Must We Now Be Leery of Anglican Converts?
Once upon a time, the NEW OXFORD REVIEW was affiliated with Anglicanism, but in 1983 we crossed the Tiber, became Catholic. Since then, we’ve seen many Anglicans become Catholic, some even saying with the help of the NOR. Indeed, two of the distinguishing traits of the NOR have been its continuing interest in the Anglican debacle and its urging of orthodox and Catholic-minded Anglicans to “pope.”
We can’t think of a case in the past quarter century where an Anglican convert to Rome has not been an asset to the forces of orthodoxy in the Catholic Church. This is not to say that all are saints, but we can’t think of a case where an Anglican convert has become part of the liberal element in the Catholic Church. After all, what’s the point in being redundant? Why become a liberal Catholic when Anglicanism is already one of the varieties of liberal Catholicism?
But two items crossed our desk which have proven to be deeply disturbing, making us wonder if the Golden Age of Anglican converts might be coming to an end.
The Anglican Christian Challenge (March-Apribpsportingly reports that Canon Edward Norman, Chancellor of York Minster in Britain, “has said he will become a Roman Catholic…. after he retires….”
The Challenge also notes that this will be “the most high profile” conversion since Graham Leonard, the former Anglican Bishop of London, converted to Catholicism in 1992.
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