Anglican Roundup - Liberals Get Smug While Conservatives Move Toward Rome

(First Things) - Such an event was Benedict XVI’s landmark announcement in October 2009 offering members of the Anglican Communion a fast track into the Catholic Church. Although commentators quickly dubbed this unexpected overture a “gambit,” what it truly exhibits are the characteristics of a move known in chess as a “brilliancy,” an unforeseen bold stroke that stunningly transforms the game. In the short run, knowledgeable people agree, this brilliancy of Benedict’s may not seem to amount to much. Some 1000 Church of England priests may convert and some 300 parishes turn over to Rome—figures that, while significant when measured against the dwindling numbers of practicing Anglicans there, are nonetheless mere drops in the Vatican’s bucket.

But in the longer run—say, over the coming decades—Rome’s move looks consequential in another way. It is the latest and most dramatic example of how orthodoxy, rather than dissent, seems once again to have taken the driver’s seat of Christianity. Every traditionalist who joins the long and already illustrious history of reconversion to the Catholic Church just tips the religious balance more toward Rome. This further weakens a religious communion battered from within by decades of intra-Anglican culture wars. Meanwhile, the progressives left behind may well find the exodus of their adversaries a Pyrrhic victory. How will they possibly make peace with the real majority of Anglicans today—the churches in Africa, whose leaders have repeatedly denounced the Communion’s abandonment of traditional teachings? Questions like these are why a few commentators now speak seriously about something that only recently seemed unthinkable: whether the end of the Anglican Communion itself might now be in sight....

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(Telegraph) - [Anglican] Archbishop Sentamu: “If people genuinely realise that they want to be Roman Catholic, they should convert properly, and go through catechesis and be made proper Catholics. This kind of creation [the Apostolic Constitution] — well, all I can say is, we wish them every blessing and may the Lord encourage them. But as far as I am concerned, if I was really, genuinely wanting to convert, I wouldn’t go into an ordinariate. I would actually go into catechesis and become a truly converted Roman Catholic and be accepted.”

William Crawley: “So those Anglicans who take advantage of the Apostolic Constitution, you’re saying, would not be ‘proper Catholics’?”

Archbishop Sentamu: “Well, I mean, I’d be very surprised –”

William Crawley: “What would they be if they are not ‘proper Catholics’?”

Archbishop Sentamu: “They would be what they are: an ordinariate of the Vatican.”

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(Telegraph) - Ruth Gledhill has been leaked the Bishop of Manchester’s statement to the General Synod today, in which he will reveal that the Synod committee revising the legislation is not offering opponents of women bishops alternative oversight. If they behave themselves, they can keep women bishops out of their churches but, er, that’s it. At least, that’s how I read his long statement, though in the C of E you can never be sure of anything. The Anglo-Catholics were shafted by the full Synod last summer; the revision committee has now confirmed this, apparently; and any last-minute rescue by the full Synod seems jolly unlikely...

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(The Montreal Gazette) - All of the 104 archbishops of Canterbury throughout history have been men, beginning more than 1,400 years ago with Saint Augustine.

Bishop Williams said Monday many Church of England members "maybe felt alienated or grieved" by the vote to permit female bishops, but others "felt elated by the step forward that had been taken."

In her comments, the 54-year-old Bishop Matthews said "it would be difficult to say the timeline" for when a woman might become the archbishop of Canterbury, but noted one-third of Anglican provinces have now given permission for women to become bishops.

Archdeacon Michael Pollesel, general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada, said yesterday it's conceivable a Canadian woman -- perhaps even Bishop Matthews -- could become archbishop of Canterbury one day.

"It would be possible for a female Canadian Anglican to be appointed to a bishop's post in England, since the Church of England has recently voted to ordain female bishops," he said...

