tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post6804418411150123908..comments2023-11-24T06:43:02.286+00:00Comments on Aspicientes in Jesum: Lifeboats and cargoesPastor in Montehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05949810648656544072noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post-38040046953994654972010-06-27T18:32:36.966+01:002010-06-27T18:32:36.966+01:00Since Catholic Emancipation in 1829 surely thr mai...Since Catholic Emancipation in 1829 surely thr main division between Anglican clergymen and Catholic priests has been social? This persists in an invidious form that has little to do with education. Frankly, Anglican clergymen are often seen as cleaner and kinder than their Catholic counterparts. I have met Catholic priests who say they get on better with nonconformists than with the clergy of the Establishment because they are homelier, poorer, worse dressed and don't have side.<br /><br />Currently things may be different. Many modern Anglican clerics are badly educated and come from humbler backgrounds than their predecessors. The calibre is low. Current Anglican theological education seems to be in free fall. The main preoccupation in the Church of England seems to be shortage of money. Increasing numbers of ordinands are over forty, opting for the non-stipendiary ministry and their formation is superficial. These social factors may even things out between the largely proletarian Catholic clergy and their increasingly proletarian Anglican counterparts.<br /><br />But, frankly, the rank and file of Catholic secular clergy are an uncultivated bunch, the standard of preaching and celebration of Mass generally is low, the intellectual life is meaningless to most, the furnishing of presbyteries ranks among the most tasteless and squalid known to man, it is almost impossible to have a general conversation with many, reading seems to be unknown, social ease non-existent. <br /><br />While these factors are on the increase in the National Church and the standard of general education is in decline, there still remains a loose body of the educated that makes Anglican clergymen more sortable. With many Catholic priests I wonder where their philosophical and theological formation has gone, for you see little evidence of it in their lives, professional and otherwise.<br /><br />The Anglicanism of Barbara Pym may well now have largely disappeared but read her novels if you want to understand the differenceAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post-53927290578135006992010-06-26T00:14:18.305+01:002010-06-26T00:14:18.305+01:00I must observe that some of the Catholic priests t...I must observe that some of the Catholic priests turned out by minor Irish seminaries and exported to England in the 70s seem to be woefully inadequate in theological, moral, scriptural and liturgical understanding.motupropriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06261356560114077508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post-36043086459531801032010-06-24T19:04:11.395+01:002010-06-24T19:04:11.395+01:00You are, of course, Father, alarmingly accurate : ...You are, of course, Father, alarmingly accurate : but then an episcopate wedded to ideas of modernism, liberalism, and <i>laissez-faire</i> unorthodoxy hardly want a theologically literate clergy who are competent to challenge them, now do they ?Dominic Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14514722976964423091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post-40097260167794451922010-06-24T08:43:37.940+01:002010-06-24T08:43:37.940+01:00All too true, alas, Father.
Some liberal clergy e...All too true, alas, Father.<br /><br />Some liberal clergy even are seriously worried by the situation. Their allegiance is to an old-fashioned liberalism, that at least had a certain intellectual content.<br /><br />The other destructive trend is the rapid decay of liturgical worship. Traditionally, Anglicanism (of whatever sort) has always been liturgical (indeed it was over this point anything that the nonconformists first separated from the Church of England). This is no longer the case, and you don't need to be particularly "high church" to be worried by this development.<br /><br />An interesting consequence of these two trends (theological and liturgical) is that there are liberals who are wondering just how bad things will have to get before the Ordinariate starts to look like an attractive option. The answer is of course, "Not yet", but they don't rule out the possibility of a positive answer in the future.Sir Watkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02000106556898498656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post-54348785904270989392010-06-24T08:23:03.070+01:002010-06-24T08:23:03.070+01:00Whilst agreeing completely about the education of ...Whilst agreeing completely about the education of clergy I suspect the striken ship will not ultimately sink but shed some cargo and make some repairs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post-33823310016369716072010-06-23T21:39:47.820+01:002010-06-23T21:39:47.820+01:00No you are not being unduly harsh or satirical, al...No you are not being unduly harsh or satirical, although I particularly enjoyed the reference to cargo cults! But what you predict is already becoming true in many places - tragic in a tradition which once prided itself in having a scholarly parish clergy. Ichabod, I suppose.Michael Gollop https://www.blogger.com/profile/00076220518083389674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4807826652341078989.post-50843287033361845112010-06-23T19:43:19.030+01:002010-06-23T19:43:19.030+01:00Will Her Majesty please turn out the light when sh...Will Her Majesty please turn out the light when she leaves?gemoftheoceanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05521207668262592414noreply@blogger.com