This is an interesting question. I am not a Catholic and I never have been. But this is a pilgrimage, and if one is here for religious reasons, then there is probably some level of comfort or identification with Roman Catholicism. When this pilgimage began centuries ago, there was only the Roman church. I'm not sure how close the eastern church was to the Roman church 1,000 years ago, but let's say it was close as both came from the Roman root.
I think this question can quickly flash to a whole list of differences between Catholicism and Anglicanism. However, in comparison to other protestants, it seems to me that Anglicans are the closest of the protestants to Catholics. We are definitely not the same, in some very critical areas, but we are similar.
Given the similarity of Angicanism to Catholicism, I would say that makes me a 50% Catholic. (Some may strongly disagree with this concept and I would understand that - they just do not understand my head space on this). Add the impact and learning from the cusillio experience and I think that adds another 10%. While cusillio started in the Catholic church in Spain, some will argue that the version I went through was Anglicanized. While I agree with this, there is nothing in Angicanism that I have experienced, heard about, or read about that is anything like the cusillio experience. It's Catholic roots are still very visible in my view.
So now I'm up to 60% Catholic. To this I will add the experience of the pilgrimage. While there are no priests walking with us or pulling us into churches for conversion discussions, the thread of the Catholic church is very evident, if not mostly in my own mind due to my own limited understanding of Catholicism and the history of the Roman church. The experience of the pilgrimage reinforces some very basic religious concepts: that spiritual progress occurs with work; that even though there are obstacles to spiritual growth, hard work and determination will yield results; miracles are available to those with the correct perspective. Are these concepts strongest within Catholicism or Anglicanism. I would say the former. So I'm giving myself another 5% because I now more fully believe in these concepts.
So, there you have it. Based on my overly narrow and simplistic approach, I would say I'm 65% Catholic, even though I'm very much an Anglican. Wow, we can have some great debates over this!
I think this question can quickly flash to a whole list of differences between Catholicism and Anglicanism. However, in comparison to other protestants, it seems to me that Anglicans are the closest of the protestants to Catholics. We are definitely not the same, in some very critical areas, but we are similar.
Given the similarity of Angicanism to Catholicism, I would say that makes me a 50% Catholic. (Some may strongly disagree with this concept and I would understand that - they just do not understand my head space on this). Add the impact and learning from the cusillio experience and I think that adds another 10%. While cusillio started in the Catholic church in Spain, some will argue that the version I went through was Anglicanized. While I agree with this, there is nothing in Angicanism that I have experienced, heard about, or read about that is anything like the cusillio experience. It's Catholic roots are still very visible in my view.
So now I'm up to 60% Catholic. To this I will add the experience of the pilgrimage. While there are no priests walking with us or pulling us into churches for conversion discussions, the thread of the Catholic church is very evident, if not mostly in my own mind due to my own limited understanding of Catholicism and the history of the Roman church. The experience of the pilgrimage reinforces some very basic religious concepts: that spiritual progress occurs with work; that even though there are obstacles to spiritual growth, hard work and determination will yield results; miracles are available to those with the correct perspective. Are these concepts strongest within Catholicism or Anglicanism. I would say the former. So I'm giving myself another 5% because I now more fully believe in these concepts.
So, there you have it. Based on my overly narrow and simplistic approach, I would say I'm 65% Catholic, even though I'm very much an Anglican. Wow, we can have some great debates over this!
No comments:
Post a Comment