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: I realize there are some conservatives within the Anglican Communion who still have some fight left in them, and won't jump ship until they know they've done everything that can possibly be done to prevent it's sinking. That being said the bow of the ship is already under water, so now might be a good time to to get into a lifeboat. I admire the valiant effort of those who won't give up until the last moment, but please, why drag this out any longer than it needs to be? The HMS Canterbury is sinking, and there's nothing anyone can do to save her now.

Whitehouse Burried In Snow - Global Warming? - God Must Have A Sense Of Humor

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: After being buried in 30 inches (2 1/2 feet) of snow, Washington DC braces for another 20 inches! Global warming? God must have a sense of humor. So the proponents of global warming in Washington DC are finally getting what they deserve. Meanwhile more evidence of scientific fraud has been uncovered among those so-called "experts" who have been lying to the world about global temperatures and hiding important data that doesn't jive with their half baked theories.

Winter Storm Warning

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
922 PM EST MON FEB 8 2010

DCZ001-MDZ003>007-009>011-013-014-VAZ042-053-054-WVZ053-091030-
/O.CON.KLWX.WS.W.0007.100209T1700Z-100211T0000Z/
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA-WASHINGTON-FREDERICK MD-CARROLL-
NORTHERN BALTIMORE-HARFORD-MONTGOMERY-HOWARD-SOUTHERN BALTIMORE-
PRINCE GEORGES-ANNE ARUNDEL-LOUDOUN-FAIRFAX-
ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA-JEFFERSON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WASHINGTON...HAGERSTOWN...FREDERICK...
WESTMINSTER...GAITHERSBURG...COLUMBIA...BALTIMORE...ANNAPOLIS...
LEESBURG...FAIRFAX...ALEXANDRIA...FALLS CHURCH...CHARLES TOWN
922 PM EST MON FEB 8 2010

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO
7 PM EST WEDNESDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TUESDAY TO
7 PM EST WEDNESDAY.

* PRECIPITATION TYPE...SNOW.

* ACCUMULATIONS...10 TO 20 INCHES.

* TIMING...MID-AFTERNOON TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

* TEMPERATURES...TEMPERATURES NEAR FREEZING AT THE ONSET TUESDAY
AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES WILL DROP INTO THE UPPER 20S TUESDAY
NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.

* WINDS...LIGHT SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS TUESDAY BECOMING
NORTHWESTERLY 15 TO 25 MPH WEDNESDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. THE COMBINATION OF SNOW AND STRONG WINDS
WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS.

USCCB Needs To Clean House

(PewSitter.Com) - An exec with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, has deep ties with a national group that promotes abortion and homosexual rights according to a report released Monday.

Top USCCB executive John Carr held simultaneous leadership roles, creating a conflict of interest, with the USCCB and the radical Center for Community Change.

"The closer we look at the Bishops Conference [staff and programs], the more we find a systemic pattern of cooperation with evil," said Michael Hichborn, American Life League’s lead researcher into the USCCB scandal. "The CCC has lodged itself into the highest places of power in the USCCB while working to promote abortion and homosexuality."

John Carr is the USCCB executive director of the Department of Justice Peace and Human Development which oversees the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). He has been employed by the USCCB since 1987....

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Every second that goes by without a thorough house cleaning of the USCCB is a scandal to the U.S. Catholic Church. The news coming out of the USCCB these days is an abomination! How can this be? The nation's top Roman Catholic organization is found to fund ACORN? The same organization now has top executives with ties to militant pro-abortion and pro-homosexuality groups?

It's time for the bishops of the USCCB to come to terms with a cold hard reality. The organization has been infiltrated. It's very Catholic (even Christian) identity has been compromised. It has become the home to radicals. As defenders of the gospel, it is time for the individual bishops, of each individual diocese, to do an inventory of the policies and positions of the USCCB. It is time for them to decide where they are in union with the USCCB and where they are not, then make this inventory public for any Catholic laymen to see. It is time for the individual bishops to stop waiting on the USCCB to tell them what to do. It is time for the individual bishops to start acting like bishops! and shepherding the flock entrusted to them by God and the Holy See.

