So, are the Anglicans thinking of joining the RCC? Would this mean they’d have to believe whatever the Pope declared as true? Why on earth would they do that!?

nnms -
It is a fervent hope that the two great Catholic traditions of the Western Church – Roman and Anglican – can someday again be in communion with one another. Not that one church would be subsumed into the other, but that we can all be as one around the table of the Supper of the Lord.
(It is a no-less fervent hope that the they, or either of them, may also be again in communion with the Eastern church, from whom we all have been separated since 1054.)
We came stunningly close in the early 60s, when Archbishop of Canterbury met with Paul VI in Rome, who gave him his episcopal ring. It was thought that the pallium can’t be far behind. But no – not yet. And given the recent troubles in Anglicanism, it looks like it isn’t going to happen for a while.
It is a shame and a disgrace that the followers of Jesus are as disunited as we are.

The virgin Mary the mother of Jesus was born into this sin laden world… Why would her beloved son and savior say: And I quote from the Holy Scriptures
“For All have sinned and fall short of the glory of GOD!” He did not say except for Mary and ME(Jesus Christ) Did not Jesus die for the lost and I believe that Mary was one who was counted as another lost soul for he he had to give atonement for the world’s sins! I may be mistaken but I believe that
HE died for every man, WOMAN(Mary) and child to atone for their sins or is the word(The Holy Bible) the biggest lie offered to mankind?? I Think NOT!

Catholics do NOT worship our Blessed Mother Mary. We give her due respect (hyper dulia) as the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ who we worship (latria)as God and Savior. There is a saying that: to those who refuse to believe no explanation would suffice and to those who do no explanation is needed.

Thanks, DeaconScott. If that happened would the Pope have the same relation to Anglicans as he does to Catholics?

Why is mary exaulted? Nobody talks about Albert Einstiens mother or Mother Theresas mother. It is just another example of absurd chatholic dogma like the claim of actual transmutation of the wafer and wine into “the body and blood” of christ at the “moment” of convocation. Or that Christ ment that Peter was “The rock” upon which the church would be built.Peter Denyed Christ three times.

I invite you all to the mysteries of the Eastern Church, especially the centuries-old conception of the Blessed Virgin as “Theotokos.” Get ready… get set… discuss!!

In response to Ed Edwards question – Mary is exalted in Catholic tradition because of her unique position in the Incarnation of God. Because she was specially called to be the “Theotokos,” the Mother of God, she is venerated in a special way (google hyperdulia for more info), and she is believed to have a special closeness to her Son. Her role as the Theotokos is not to be confused with the role of other mothers of prominent children. Mary is honored because she is the creature who bore her Creator.

How would they reconcile that Anglicans allow priests to marry and allow women to be priests? Hopefully that wouldn’t change. Opposition to those two things are what is hurting the Catholic Church today.

“Mary is honored because she is the creature who bore her Creator.”
Ah, not unlike the snake that ate itself. I enjoy science fiction’s time travel paradoxes; apparently fantasy has them also.
And the world owes quite a debt to Albert Einstein’s parents. But if only we could go back and do something about Hitler or his parents!

Dear Ed Edwards – I will assume that we agree that God is infinitely powerful, wise, merciful, and loving. Because of that, He could have chosen any one of an infinite number of ways to redeem fallen humanity.
God, according to His infinite wisdom and supreme will, chose ONE way to save humanity. My question to you is this, since God chose specifically to humble Himself and take on our flesh so as to redeem us through His own work on the Cross. Would that have been possible without Mary’s cooperation? Is the incarnation possible without Mary? Is the crucifixion, death, and ressurection of Jesus Christ possible without the incarnation?
By saying Yes to God Mary showed perfect obedience to His plan for salvation. Christ is fully God and fully Man. His perfect humanity comes from Mary. This does not give Mary undue credit or honor, because it all happened according to God’s will. Giving honor to Mary and recognizing her part in our salvation only makes clearer God’s plan of salvation and ultimately honors and glorifies our Creator.
God bless,
Andrew

Breaking News: Not all Anglicans comfortable with ANY doctrine or discipline purported by their “communion’s” magisterial persons. Nor are all Romans. The Anglican style is to accept that lack–mostly. The Roman style is for Papal and Concilliar teachings to be “official.” That does not mean “without any of the “faithful” (lay or clerical) dissenting.”
On the question of “all falling short of the glory of God,” the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception claims not that Mary “on her own,” or “by her nature” was conceived without the burden of sin, but that the Father applied the salvific action of His Son to the soul of Mary at the instant of its conception, thus “Immaculate Conception,” in order to make her body a “fit vessel” for the incarnation of His Only Begotten Son. This is the Roman rational for the doctrine. By it, Mary is the “first saved,” as she is in her Assumption the “first resurrected,” by those who assume that she did indeed die first. Roman has not spoken on this nuance.
Finally, differences on these two doctrine, I submit, are far from the “deal breakers” in the issues in contention between the Roman and Anglican Catholic Churches.

The doctrines are infallibly defined. Those who believe are Catholics. Those who refuse to believe, can never be Catholics. This discussion serves no purpose. There can be no unity or common ground and further dialogue is useless. Believe it or not, God the Father is quoted from the Coronation ceremony that made Mary Queen of Heaven: “We wish to concede nothing to man that does not pass through the hands of Mary. I would suggest the best way to God is to go through those same hands.

