THE P RTAL
April 2017 Page 24
North and South Sheffield , Germany , Argentina & Malta
Geoffrey Kirk sees a common thread
Why should a member of the Ordinariate want to reflect on the recent Church of England fiasco over Sheffield ? Better leave other people ’ s tragedies alone . They do not concern us .
And yet … We are to an extent involved . To us the promises of ‘ inclusion ’ were extended , as well as to Philip North . Though , by the grace of God , we saw through them , we have as much to learn from the debacle as he has .
The lesson is this : that ethical a priori imperatives will brook no contradiction . The movement to ordain women was never a theological movement . It was always an issue of ‘ equality ’, ‘ inclusion ’ and ‘ human rights ’: virtue-signalling on the Richter scale . Consequently , it was never going to embrace those who opposed it . option in marriage discipline spreads from Malta , Germany and Argentina , not only will the unity of the Church be threatened and souls put at peril , but other developments will become credible and finally inevitable .
It is not some ‘ slippery slope ’ we should be wary of , but the inevitablist logic of ethical a priori arguments and the corrosive appeal to the sovereignty of the individual conscience .
Bishop North has identified the crisis as a pastoral crisis . He is right . How can a Church which cannot be reconciled with itself minister the gospel of reconciliation to others ? But the matter is more serious than that .
How can a church which outlaws the majority opinion of its own past expect to have its present doctrines respected or upheld ? The authority has passed from the tradition to the ambient culture , from the venerable to the inevitably transient .
The phrase which we have heard so often recently – ‘ the current teaching of the Church of England ’ – signifies so little and sacrifices so much .
The browbeating of Philip North makes Justin Welby ’ s words at the end of the recent Synod sound hollow and ineffectual . There will be no generous inclusion possible when gay marriage – the next ethical a priori imperative – finally gets its way .
For Catholics this is sombre news . The writing is on the wall for us too . If , as seems more than likely , local