and they have taken it very seriously.

Now we await the response of Anglicans. There are going to be huge difficulties for many, and this is where the paradigm shift is necessary. There are two seismic shifts in understanding that will be required for many. The first of these is a fresh missionary spirit. Instead of seeing themselves as members of an established, educated and well financed church Anglican clergy and people who hold to the historic faith will need to re-imagine themselves as primarily a missionary people...

Read the rest at his blog Standing on My Head.