Anglicans Consider Affirming Catholic Beliefs on Virgin Mary
A group of Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders on Monday agreed that Catholic beliefs on the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary into heaven are acceptable in the Anglican tradition
A group of Roman Catholic and Anglican leaders studying the role of the Virgin Mary in the church on Monday agreed that Catholic beliefs on the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary into heaven are acceptable in the Anglican tradition.
The document, “Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ,” is the first joint Anglican-Roman Catholic statement on the mother of Mary and will now be examined by the Vatican and Anglican Communion before being fully accepted.
“This document represents sustained reflection on an aspect of Christian faith in which many Christians have found spiritual strength,” said the Anglican Rev. Canon Gregory Cameron, a co-writer of the statement. “It is our hope that all Christians will be helped by this statement to understand why Mary has been a figure of such significance.”
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Historically, the Anglican Communion – often viewed as the midway between the Protestant and Catholic churches – opposed the teachings on Mary because there is no direct account of them in the Bible.
Catholics believe that Mary was born free of original sin. This belief was codified in 1854 as Catholic dogma and is celebrated each year by followers worldwide. About 100 years later, the Catholic Church also pronounced that Mary’s body and soul was “assumed” into heaven without dying.
These beliefs present some of the most divisive doctrinal divisions between the Protestant and Catholic churches.
The joint commission spent some 5 years to develop the 81-page booklet, which was first released in Seattle. The document was also launched in the UK on Thursday.
