"Archbishop" of Canterbury Too Liberal for Anglicans,
But Welcomed by the Vatican

by Christopher A. Ferrara

        Just when you thought ecumenism could not become any more ridiculous, it does. In prior columns I have discussed the travesty of the Vatican’s embrace of "Archbishop" Rowan Williams, the new "Archbishop of Canterbury." Rowan favors the "ordination" of active homosexuals and women as Anglican "priests" and "bishops."

        The Vatican sent two emissaries — the flamingly heretical Cardinal Kasper and the go-along, get-along Cardinal Cormack Murphy O’Connor — to Canterbury Cathedral (which the Church of England stole from Rome) to attend the utterly absurd "coronation" of Rowan while protestants in black armbands protested the installation of this apostate loon. Sad to say, the Pope himself sent a telegram of congratulations to Mr. Rowan — and I do mean Mr. — stating "I am confident that with God's help, we can make progress along the path towards unity."

        Well, despite the Pope’s completely unfounded enthusiasm for Rowan, it seems the head Anglican cannot even make progress "along the path toward unity" with Anglicans, let alone with the one, true Church. As reported by CWNews.com on September 8, 2003, "the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, has been barred from conducting communion services in 350 Church of England parishes because of his support for women priests…"

        That’s right: the head of the "Church" of England is so heterodox he cannot even be tolerated in Anglican parishes. Even more laughable, the churches in which Rowan is not welcome by Anglicans "include nine in Archbishop Williams’ own diocese of Canterbury, including the church next to his palace in the city."

        This is rich. The "Archbishop" of Canterbury is considered a heretic by Anglicans who attend church next door to his palace. But this is the man who receives congratulatory telegrams from the Vatican; the man with whom the Pope and the Vatican apparatus propose to deal in the endless, worthless "ecumenical dialogue" of the past 40 years, whose fruits are the emergence of "prelates" like Rowan.

        CWNews notes that ever since the "coronation" of Rowan, the more traditional Anglican parishes have seen a steady growth in the number of parishioners. As one traditionalist Anglican cleric put it, "If bishops have decided unilaterally to go against 2,000 years of Christian tradition of an all-male priesthood by ordaining women, we have to put some clear blue water between us."

        So, the more sensible Anglican clerics are putting distance between themselves and the loony "Archbishop" of Canterbury, while the Vatican holds Rowan in a warm ecumenical embrace. If this is not the diabolical disorientation of the Church lamented by Sister Lucia of Fatima, then words have lost their meaning. Never before in Church history have we seen Rome itself in the grip of such lunacy. It is this lunacy that is undoubtedly foretold in the Third Secret of Fatima.