As for the USCCB, it is time to downsize and clean house. A recognition of who and what they really are would be helpful too. They are NOT a "little vatican" in Washington DC. They're authority is extremely limited - virtually nonexistent without the consent of individual bishops. Then an inventory needs to be taken of their own staff and any associations they might have. Furthermore, the USCCB needs to do an inventory of its own policies and positions to eliminate those which are not in 100% agreement with the Holy See. Finally, the USCCB needs to apply the principle of subsidiarity to itself! It is categorically IMMORAL for the USCCB to engage in any governing action which the individual bishops are perfectly capable of doing for themselves.

Lastly, if the USCCB will not do these things, if it will not do what is necessary to reform itself, then the Holy See of Rome must step in to either regulate or dismantle the organization. The spiritual safety of Catholic Americans is in danger! and it is incumbent on the Holy See to rescue them if neither the USCCB, nor individual bishops, will do what is necessary to rescue themselves.

Germany Guilty Of Human Rights Violations

(HSLDA) - In a case with international ramifications, Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman granted the political asylum application of a German homeschooling family. The Romeikes are Christians from Bissinggen, Germany, who fled persecution in August 2008 to seek political asylum in the United States. The request was granted January 26 after a hearing was held in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 21.

“We can’t expect every country to follow our constitution,” said Judge Burman. “The world might be a better place if it did. However, the rights being violated here are basic human rights that no country has a right to violate...

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Homeschooling is a basic human right of parents and their children, recognized as such by the Catholic Church and the United States of America. The law that permits the German government to persecute homeschooling families is an old law, left on the books since the Nazi era, now being used by the so-called "progressives" against conservative Christian families. Sadly, Germany is not the only European country participating in this type of persecution against families because of their deeply held religious beliefs on education. This Nazi-styled type of persecution is spreading across the European continent. Even more sadly, there are some people here within the United States who also hold to this very unAmerican point of view. Thankfully, these radicals have so far been kept in check by states rights and the United States legal system.

'The Catholic Knight' would like to issue this clarion call to all German homeschooling families that an oasis of safety awaits you in the United States of America. My own State of Missouri is particularly friendly toward homeschooling and has a sizable German settlement along the Missouri River - going back over a hundred years - popularly called the "Rhine of the West" or the "Missouri Rhineland." I've visited there several times. It is beautiful country nestled among vineyards and rolling hills just north of the Ozark Mountians.

This call is also extended to homeschooling families all over Europe. Come to America and be protected from the extremist oppression of the New Europe. The following is a list of the most homeschooling friendly states, where homeschooling parents are not even legally obligated to inform the government that they are homeschooling their children. More legal information can be found at HSLDA.

1. Alaska
2. Idaho
3. Texas
4. Oklahoma
5. Missouri
6. Illinois
7. Indiana
8. Michigan
9. Connecticut
10. New Jersey

No less than fourteen additional states have extremely low regulation for homeschooling families. Twenty states have moderate regulation, and six states have high regulation. In no American state is homeschooling illegal - not a single one. The United States government recognizes homeschooling as a fundamental human right based on religious freedom.

Barack Obama Is Still Anti-Catholic

(CNS News) - Harry Knox, who serves on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is standing by a statement he made last March that Pope Benedict XVI is “hurting people in the name of Jesus.”

When asked on Tuesday whether he still holds that view that the pope "is hurting people in the name of Jesus," Knox said, “I do.”...

read full story here

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: So did Harry Knox get a rap on the knuckles for his statement last March that the pope is "hurting people in the name of Jesus?" No, of course not. Knox is just as adamant as ever, nearly one year after the initial remark was made.

Now don't give me this garbage about Obama not knowing, or Obama in silent disagreement with Knox. We all know that's not true. No Whitehouse staffer, especially one so close to Obama, can make a scandalous statement like that and it not get back to the president. Obama knows exactly what Knox is saying, and his lack of corrective action over nearly a year, demonstrates beyond the shadow of a doubt that Obama approves of Harry Knox's statement that the pope is "hurting people in the name of Jesus."

