CATHOLIC CHURCH THINKS ANGLICAN CLERGY ARE NOT CLERGY
The Roman Catholic Church says that Anglican Orders are bogus in accordance with the decree of
Leo XIII given in 1897 for there was no intention to make the clergy capable of
causing the sacrifice of Christ on the altar or for changing bread and wine into
the flesh and blood of Jesus. The Catholic Church is right about this but fails
to see that its own clergy are invalid too for the same reason for they traced
their orders through men of long ago who were ordained without the rites that
the Roman Church says are an essential part of giving the sacrament of order.
This was pointed out in the Responsio of the Archbishops of England of 1897
which was an answer to the pope’s prejudiced decree (read it on pages 322-325,
Documents of the Christian Church). It argued from the ancient records of
tradition that there was disagreement about how to give confirmation whether it
be by the individual laying on of hands or chrism. It was pointed out that
Rome’s most ancient ordination manuals did not mention that power to change
bread and wine into Jesus or giving the power to offer the sacrifice of the
Mass. The early Church did not offer the sacrifice of the Mass for it
universally believed that Jesus offered his sacrifice to Satan to get him to let
us go back to God. This was what was taught by Irenaeus the second century
theologian and spokesman for the Church (page 30-31, Documents of the Christian
Church). The idea went unchallenged and was promoted by Origen and accepted as
the main theory in the Church (page 274-275, The History of Christianity). It
was not until the time of St Anselm of Canterbury that it began to be doubted.
He was born in 1033 and died in 1109 AD. He gave origin to the idea that God
needed atonement for sin and Jesus paid that atonement. The new idea appeared
when he wrote Cur Deus Homo (Why did God become Man?) (page 279, The History of
Christianity, Lion, Herts, 1977). Soon after that Rome started to declare that
the Mass was the sacrifice of the cross and exactly the same sacrifice.
The priest only turns the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. As
for the sacrifice, he offers it but with the people who are priests too. The
priest making the sacrifice of Christ present has nothing to do with the
offering of it. He can make it present without offering. The offering is as much
the job of the priest and the people. So the priest title applies no more to
Roman Catholic clergy than anybody else even if they have the unique powers they
claim. Leo XIII rejected the validity of Anglican orders all because the word
priest in the Anglican ordinals didn’t specify that the priest was being made to
offer Mass. This shows total stupidity. The priest only consecrates and the
people offer mass as much as he does.
If Anglican clergy are not ordained for errors in the ordination
service wording what about how not that long ago Catholic bishops
did not understand Latin and were not trained when they ordained
clergy from whom today's clergy are descended from ecclesiastically?