We’re all born without sin. We all die, and we all do the ashes to ashes, dust to dust thing. What’s to discuss? I consider myself a spritual person (certainly not by the standard of the RCC and most Chritian denominations to be sure), but I know what I believe because it makes sense. Just because something was written in a book that was authored by other men or because the pontiff at the time says it’s infallible doesn’t make it so. THINK! I’m sorry to rain on people’s parade, but have meaningful discussions on things that matter, like how to feed the hungry people of the world or how to end the wars and genocides taking place around the planet. This other stuff just doesn’t matter! You can respond to this post with quotes from scripture or tell me it’s true because the pope said it’s true, but that doesn’t make it true. I was raised in the Catholic Church, and I began questioning what I was taught about the time I first received the Eucharist. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant..for God’s sake (pun totally intended!)do some things that matter!

“Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant..for God’s sake (pun totally intended!)do some things that matter!Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant..for God’s sake (pun totally intended!)do some things that matter!”
Absolutely right. And while Christians don’t seem to exactly agree on what “original sin” is, they pretty much all agree we are born with it so it’s not something we do that causes us, according to their tale, to deserve to go to hell, it’s just the way the universe was created and since “God” is the creator he made a universe in which we all deserve to (depending on what you think hell is) fry forever or be apart from “God” forever or maybe hang around and drink beer forever talking with the more interesting people who ever lived and, who knows, the most nubile women.
Whatever version of hell you believe in, it seems odd “God” would design the universe that way and if hell is a place of torture it would take a truly cruel god totally unworthy of any worship or positive thought.
Why would anyone believe in such a god unless they had it poured into their brain as a kid. We do have choices in these matters!

nnms -
If Canterbury and Rome were in communion with one another, the relation between the two Archbishops (and their flocks) would be like the relation between the Patriarchs of the several Eastern Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian, Serbian, etc) and their flocks. Those churches all recognize the primacy of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (currently Bartholemew), but he does not have power over other Patriarchs (of Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow, etc.).
That same relationship exists now between bishops in the Anglican Communion. I don’t know if the East uses this Latin expression (I think they do), but we refer to The Archbishop of Canterbury as “Primus inter Pares:” “First among Equals.”
One of the characteristics which make the catholic churches (Roman, Anglican, Oriental) catholic (“universal”) is that they are “autocephalous” (“self-headed”) – which is much more than mere autonomy (“self-named”), and different from and more intimate than independence (“not-beneath-ness”).

“if hell is a place of torture it would take a truly cruel god totally unworthy of any worship or positive thought.”
What makes Hell what it is is that we all become fully aware of the awesomeness of God when we are judged, and the ultimate torture is now knowing that majesty but knowing we will be separated from it for eternity. Hell ultimately is the complete eternal absence of God.

NO WAY do I believe all this Mary stuff. All the Marian dogma has been entirely fabricated by the Catholic church. Her body ascended to heaven? Oh yeah? And no pope is infallible — another made-up dogma by a previous pope! And if Catholics deny worshipping Mary, I think it’s just a matter of semantics — what else could it be since they have all these Marian devotions? They ascribe so many special “powers” to her. If Jesus had wanted His mother to be venerated, He would have made that plain. He said NOTHING about His mother. I can’t believe that in this day and age some people actually believe that Mary has appeared in so many places, with so many “messages” to deliver; Our lady of this, our lady of that. And most of the time Mary “apparitions” are seen crying. I thought heaven was supposed to be a happy place. If it is, why is Mary always blatting?
I simply do NOT believe in fairy tales. Or things like bread and wine turning into flesh and blood. Pagans used to do that, look it up.

No discussion of Mary is complete without the stories from the Quran. We seem to forget how tied we are to the Moslem arm of our family.
I think the whole thing is interesting only because it works to include a more feminine aspect of the otherwise very masculine divine. Wisdom and Power are all part of the divine Whole (holy). There is within the Celtic traditions (from which comes much of what we know as “Christian”) a strong feminine aspect that finds a home with the Mary stories. For this I am intrigued.
However the Trinity is hard enough to swallow. Any attempt at a Tetrology is sure to choke some people. For those of us who appreciate the metaphoric value of the stories, this entire discussion is like arguing about the dangers of wizarding and witchery in the H. Potter saga.

Let’s face it folks, Mary got pregnant the “old fashion way”. She got “in the family way” with someone and to save face, Joseph had to marry her. Who knows, maybe Joe was actually the father, or she had a thing with someone else (while being engaged to Joe)and since she was supposed to marry Joe they just sped up the wedding to make JC legal. Wonder if he was a 7 pound premature baby?

pagansister,
You’ve got to read “Lamb” by Christopher Moore. I think you will appreciate it.
Now is this here Mary the contrary one or the Little Lamb one?
Folks, I got’ta break it to you – I really don;t think the birth happened the way it is told in any of the 3 (yes, 3 – read a Quran and learn) versions. There my not have even been a Mary or a Joseph. But it is sure a nice story – well, except for Herod and the dead babies part. And really, what toddler should be playing with incense or formaldehyde? But shepherds on the hills, singing angels, camels and kings – all good – for kids. Now we have to grow up some more and realize the story is about the hope of God awakening within us. We are all pregnant – even you big burly bearded guys in the red suits and goofy hats – you know who you are.

Thanks for the book tip, jestrfyl. Will see if I can find it.
Like your Mary story!