Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Glad we are Roman Catholic now

The storm clouds in the Episcopal church have been building for years now, first with the acceptance of contraception, then the ordaining of female priests, and now with a openly gay "married" bishop. I converted to the Catholic faith from this Protestant denomination and feel that while the social aspects are somewhat lacking (those Anglicans do know how to give an elegant party), there is much more hope for reform within the Catholic Church. Certainly there are similarities liturgically and a "High Church" Anglican service is aestheticly more satisfying than a Novus Ordo Mass. However, I know that the Catholic faith alone contains the fullness of Truth. I am proud of these parishes for separating themselves from the Episcopalians, but would prefer them to jump the Tiber completely and come home.

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Bush, who has not made any secret of his Christian faith during his presidency, sometimes has attended St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington while he's in the area. But the Episcopal church as an organization is being torn into pieces these days because of the dispute over endorsing homosexual relationships.
... two of the leading Episcopal parishes in Virginia,
Truro Church in Fairfax and The Falls Church in Falls Church, whose members announced plans to leave the Episcopal denomination and place themselves under the leadership of Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria.
Akinola has described the church organization's widening acceptance of homosexual lifestyle choices as a "satanic" attack on the historic church organization.
The Episcopal denomination in the United States is a local division of the Anglican Church worldwide, and has been roundly condemned by many Anglican leaders in other parts of the world for its approval of an openly-homosexual bishop, V. Gene Robinson, as well as other related moves, in recent years.
"We are saddened when individuals decide they must leave the Episcopal Church, for we are diminished when any brother or sister departs from the community," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said in a statement.
Four Virginia congregations earlier announced their disaffiliation with the denomination, and several others have scheduled a vote. And one entire diocese, in Fresno, Calif., has begun the process of leaving the denomination.
The arguments going on now will be much more than spiritual, too, since under the Episcopal church structure, the denomination itself retains ownership of church buildings and property.

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