The Anglican Tradition, especially the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA, has always touted itself as the bridge between Catholicism and Protestantism.
Traditionally, the Anglican Communion has had different styles of being “Church”, high, medium and low. Their high branch is more Catholic than the Catholic Church, at least liturgically. It allows for all kinds of high liturgy, to include what looks like the Tridentine Mass and in Latin, no less.
Then there is the medium Anglican expression, more like the Methodist Church or Presbyterian Church.
Then there is the low tradition, that appears more baptist and with keeping with the time, even non-denominational.
Yet all are a part of the big tent of the Anglican Communion and each “congregation” can live and let live. There is no oppression or suppression.
I think this will have to be the model of the Catholic Big Tent Church that Pope Francis desires, although he’ll have to be more open to the traditional movement for it actually to occur.
Our version will be a bridge between the orthodox and the heterodox and everyone in between. Maybe our version will be based upon the Ordinariate Model we already have for the Ordinariate but expanded.
We could have an SSPX and FSSP Ordinariate.
We could have the Church of anything goes Ordinariate, etc.
In other words, the Catholic Church will have to become more “congregational” and with a particular aspect of the Big Tent Circus, I mean, Church. So any given diocese could have different expressions of Catholicism and liturgy, dependent upon the pastoral council and what it desires, regardless of the bishop’s desire. He simply is a rubber stamp. And the same is true of the clergy, the parish hires their staff, to include the priest, and the bishop simply rubber stamps it.
And all of this could be taking place in the same parish complex!
I think this is a great compromise, no?
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No!
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