ROMAN-ANGLICAN UNION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXII, Issue 3, 17 May 1895, Page 17

ROMAN-ANGLICAN UNION.

jsSpl^IJE question of the Renuion of the Churches con4vlw' tinu-es to occupy much attention and cause no 'tyf&lpV tt^° B P ecu^ at i° n ' Unc is freqnently asked by \<s&jjgij^. Anglicans to give an opinion as to the probability of Roman-Anglican union. In a previous article j&ie«>r on this very subject we expressed the doubt that "^Z^ England, as a nation, wonld ever return to the bosom of Catholic unity. Many individuals, especially among the educated classes, every year make their submission to Rome, and enter the Church of their Fathers. It takes, however, a multitude of individuals to make a nation. And the multitude will not be moved until gross ignorance in respect to the doctrines of the Catholic Church has been removed. There are certain obstacles in the path. Some say'that confession is the great barrier. No doubt the practice presents difficulty, but the doctrine should not prove a great hindrance to the Anglican who has studied the Book of Common Prayer. In the order for the Visitation of the Kick, we find the following very decided instruction and formula of absolution :—: — "Here shall the side person be moved to make a special

confession of his sins if he feel his conscience troubled with any weight)/ matter. After which confession the priest shall absolve him (if he humbly and heartily desire it) after this Si rt.

" Uur Lord Jesus Christ, who hath ieft power to His Church to absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in Him ot His grrat morcy forgive thep thine offences. And by his authority, committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins. In the name of the Father, and of the Hon, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen."

Our readers wnl bent m mind that these words are found in the authorised Anglican pr,,ver-book, and not in a Catholic manual. We drew the attention of an Anglican to thorn a few days ago. The astonishment on his face showed that lie had paid little attention to what is contained in this Protestant order of the visitation of the sick. Possibly there is not a little nebulosity among Anglicans in tl.eir knowlnlgo of the doctrines of their own community. We must not, therefore, wonder at their widespread ignorance and misunderstanding of the position of the Catholic Church. What are the chief difficulties ? Some time ago in a leader on the second religious spring in Japan, we said that missionaries who entered the country thirty or forty years ago found, after the lapse of more than a century, without priests and without Sacraments, about thirty thousand people who still called themselves Christians and followers of the religion of St Fhancis Xaviku. A story, related by Cardinal Gibbons, illustrating our present subject, is found in the Japanese annals of the propagation of the Faith — " When a French squadron entered the Japanese port, a native Christian, named Peter, having learned that French priests were on board, put their faith to the test by proposing to them these three questions : " Are you followers of the Great Father in Rome ? Do you honour Mary, the Blessed Virgin ? Have you wives ? " The French priests having satisfied their interrogator on these points, and especially on the last, Petek and his companions fell at the missioners' feet, exclaiming with delight, ' Thanks, thanks ! Ihey are virgins and true disciples of our Apostle Francis.'' In the test questions of the Japanese Christian we I enumerated the great difficulties in the way of Roman- Ar can re-union. The Anglican portion of the English nai - will not submit to the supremacy of the Pope in spirit- ' matters. They will not accept the doctrine of the Infallibiht of the Pope, because they confound it with impeccability and so misunderstand the whole question. So intense is the prejudice that they cannot understand the real doctrine because they obstinately will not take the trouble to inquire what it means. We have heard the opinion expressed by an Anglican that if an Englishman were elevated to the Papacy in succession to Leo XIII. the movement towards re-union would find more favour in England. No doubt national pride would be touched, but *ye scarcely think that, even in such an event, the already great zeal of hierarchy and clergy would be appreciably quickened. What the English Protestant requres is instruction in Catholic belief. As long as he remains in his ignorance of the real meaning of Catholic doctrine the residence of the Pope in the English capital would avail but little. Devotion to Mahy, the Virgin Mother of God, is another great obstacle. Let the position of the Catholic Church be explained ever so often, the idea is still entertaiued by the niae-H of Protestants that we deify Mary, and give her worship analogous to the worship we give to the Almighty. England was once remarkable among Catholic nations for devotion to the Blessed Virgin. It is remarkable now among Protestant countries for the very opposite sentiment. It will take a long time to uproot erroneous cradleimbibed notions. Certainly, at the present day, the outlook is not promising, when we consider all the paganising elements which are at work to anti-Christianise, as well as anti-Catholicise both young and old. The celibacy of the clergy is a decided difficulty in the path of Anglican " priests " — especially if they have large families. The question must frequently arise in the mind of Bomeward clergymen : " What shall Ido if I become a Catholic ?" The answer is, " lose my good living, and run the risk of precarious hand-to-mouth existence for myself and all who are dear to me." It is suggested that already married Anglican clergymen be allowed, like the Greeks and other Orientals, to retain tiieir wives after ordination to the priesthood. The law of cekbacy is ecclesiastical, and the Pope might make concessions to a whole nation entering the fold, but as we do not share the optimistic view of those who hopefully speak