It was nice to receive praise in the combox from an Anglican vicar because I was extolling the via media. <\/em>You may know that the via media <\/em>is a favorite title for the Anglican muddle. <\/em>Fortunately, the Catholic via media<\/em> and the Anglican via media<\/em> are analagous as sleep is to death. <\/p>\n The Catholic via media<\/em> is an active process in which we seek to discern the truth in all positions (not just \u2018right\u2019 or \u2018left\u2019) and then define that truth and defend it and live it out. This is very different from the Anglican via media<\/em> which is simply the toleration of contradictions. <\/p>\n The Catholic via media<\/em> is a process of discernment and distinction and decision. We are discovering what is true and (by that process) rejecting what is false. This is possible because we have an agreed\u00a0infallible authority to enable and empower\u00a0the process. The Anglican via media<\/em> on the other hand is simply the agreement that they will disagree and still drink tea together.<\/p>\n An example from real life will illustrate what I mean. When confronted with the demand for women to be ordained the Anglicans disagree heartily. Their solution is that they will \u2018live in tension\u2019. They will erect \u2018structures of mutual respect\u2019. In other words, the matter will never really be resolved. It cannot be resolved for they have no authority to resolve it for themselves. Consequently the whole thing remains a muddle and in this muddle they rejoice.<\/p>\n The Catholic via media<\/em> says, \u201cThere is goodness, sincerity and truth in these demands for women\u2019s ordination. Let us listen and pray and come to a decision.\u201d So after much careful deliberation a decision is made: \u201cThe Catholic Church does not have the authority to ordain women as priests.\u201d Now we have something solid to work with. The decision angers some people. Some leave the church perhaps. The next step is to continue to work out what the Spirit is saying to the church. Are the demands for women\u2019s ordination simply acts of rebellion? Not necessarily. Not always.\u00a0The Church continues to explore the role of women in the Church. She looks back with self examination. Has the Church oppressed women? Are their complaints valid in any way? If so, how? If women are not to be ordained, how should they serve? What therefore are the implications for the priestly ministry? Should the church be so clericalized? Let\u2019s look again at the proper role\u00a0of the laity\u2026etc.<\/p>\n There is none of the\u00a0perpetual limbo of\u00a0\u2018living in tension\u2019 here. Instead there is a clear decision on which positive forward action can be taken.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was nice to receive praise in the combox from an Anglican vicar because I was extolling the via media. You may know that the via media is a favorite title for the Anglican muddle. Fortunately, the Catholic via media and the Anglican via media are analagous as sleep is to death. The Catholic via […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n