July 18, 2008
From Anglican to Catholic
Anyone who has studied sociology knows that one way to analyze a society or culture is to look at its basic institutions — family, economic, educational and religious structures.
All societies have had some form of religious institution, some belief in a higher power and purpose, in a moral structure, in a way to differentiate good and bad behavior. Ideally, the religious institution provides the moral and unwavering backdrop or umbrella under which the other institutions operate.
The importance of a strong religious compass can be seen with the recent activities in the Anglican Church. Not long ago the Synod of England approved the ordination of woman as bishops. Anglican traditionalists find this position completely incompatible with their beliefs. It’s something that may force many of them to leave their church and seek acceptance in the Roman Catholic Church.
Leaving one’s religion is not something to be taken lightly. Anglican Bishop Andrew Burnham eloquently said, "Leaving is not quite so easy as it sounds. You don’t become a Catholic, for instance, because of what is wrong with another denomination or faith. You become a Catholic because you accept that the Catholic Church is what she says she is and the Catholic faith is what it says it is."
These are incredibly powerful words, and they correctly describe the position faith should play in our lives.
Contrast them with the recent Pew Research results that showed the Catholic Church having the largest percentage loss of adherents among participants in a recent study.
Presumably, many of those leaving the Catholic Church did so because they found fault with it or found it not to be compatible with their own lifestyle.
If religion is to be the moral compass for people, it can’t be abandoned when its teachings become difficult or out of touch with other social values. On the other hand it may have to be abandoned when it changes its teachings, and leaves its followers adrift. Religions aren’t meant to conform to the lifestyles of their believers. Believers must let religion order their behavior. If they don’t, the value of religion in a society becomes moot.
Figures published in the Christmas Eve issue of London’s The Telegraph last year indicated that Sunday Mass attendance in England’s Catholic churches exceeded — barely — the number of Sunday worshippers at Anglican services. But anyone who wants to use those figures for Catholic triumphalism should remember the published numbers show declines for both denominations.
We should pray that not just those in the Anglican Communion who now wish to become Catholic but anyone considering Catholicism do so solely because they have come to believe in and accept the teachings of the Catholic Faith as the truth, not because in their "shopping" for a new religion they find Catholicism the most compatible of several alternatives.
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