The first principle of the Ordinariate is then about Christian unity. St. Basil the Great, the Church’s greatest ecumenist, literally expended his life on the work of building bridges between orthodox brethren who shared a common faith, but who had become separated from one another in a Church badly fragmented by heresy and controversy. He taught that the work of Christian unity requires deliberate and ceaseless effort...St. Basil often talked with yearning about the archaia agape, the ancient love of the apostolic community, so rarely seen in the Church of his day. This love, he taught, is a visible sign that the Holy Spirit is indeed present and active, and it is absolutely essential for the health of the Church.

- Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Homily on the Occasion of his Formal Institution as Ordinary

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Spats

From Fr. Longenecker's blog:
Some of the criticism of the new Apostolic Constitution has been bitter. Liberal critics have attacked Pope Benedict for undermining ecumenical discussions. They say he has pulled the plug and insulted the Anglicans.

Why doesn't anyone point out that the Anglicans have been sabotaging the ecumenical effort since the mid 1970s. When the Episcopal Church of the USA was voting for women priests the Catholic Church said diplomatically, "Please don't do this as it will present a new obstacle on the path to Christian Unity." They went ahead. The list goes on. Virtually every five years since then there has been another scandal, another crisis vote, another issue and Holy Mother church has endured another slap in the face from the Anglicans...

Read the rest at Standing on My Head
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