Friends, today King Charles III, Defender of the (Anglican) Faith, and Pope Leo XIV, wicked papist, prayed together at the Vatican. Wow! Talk about burying the theological hatchet... I know what most of you are thinking: this is a spiritual/strategic realignment of not only world-historical, but intergalactic, importance! Think of it: the naval puissance of the British Empire allied with the unequaled wealth of the Roman Catholic Church. This could spell world domination for a million years!!! Last time I checked, the Royal Navy boasted 1400 ships and was the world's biggest by far. Last time I checked, the Catholic Church controlled one-third of the arable land in Europe. Of course, the last times I checked were in 1939 and 1300, respectively. Assuming my information is still good, you better get used to bending the knee to the Roman-Anglican Mega-Church! You heard it here first.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Rule Britannia and the Church Militant! They are both paragons of Western civilization .
ReplyDeleteOne of the many enjoyable things about a knowledge of history is to be able to thrill at such a moving event and perhaps to be bemused by the some irony in it too.
Henry the 8th , the ehh, very disagreeable man he was, nonetheless blessed us by siring Elizabeth I and giving the Church a hiding, And Elizabeth saved Western civilization by inspiring the defense which sent the Spanish Armada to its ruin. A Spanish conquest of England would have manifested the very worst in the Catholic Church of its day (firewood would have been in short supply). England's survival ensured that North America would not become corrupted by Spanish "El Jefe"hood as did unlucky Latin America. Instead, much of the world benefitted immensely from the rule of the Mother of Democracy rather than that of Spain or France or, later, Russia.
But those days are past and England , (which BTW once again saved Western civilization under the leadership of Churchill, who was, I think, equal in greatness to Elizabeth I) is secure and the Church much tempered by the Reformation ,the Counterreformation and some of the the modern Papacies(eg. Saint John Paul). Its a redeeming thing to see their symbolic rapproachment in this event.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I do not in the above seek to gainsay any of the dry humor you expressed at this event.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Jack! There were sound reasons for England's estrangement from the Roman Catholic Church, at the time, but most of those reasons have long since evaporated, and arguably the Anglican Communion is now more "Catholic" (especially liturgically) than are the Catholics themselves. In any case, no established church has a monopoly on Godliness or truth in our time, so let's all try to get along in a spirit of humility, eh?
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Thanx and I agree.
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