This is all part of the master plan you see. Obama is the most clever anti-Catholic to ever hold the office of president. I say that because there have been others, but most of them were smart enough to keep quiet about their anti-Catholic sentiments. Obama on the other hand flaunts them, but he does so in the most clever way. He does it by appointing the worst Catholics (those who oppose Church teaching) to the highest offices in the land. Then he sends out sharks like Harry to drop a bomb once in a while, while Obama meets with the pope and receives awards from Catholic universities. It's a clever strategy of deception. He smiles and greets the pope with his right hand, while he reaches around and stabs the pope in the back with his left hand.

The following is an article I wrote last June. I've reprinted it here, and added a few short comments in red, because it is so applicable to current events...

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: President Barack Hussein Obama is the most anti-Catholic politician in the history of the United States. His anti-Catholicism is subtle and clever. He doesn't seek to defame or disparage the Catholic Church (much). He doesn't even seek to undermine or persecute it (yet). No. His strategy is simple and cunning. Instead, he intentionally exploits the weaknesses of the U.S. Catholic Church with the intent of dividing it, fracturing it, and rendering it impotent.

It's nothing personal. It's just business. Obama doesn't necessarily hate Catholics. Nor does he necessarily hate Catholicism. I'm sure he would have no problem shaking the pope's hand, or speaking at Catholic universities (oh wait! he's already done that). It's just that Catholicism gets in the way of his agenda you see.

It's no secret anymore that Barack Obama is a socialist and a fascist (actually I think Marxist is the best description of him). Every policy decision he's made thus far has been in the trend of nationalization of private industry (the definition of socialism), or to use government bailouts to control business according to his agenda (the definition of fascism). Since the Republicans have been whipped, the media is now in his back pocket, and Evangelicals are losing their cohesiveness, Obama has virtually no one left to stop him. Except that is for one thing. It's the only entity that has effectively fought and defeated both socialism and fascism (i.e. various forms of Marxism) on three continents. That entity is the Catholic Church. Ever since the rise of Marxist ideology in the early 20th century, every single Catholic pope from then until now has directly challenged, opposed and condemned it and the leaders behind it. Pope John Paul II's defeat of communism in Poland is an example of just how dangerous the Catholic Church can be to Obama's agenda. All the pope would need to do is publicly condemn Obama's presidency and the tide would begin to turn on Obama overnight, as he would be forced to reckon with the wrath of the nation's sixty-seven-million Roman Catholics. When asked to choose between the pope and the president, even the most moderate Catholic would find a canonically condemned administration difficult to support. Obama knows that as his agenda becomes more clear and obvious to the world, this day of reckoning will come with the Catholic Church.

Therefore, his strategy is to divide and conquer. He's doing it by appointing as many Cafeteria Catholics as possible to high ranking government positions. These so-called "Catholics," who are marginal at best, have already made their choice to support various Leftist and Marxist agendas over the teachings of the Church anyway. Many of them subscribe to abortion-on-demand, a legal position utterly condemned by the Catholic Church. Likewise, many of them subscribe to Liberation Theology, a socialist ideology also condemned by the Catholic Church. These ideologies fall right in line with Obama's socialist and fascist (Marxist) agenda. By appointing these so-called "Catholics" to high ranking positions within the government, while simultaneously speaking at as many Catholic engagements as possible, Barack Obama can use his alleged "pro-Catholic record" as ammunition against any future attacks by the Vatican or U.S. Catholic bishops. Simultaneously, he's exploiting the U.S. Catholic Church's biggest weakness, which is the American bishops' poor catechises and lax discipline of the faithful for the last 40 years. We could say the U.S. Catholic bishops have dug their own grave, and now they must lie in it. Indeed they have, and that is exactly what Obama is banking on. With the clergy already scandalized by sex-abuse and cover-up, (a phenomenon that only affected 5% of the clergy by the way), many U.S. Catholics are already frustrated with the leadership of the U.S. Church and question it's moral authority. Surly this history will be drudged up in any direct confrontation between the Church and the Whitehouse. Obama is banking that with his supposed "pro-Catholic record," (in appointment of officers) and the frustration many Catholics already have with the hierarchy, he will be able to split the Church among the laity. Since only about half of all U.S. Catholics regularly practice the faith anyway, he's betting he can easily pull the other half over to his side and get them to actively work against (even protest) the Catholic hierarchy in his favor when the time is right. Indeed, nothing would serve Obama better than an all out split (a formal schism) within the U.S. Catholic Church during his administration, and you can bet that's exactly what he and his cronies are working toward.

