Ecumenism, Sharing, and the Episcopal Bishop "consecration" in Anchorage

This post is written in light of the situation discussed in the previous post. It is in regards to the scheduled Episcopal consecration of a new bishop at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Anchorage. The presiding Bishop is slated as Katharine Schori.

Ecumenism is sometimes a double-edged sword, or more precisely a catch-22. While we as Catholics are called to seek Christian Unity through inter-faith dialogue and understanding, we often find ourselves in situations that require us to either compromise our belief in the teachings of the faith, or to argue against true Christian unity to support the doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Faith.

The Vatican wrote about this in 1993 in a document entitled:

PONTIFICIUM CONSILIUM AD CHRISTIANORUM UNITATEM FOVENDAM

The point of this document, which in english is entitled DIRECTORY FOR THE APPLICATION OF
PRINCIPLES AND NORMS ON ECUMENISM, is outlined in Section I, paragraph 9:

The ecumenical movement seeks to be a response to the gift of God's grace which calls all Christians to faith in the mystery of the Church according to the design of God who wishes to bring humanity to salvation and unity in Christ through the Holy Spirit. This movement calls them to the hope that the prayer of Jesus "that they all may be one" will be fully realized. It calls them to that charity which is the new commandment of Christ and the gift by which the Holy Spirit unites all believers. The Second Vatican Council clearly asked Catholics to reach out in love to all other Christians with a charity that desires and works actively to overcome in truth whatever divides them from one another. For the Council, Catholics are to act in hope and in prayer to promote Christian unity. They will be prompted and instructed by their faith in the mystery of the Church, and their ecumenical activity will be inspired and guided by a true understanding of the Church as "a sacrament or instrumental sign of intimate union with God, and of unity of the whole human race".

Many Catholics that have learned of the scheduled consecration are taken aback by it. There is a confusion and scandal that has arisen due to several unanswered questions. Not the least of them, relates to the bolded emphasis I made in the above quote.

How does this event, desire and work actively to overcome in truth what divides the Episcopals from us?

What divides us from the Episcopals that are lead by the likes of Ms. Schori is a deep chasm of flawed episcopal theology and belief. Women are not to be ordained as priests let alone bishops. Her status as a priest and even more so as a bishop is invalid, and therefore allowing her access to a Sacred and consecrated place such as a church does not seem to overcome in truth that which divides us. The Vatican document on Ecumenism goes further to explain when such "sharing of resources" should occur in paragraph #137:

137. Catholic churches are consecrated or blessed buildings which have an important theological and liturgical significance for the Catholic community. They are therefore generally reserved for Catholic worship. However, if priests, ministers or communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church do not have a place or the liturgical objects necessary for celebrating worthily their religious ceremonies, the diocesan Bishop may allow them the use of a church or a Catholic building and also lend them what may be necessary for their services. Under similar circumstances, permission may be given to them for interment or for the celebration of services at Catholic cemeteries.

The fact that the Catholic church is consecrated or blessed, is an important factor to pay attention to here. Not only that, but the Episcopal church does have a place to hold this, we assume that the reason for coming to Our Lady of Guadalupe is for space/attendance reasons. This is hardly a valid or adequate argument for allowing such an event to occur, especially in light of who would be conducting the ceremony. This event is bringing scandal to the faithful and the Church. If you do a google search you will see several forums and blogs that are discussing this with many of the conversations falling into angry concern over the fact that this event has seemingly been approved by someone within the Church. Our prayers are that a change of hearts and minds will occur, and that the appropriate decision to prevent this event from occurring in a Catholic church will be made.

In an effort to express our concerns we are currently working on a letter that we hope will be available for all to sign. Look for that sometime later today. If you would like to "sign" it, I request that you email me with your name, parish, and diocese. It is important that we make our request in a concentrated fashion, and in a respectful way.