A final defeat for the ‘spirit of Vatican II’
SIR – Ross Douthat describes “visions of an essentially Anglicanised Catholicism” as a pet project of liberal Catholics (Feature, January 15), which indeed it is. Yet ironically, the fact that the Anglican Communion, which like the Catholic Church has seen unprecedented growth in Africa during recent decades, is now preparing to censure the US Episcopal Church for its acceptance of gay marriage – while the German Catholic bishops go unpunished for promoting dissent from moral teaching, and mocking the African faithful for their fidelity to Christ and adherence to tradition – is actually threatening to make that Anglican system of synodal, quasi-democratic governance seem rather appealing to conservative Catholics. For in the Anglican Communion, the demographic reality that observance has rocketed in Africa, yet plummeted in the West, appears to be reflected in the stronger influence of conservative African bishops over what is still a very loose communion with a long tradition of doctrinal compromise. Were that the case in the more hierarchical Catholic Church, then it is hard to imagine the concept of Communion for the divorced and remarried even being spoken of today, let alone debated by a synod. The liberals should be careful what they wish for. As for conservatives, while we cannot in good faith endorse any move to partially democratise the Church, perhaps we can take comfort from the knowledge that, if this comes about, it could herald the final defeat of the “spirit of Vatican II” and the renewal of the Church based on tradition. Yours faithfully, Matt Showering Bristol, Somerset