So it's time for U.S. Catholics to pull together and remember the work of Pope John Paul II against the communists in Poland. By organizing the Polish Church with solidarity, John Paul II was able to bring the socialists to their knees in that country. There was nothing John Paul II taught that was any different than what previous pontiffs had taught about socialism. There is nothing different between what John Paul II taught about Catholic Social Justice, and what the current Pope Benedict XVI teaches about it. From the early 20th century, to this very day, the teaching of the popes on communism, socialism, and fascism has been clear and consistent. If we are truly Catholic, then we know what that teaching is. If for some reason you find yourself as a Catholic who doesn't know, you had better do some reading and find out, before it's too late. As for those of us who do know, let us be bold and remember the words of Pope John Paul II upon his election to the papacy - "Do not be afraid!"

Our Lady of Good Success

Our Lady’s Prophecies About the Twentieth Century

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Our Lady of Good Success appeared in Quito, Ecuador to a Spanish nun whose little-known but extraordinary life has a direct connection with our days.

The Pope’s...

“...infallibility will be declared a dogma of Faith by the same Pope chosen to proclaim the dogma of the mystery of my Immaculate Conception. He will be persecuted and imprisoned in the Vatican through the usurpation of the Pontifical States and through the malice, envy, and avarice of an earthly monarch.”

“Unbridled passions will give way to a total corruption of customs because Satan will reign through the Masonic sects, targeting the children in particular to insure general corruption.

Unhappy, the children of those times! Seldom will they receive the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. As for the sacrament of Penance, they will confess only while attending Catholic schools, which the devil will do his utmost to destroy by means of persons in authority.

“The same will occur with Holy Communion. Oh, how it hurts me to tell you that there will be many and enormous public and hidden sacrileges!

“In those times, the sacrament of Extreme Unction will be largely ignored.… Many will die without receiving it, being thereby deprived of innumerable graces, consolation, and strength in the great leap from time to eternity.

“The sacrament of Matrimony, which symbolizes the union of Christ with the Church, will be thoroughly attacked and profaned. Masonry, then reigning, will implement iniquitous laws aimed at extinguishing this sacrament. They will make it easy for all to live in sin, thus multiplying the birth of illegitimate children without the Church’s blessing…

“Secular education will contribute to a scarcity of priestly and religious vocations."

“The holy sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised, for in this both the Church and God Himself are oppressed and reviled, since He is represented by His priests.

The devil will work to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every way, working with baneful cunning to destroy the spirit of their vocation and corrupting many. Those who will thus scandalize the Christian flock will bring upon all priests the hatred of bad Christians and the enemies of the One, Holy, Roman Catholic, and Apostolic Church. This apparent triumph of Satan will cause enormous suffering to the good pastors of the Church...and to the Supreme Pastor and Vicar of Christ on earth who, a prisoner in the Vatican, will shed secret and bitter tears in the presence of God Our Lord, asking for light, sanctity, and perfection for all the clergy of the world, to whom he is King and Father.”

