At this address, there was previously a post the focus of which was misinterpreted by some and therefore, in its misinterpretation, caused some concern to some others. Our intention was not to open a discussion on orders, as any longstanding readers of this 'blog would have known. That’s not something we have ever done, it is not our place to do so being mere subjects of Christ's Church, holding in veneration her teachings as His own. Rather, our intention was to make a cheeky remark upon noticing the increasing prevalence of clerical scarlet in Anglican quarters: in substance, we were stealing a line often spoken by Anglo Catholics themselves when they tease Anglicans who would describe themselves as Affirming Catholics, being that a focus on vesture is “salvation by haberdashery alone”.
It was an in joke, but it was misunderstood and it has thus upset one or two friends as a result. We stand by what the post really said, but not by how it could be misinterpreted.
Proper dress v anglican affectation? True orders v null and utterly void?
ReplyDeleteI understand the anglican minister on the right is a "Queen's chaplain" but what are the other two messing around in scarlet fascias for?
Rumour has it that the scarlet fascias are to do with membership of a new group that some Anglican priests have started.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the red things are strange, but Catholic priests wear a lot of strange things too (some more than others). I don't think you have any right to complain about clerical clothing in the Church of England - no doubt you were happy for the Anglican clergy who used to minister to you to wear all sorts of outlandish things, so please calm down.
ReplyDeleteA more pertinent point is one that has plagued Anglo Catholics for a hundred years. We don't want to be ultramontane Roman Catholics, so why do some of us feel a need to dress like ultramontane Roman Catholics?
Personally, I'd rather we looked more at the common ground in terms of eg theology and opportunities for co-operation in charity work than at how we can share Roman fashion. That's the least important aspect of what we might have in common.
I am painfully aware of the rapidly increasing difficulty of holding the traditional Anglo Catholic line, and I accept that this picture is a reminder of that to those who wish to point it out. I can understand the temptation, and I'm happy for you that you have found your answer in Rome, but please don't rub it in, there are enough of my fellow Anglicans doing that already, and they're rather more skillful at it than you.
Anglicans these days seem to have no sense of humour !
ReplyDelete"Rumour has it that the scarlet fascias are to do with membership of a new group that some Anglican priests have started".
ReplyDeleteA new group?! Keep up!
If only it were new. Rather these chaps have joined the Sodality of the Precious Blood which is a branch of the Catholic League (who, incidentally, have supported the Ordinariate financially and declared it to be the culmination of their work). The Catholic League 2008 Constitution states that the Sodality is "an autonomous constituent section of the League for priest members who accept the obligation of celibacy and of the recitation of the Divine Office". The objects of the League are:
ReplyDeletea) The promotion of fellowship among Catholics
b) The union of all Christians with the Apostolic See of Rome
c) The spread of the Catholic Faith
d) The deepening of the Spiritual life
One would be within one's rights to ask in what way new members of the Sodality, which presumably holds the same objects and views as the League of which it is a part, might see these objects being fulfilled now that the parent organisation has claimed that her founding principle is accomplished.