Anglicans in the Vineyard

Last week's news that one hundred parishes belonging to the Anglican Church of America would be accepting the pope's invitation, given in Anglicanorum coetibus, to enter the Catholic Church, was the occasion for some unseemly Catholic grumbling.

There was, of course, the grumbling of folks of the more liberal persuasion who aren't happy with the idea of folks of the more traditional persuasion descending upon them en masse. That's just to be expected -- as is the rejoicing from the opposite crowd.

Then there was the grumbling of folks of the more pessimistic persuasion, who doubted it will ever happen at all, doubted that more than half the people belonging to the ACA will actually cross the Tiber, or groused that even if they all convert that would "only" mean 5000 new Catholics.

But the most unseemly grumbling was from people who had no sympathy for the thousands of their separated brothers and sisters who love their parishes, their liturgy, their music, their priests, and their entire tradition -- which is no excuse, they say, for them not to have become Catholic long ago. If the Church is right, it's right, and that's all there is to it.

They're correct, of course. Anyone who becomes convinced that the Catholic Church is true is obliged to join it, and every year many thousands of people do just that, even Protestant ministers who lose their livelihood, their reputations, their friends, and family relationships to do so. This sort of heroic virtue is to be praised and celebrated.

But some people need more help, and we ought to give it to them without grumbling. Although the grumblers do have a point. I mean, suppose you're working in a vineyard all day, and in the middle of the day a bunch of new workers show up and are hired for the same pay as you! It would be annoying, but you could probably deal with it. After all, maybe they missed the bus and they had to walk to the vineyard. That's admirable. But then suppose new workers show up at the very end of the day and they still get the exact same pay! They didn't walk to the vineyard -- they just get dropped off by some do-gooder driving around in a van, after they had sat around all day doing nothing! Wouldn't that just drive you nuts?

To find out more about the Anglican Church in America (ACA), the American branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), see its official website here.

For TAC's view of Anglicanorum coetibus, see this speech by TAC Bishop Peter J. Ellliott, courtesy The Anglo-Catholic website and blog.