“Unhappy times will come wherein those who should fearlessly defend the rights of the Church will instead, blinded despite the light, give their hand to the Church’s enemies and do their bidding. But when [evil] seems triumphant and when authority abuses its power, committing all manner of injustice and oppressing the weak, their ruin shall be near. They will fall and crash to the ground.

“Then will the Church, joyful and triumphant like a young girl, reawaken and be comfortably cradled in the arms of my most dear and elect son of those times. If he lends an ear to the inspirations of grace – one of which will be the reading of these great mercies that my Son and I have had toward you – we shall fill him with graces and very special gifts and will make him great on earth and much greater in Heaven. There we have reserved a precious seat for him because, heedless of men, he will have fought for truth and ceaselessly defended the rights of the Church, deserving to be called ‘martyr.’”

“At the end of the nineteenth century and throughout a great part of the twentieth, many heresies will be propagated in these lands.…

“The small number of souls who will secretly safeguard the treasure of Faith and virtues will suffer a cruel, unspeakable, and long martyrdom. Many will descend to their graves through the violence of suffering and will be counted among the martyrs who sacrificed themselves for the country and the Church.

“To be delivered from the slavery of these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my Son has destined for this restoration will need great will-power, perseverance, courage, and confidence in God. To try the faith and trust of these just ones, there will be times when all will seem lost and paralyzed. It will then be the happy beginning of the complete restoration….

“In those times the atmosphere will be saturated with the spirit of impurity which, like a filthy sea, will engulf the streets and public places with incredible license…Innocence will scarcely be found in children, or modesty in women.

“He who should speak seasonably will remain silent.

“There shall be scarcely any virgin souls in the world. The delicate flower of virginity will seek refuge in the cloisters.…Without virginity, fire from heaven will be needed to purify these lands.…

“Sects, having permeated all social classes, will find ways of introducing themselves into the very heart of homes to corrupt the innocence of children. The children’s hearts will be dainty morsels to regale the devil.…

“Religious communities will remain to sustain the Church and work with courage for the salvation of souls.… The secular clergy will fall far short of what is expected of them because they will not pursue their sacred duty. Losing the divine compass, they will stray from the way of priestly ministry mapped out for them by God and will become devoted to money, seeking it too earnestly.

“Pray constantly, implore tirelessly, and weep bitter tears in the seclusion of your heart, beseeching the Eucharistic Heart of my most holy Son to take pity on His ministers and to end as soon as possible these unhappy times by sending to His Church the Prelate who shall restore the spirit of her priests”

Sola Scriptura Leads To Moral Relativism

THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Okay it's time for "The Catholic Knight" to stir the pot again, so here it goes. I'm going to make the assertion that Martin Luther's heretical doctrine of Sola Scriptura is largely responsible for the moral relativism we see in the secular world today.

Here is the problem. Go to any Protestant church, particularly one of the newer Evangelical nondenominational types. There you will be taught that there is no religious authority outside of the Bible. Now aside from the fact that this assertion is not only unscriptural, but also illogical, it is nevertheless the foundation of most Protestant organizations in the world today. Now the premise that there is no religious authority outside of the Bible inevitably leads people to believe that the Holy Spirit of God is directly responsible for their own interpretation of the Bible. Talk to a good number of Evangelicals and that is exactly what they'll tell you. They'll say they don't need the Catholic Church, or any church organization, to tell them what the Scriptures mean, because they can read the Scriptures for themselves, and the Holy Spirit will automatically lead them to the right interpretation. If we go through Protestant history, we will see that this kind of attitude has been present since the very beginning - even with Martin Luther himself.

Now as we span the panorama of Protestant history, we quickly see where this attitude has led. It's led to division after division after division. What happens is this. Two Protestant pastors come up with mutually contradiction interpretations of some Scripture passage(s). Both believe they are inspired by the Holy Spirit to the correct interpretation and the other is wrong. They can't both be right, and because they both believe there is no religious authority outside the Bible, there is no one to judge between them. So they end up going their separate ways, each taking part of their congregation with them. This is how denominations and affiliations are created. In the 16th century, there were only a few Protestant denominations which could be counted on one hand. Today there are literally thousands. Some say tens of thousands.

