When I left the Church of England in 1992, I contrasted its think-whatever-you-want-to-think approach with the discipline of the Roman Church. Recently two separate and very different events threw that contrast into stark relief.
The first was the daft exhortation by the Very Reverend Kevin Holdsworth, the rector and provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, to Christians to pray that little Prince George might grow up to be gay. Presumably the prayer should read: “O Lord, grant unto this Thy child a union which can never produce children of its own.”
It is fair to add that this senior Anglican did eventually apologise, recognising that he should not have focused on the innocent child, but he still resolutely continues to promote the agenda of homosexual marriage. Yet the Cof E’s position is that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Why therefore is a senior cleric allowed to preach the contrary?
Presumably he is allowed to for the same reason that the fourth most senior bishop in the Church of England, the then Bishop of Durham, remained in post after questioning articles of the Creed.
It is not as if Rome has no dissident priests, but it does tend to require conformity from its hierarchy and senior clergy and to impose it fairly rigidly. Similarly it does not like its sacraments mocked or indeed taken lightly, which brings me to the second event and the announcement that Meghan Markle will be baptised and confirmed in the Cof E prior to her marriage to Prince Harry.
Now hang on a second, Justin Welby. Was Ms Markle already planning to avail herself of these sacraments because she had been converted to such beliefs, or is this just a matter of form now that she is marrying a royal? Surely that is a question which matters.
Presumably the Church of England did give some consideration to the previous marriage and divorce of the bride? That, however, almost pales into insignificance beside the question of baptism and confirmation, both of which sacraments require belief and commitment. Where is the evidence that Ms Markle would have adopted such procedures had she not been about to marry a prince of the realm?
Those who wish to convert to Catholicism undergo a pretty thorough examination. They must proclaim that everything the Church teaches is revealed by God. Their reception into the Church is not merely a matter of form, as well I know.
There is a difference between a broad church and a chaotic one, between a relaxed approach and a free-for-all, between respect for individual conscience and doctrinal anarchy. A wedding is holy matrimony, not just a gigantic fancy dress parade, and similarly baptism and confirmation are solemn professions of faith, not mere rituals.
The Church of England occupies a special position as the established church in this country and as such has a virtual monopoly on ceremonies of state. No Christian church, however, can be merely a place of pageantry: it must promote Christ and His teachings as its very raison d’etre. It must demand as well as give, chide as well as forgive, insist on truth as did Christ Himself. It is there for salvation, not mere convenience.
It is a quarter of a century since I left the Anglican Church for Rome, but it still hurts that the Cof E is so utterly at sea, its clergy well-nigh ungoverned and ungovernable. It is impossible to answer the question “What do the Anglicans think?” because the answer is “whatever they like”. My late uncle and brother were vicars as is now one of my nephews. My Anglican roots were deep and were not easily torn up but the soil became too arid.
It is not possible that two contradictory statements can be true. Either God exists or He does not. Belief in Christ matters or it does not. Sacraments are important or they are not. Marriage is restricted to a man and a woman or it is not. The Church teaches truth or it does not. Yet the Cof E operates on the basis that two contradictory statements can be equally valid. It is not only a theological but also a logical nonsense, and when a church refuses to be the arbiter it neglects its duty.
The role of the Church as the authority in such questions was one of the biggest factors in Newman’s conversion and today the divide between the Anglican and the Roman approaches has never been greater.
May God help the Church of England because it certainly shows little sign of helping itself either as an institution or as the collection of souls who make up its very being.
Ann Widdecombe is a novelist, broadcaster and former prisons minister
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