Statement on Mary
AKMA is pointing to an ecumenical statement that was released last year between the Anglican and Roman Catholic communions on Mary. It seems like it might be a good time to remember what this statement says:
“when the Church receives and acknowledges what it recognizes as a true expression of the Tradition once for all delivered to the Apostles, this reception is an act both of faithfulness and of freedom. The freedom to respond in fresh ways in the face of new challenges is what enables the Church to be faithful to the Tradition which it carries forward”
I think there are lots of ways to work with this notion of “reception,” and I think it may well prove to be an important key in the years ahead on a whole lot of issues.
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1 Comment
Jane Redmont commented on 04 June 2005:What's weird about that date on the statement in your link (2004, last year) is that it was launched in May (twice, May 16 and May 19 - in two different places) -- which is why AKMA just mentioned it, probably. So it's more recent than last year. Best thing is to check on the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion websites. Or I have the press release archived somewhere if you want a copy.
As for "reception," there has been a lot of work done on it in Catholic theological circles (e.g. at the Catholic Theological Society of America and in multiple books and articles) over the last, hmmm, decade at least. I just noticed on the National Catholic Reporter website that Rosemary Radford Ruether has a piece relate to that notion re: the new pope. I can't access it because I'm not a subscriber (though I still occasionally write for them) and it's one of the limited access articles, but you probably get NCR, so have a look. Her column is written in everyday language, since it's for NCR, but it's a start, and if you want stuff on reception I can get you some bibliography from my ecclesiology colleagues at CTSA if you are interested. The annual meeting of CTSA is next week.
I wrote you a private response to your post re: experience as a starting-point for theology vs. abstract philosophical categories, not because I didn't want it public but because it involved sharing a rather long quote with you and thus cutting and pasting, and this little answer thingie won't let us cut and paste. Feel free to post what I wrote you if you think it would be useful.
Thanks for the link to the Class Action organization. I've been reading the NY Times series with great interest and it was good to have another resource on the great unspoken issue in U.S. society.
Peace,
Jane