Theology of the Body: Ecumenical Acumen: The Catholic Church Welcomes the All Saints Sisters of the Poor

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Ecumenical Acumen: The Catholic Church Welcomes the All Saints Sisters of the Poor

One of the last remaining communities of faithful non-Catholic religious life will be received into the Catholic Church during a Sept. 3 Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien in Baltimore. The formerly Anglican sisters will be received with their chaplain, the Rev. Warren Tanghe , who served as Chaplain of Pembroke College, Cambridge and also as Secretary and Vice-President of Forward-in-Faith North America.

Orthodoxy and unity were key reasons the sisters were attracted to the Catholic faith. Many of them were troubled by the Episcopal Church’s approval of women’s ordination, the ordination of a gay bishop and what they regarded as lax stances on moral issues.

“We kept thinking we could help by being a witness for orthodoxy,” said Sister Mary Joan Walker, the community’s archivist.

Mother Christina said that effort “was not as helpful as we had hoped it would be.”

“People who did not know us looked at us as if we were in agreement with what had been going on (in the Episcopal Church),” she said. “By staying put and not doing anything, we were sending a message which was not correct.”