Now once we have accepted the notion that the Holy Spirit leads people to contradicting theology because there is no religious authority outside the Bible, it's only a small step to say that the Holy Spirit leads people to contradicting morality for the same reason. Indeed, this is EXACTLY what has happened. In the early 20th century, all Christian denominations agreed that artificial contraception (birth control) was morally wrong and sinful. That changed in 1930 when the Protestant Anglican Communion challenged this Christian moral standard. That was the first major crack in the dam. It wasn't long before others developed. By the end of the 20th century, less than 500 years after Luther's Sola Scriptura revolution, nearly all Christian denominations accepted artificial contraception as morally licit. That's not all though. Many of them accepted divorce too. It gets worse. Some even accepted homosexuality as "part of God's plan" even going to the point of celebrating homosexuality, blessing gay-marriages and ordaining homosexuals to the clergy. Though it seems inconceivable, some of these Protestant denominations even went so far as to say that abortion (a type of infanticide) was morally acceptable under certain circumstances.

Western Christianity had long been divided on theological issues, but now for the first time in modern history, it was divided on moral issues as well. This opened the door of Pandora's Box. With Western Christianity divided on moral issues, it became increasingly easy for morally destructive groups (militant feminists and homosexuals) to begin taking over society, each one insisting that morality is relative, and some of them using Sola Scriptura is their religious excuse.

Catholics need to understand this. One thing really does lead to another, even if it takes centuries. Luther's heresy has played a huge role in bringing Western civilization to its present point of moral decay. Protestants are stuck in a quandary. Those who are honest with themselves will have to reexamine Sola Scriptura in light of what's happened over these last 500 years, and in context with the ancient Christian tradition of episcopal authority. Sadly, most will not. Most will ignore the last 500 years of history, and the moral disaster that has resulted from it. Most will continue to repeat the mantra that there is no religious authority outside the Bible. They will treat Sola Scriptura as the highest authority. There is of course a small problem with that. Sola Scriptura is not found in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it actually say the Bible is the only religious authority. Therefore Sola Scriptura is itself an extra-Biblical tradition! Which means that when Protestants fall back on it, they are falling back on a man-made tradition that is not found in the Bible. So when they say there is no authority outside the Bible, that very notion itself is an authority outside of the Bible. It's a contradiction and an oxymoron. Sadly, few of them will ever see that.

As we approach the 500th anniversary of Sola Scriptura (2020), let us reflect on the doctrinal chaos and moral relativism it has made a significant contribution toward. Granted, I will concede that a large portion of our moral decay has been the product of Godless atheism and Marxism. Some of it has been the result of Humanism, both secular and religious. Nevertheless, Sola Scriptura has taken it's toll and made it's contribution - a significant contribution I might add.

Anglican Exodus To Catholic Church Begins

(National Catholic Register) - As 2010 gets under way, many in the Church are anxious to see how last year’s apostolic constitution inviting disaffected Anglicans into the Catholic Church will play out.

While the expectation is that more significant numbers of Anglicans in Britain, Africa and India will accept the offer outlined in Anglicanorum Coetibus, observers say that the decree will impact traditional Anglicans in the United States, as well.

The Traditional Anglican Communion includes approximately 400,000 Anglicans worldwide. The American province, known as the Anglican Church in America, includes approximately 5,200 communicants in four dioceses. Over the next few months, all of the provinces will be holding synods to put forward the question of how they will be responding to the apostolic constitution.

“The expectation is that our general synod will accept the Holy Father’s offer,” said Christian Campbell, senior warden of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Orlando, Fla., and a member of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Church in America’s Diocese of the Eastern United States. “It is not so much a question of whether or not we desire to avail ourselves of the offer — inasmuch as it is a direct and generous response to our appeal to the Holy See. The question now is how the apostolic constitution is to be implemented. We have practical concerns, and we are presently working with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to resolve any outstanding questions.”

