Death of a good blog

When I first started blogging, I was supported and enjoyed supporting "The Continuum" blog. However, lately in the last few months it has become quite clear that rather than seeking for Unity, they have been looking more and more to define themselves as the true bastion of Anglicanism at the expense of charitable dialogue.

Fr Chadwick's blog gave me some vital information about one of the most recent posts on the Continuum entitled UK Kool Aid:

Well, I am most disappointed by Fr. Hart's most recent article "UK Kool Aid" criticising the recent decision of the English TAC to respond positively to the Pope's offer. I suppose this priest is inferring that we are drinking poison without the least prudence, as if we were buying a used car from an East-End second-hand motor dealer.

I do try not to be offended, but Fr Hart's latest invective has crossed my threshold and I have reluctantly decided to part associations with that blog. I have asked that their link to this blogling be removed and I have removed my link to theirs.

I have always proclaimed my pride in my Anglican heritage, but it seems to me that Fr Hart's contributions seek to turn Anglicanism into a pure religion, untainted by any "corruption" from Rome who is always regarded as the enemy. Ironically, I have always used Isaiah li.1, the verse that most non-Catholics use to dispute the Supremacy of the Holy Father, to examine the relationship of the Church of England and the Holy See.

I know that Fr Hart can theologically run rings around me, tear any argument of mine to shreds, but I seek something very simple - the Unity of all Christians in the Orthodox Catholic Faith. I see the Roman Catholic Church as been fundamental to that unity and I am delighted by the recent announcement, even if it falls through, because this means that something positive is happening in the field of unity.

As a layman, I have very little option but to trust my bishops who follow the Catholic Faith. I have recently met with a splendid bishop in the TAC who helped me enormously, and who told me to watch this space with regard to Roman-Anglican dialogue. I therefore trust that Rome's offer will be considered very carefully from both sides, and, because I know that they are rooted in the Love of God, I believe that this process will be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Naive? Let me be called Naive then! Personally, I would rather trust in the servants of God whom I believe, though fallible in humanity, carry with them the infallibility of the Church, than to barricade myself into one little corner and call that "Anglicanism".

Ave atque vale The Continuum