The Portal Archive October 2012 | Page 7

THE P
RTAL

Edward Knapp Fisher by Fr Keith Robinson

October 2012 Page 7

Anglican Luminary

This month I have chosen a bishop , scholar , teacher and eccumenist , who would , I believe , have been very sympathetic to the Ordinariate and enthusiastic about the Year of Faith . Many readers may remember him . Edward Knapp Fisher was born in 1915 into a family which , centuries before , had given birth to St John Fisher , Bishop of Rochester .
After gaining a First in Jurisprudence at Oxford in 1936 , Edward went to train for the Ministry at Wells Theological College . Ordained in 1940 , he was soon to serve as a Naval Chaplain ( as his father had been before him ) in the Far East . In 1946 he became Chaplain of Cuddesdon Theological College , then Chaplain of St John ’ s College Cambridge , before returning to Cuddesdon in 1952 as its Principal . In 1960 he was elected Bishop of Pretoria in South Africa , a vast diocese in an oppressed land , where he helped to found St Alban ’ s College in 1963 .
Canon and Archdeacon of Westminster
In 1975 Edwa rd Knapp Fisher returned to England to become Canon and Archdeacon of Westminster , and served from 1982 until his retirement in 1987 as Sub-Dean of the Abbey . He retired to Chichester where , after further years of fruitful ministry , he died in February 2003 .
ARCIC
He was a notorious disciplinarian in the college as well as in the confessional . The obituary in the Telegraph reported : “ A student observed filling a hot water bottle on a cold winter ’ s night would be invited to explain his apparent weakness ”. His belief and devotional practice were firmly Anglo-catholic . In 1967 he was appointed to the preparatory commission for the exciting new discussions between Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians which took their formal form under the acronym ARCIC in 1969 . ( Yes , traditional Anglo-catholics were actually appointed to ARCIC in those days !) This led to him being on terms of friendship with many prominent Catholics , including Pope Paul VI .
the Church needs . . . a universal primate
Among the subjects of agreement that these theologians came to , and which they published in 1981 , were Eucharistic doctrine , Ministry and Ordination and Authority in the Church . On the latter the so-called Final Report says , “ We can now affirm that the Church needs . . . a universal primate as servant and focus of visible unity in truth and love .
The only see which makes any claim to universal primacy and which has exercised and still exercises such episcope is the see of Rome , the city where Peter and Paul died . It seems appropriate that in any future union a universal primacy such as has been described should be held by that see .” Yes the General Synod and the Lambeth Conference both actually endorsed this statement !
greatly inspired by these agreements
Many Anglicans were greatly inspired by these agreements , and viewed them as a sound basis for proceeding towards what might well have become a mutual recognition of ministries . The mistake was to suppose for a moment that there was such a thing as agreement among Anglicans themselves .
Anglicans who have believed since 1981 in the God-given role of Peter in the Universal Church ( technically a legitimate Anglican position because of ARCIC ’ s work ) probably find themselves today as members of the Ordinariate . The Church of England has meanwhile set its sights elsewhere .
helped many along the path to Catholic unity
Bishop Edward ’ s conscientious ministry of teaching , preaching and spiritual direction revealed a deeply pastoral heart behind an often formidable exterior . He wrote a number of perceptive books , of which Where the Truth is Found ( 1975 ) and Eucharist , Many – sided Mystery ( 1988 ) were particularly formative . He was one who unostentatiously helped many along the path to Catholic unity .