Campbell said that the first Traditional Anglican Communion provinces will be entering the Catholic Church within the next six months.

One example of a parish that stands ready to enter en masse is suburban Philadelphia’s Church of the Good Shepherd, an “Anglo-Catholic” parish.

“We’ve been praying for this daily for two years,” said Bishop David Moyer of the Traditional Anglican Communion. Moyer was one of 38 bishops in the communion who signed a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and petitioned Pope Benedict XVI in October 2007 for a way for disaffected Anglicans to be united with Rome.

“The majority of our members will be on board with this,” said Father Aaron Bayles, assistant pastor at Good Shepherd. The parish has approximately 400 members who could come into the Catholic Church...

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The Anglican exodus to the Catholic Church actually began about thirty years ago, with the Anglican Use Pastoral Provision established by Pope John Paul II. Those few pioneering spirits created the foundation and framework for the new Apostolic Constitution on Anglican Ordiariates decreed by Pope Benedict XVI last year (November 2009). Credible rumor has it that the first ordinaries will be installed within six months from now (sometime between April and September of 2010). Once this happens the mass exodus begins.

First in line will be the provinces of the Traditional Anglican Communion, a denomination of some 400,000 members. We can then expect the Anglican Use parishes (already in full communion with Rome) to be incorporated together with them. This will be the primary foundation of the new Anglican "Rite" Catholicism. Once established we will start to see serious consideration from Forward in Faith, and we can also expect to see a second look from the recently formed Anglican Church in North America or at least some of it's member parishes and diocese. Simultaneously, we can expect the final remnants those still within The Episcopal Church USA to muster the courage to at least consider their options. We shouldn't expect a mass exodus of U.S. Episcopalians, because the majority of those who had any Catholic sense about them fled years ago. There are of course a few stragglers who have not yet been personally effected by the changes in the Anglican Communion, and may have found a modestly conservative parish for refuge, but their days are numbered. The Episcopal Church is currently engaged in a war of attrition, and it's the feminist lesbigay progressives who have the upper hand. What remains of the conservatives is scattered, demoralized and dwindling in numbers.

The Episcopal Church USA is not going to get any better. The same goes for the Church of England and the Anglican Church of Canada. It's over. The liberal feminist lesbigay innovations have now become part of the establishment and cannot be undone. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Conservative Episcopalians cannot rationally expect the situation to improve in The Episcopal Church USA. To expect that, or even hope for it at this point, is insanity -- by the very definition of the word. As time passes The Episcopal Church will only become more progressive (liberal) if that is even possible. It won't be long before militant feminism and acceptance of homosexuality will be required teaching in The Episcopal Church USA and those who refuse to conform to that will be considered "sinners" in need of repentance. Mark my words, that day will come.

Anglicanism might have died out completely this way, were it not for the intervention of Pope John Paul II with the Anglican Use Pastoral Provision, and Pope Benedict XVI with the Apostolic Constitution for Anglican Ordinariates. Now the contrast has been made clear. There are two forms of Anglicanism: Protestant Anglicanism and Catholic Anglicanism. Of course Catholic Anglicanism (or Anglican Catholicism) is now fully embraced by the Holy See of Rome, while Protestant Anglicanism is the ward of the Archbishop of Canterbury. I realize there are many in the Protestant Anglican Communion who would like to consider themselves "catholic," but catholicity doesn't work that way. Participating in a catholic style liturgy isn't what makes you "catholic." Just because your priest wears vestments and mimics catholic ritual doesn't make you "catholic" either. Even being under the authority of a man who wears a pointed hat doesn't make you "catholic." What makes you "catholic" is fidelity to the historic theological and moral teachings of the Catholic Church. You don't have to always follow them perfectly, but you do have to try, and you can never ever change them to accommodate your sinful habits or unnatural lifestyle.