Roman Catholic Liberals and Anglican Revisionists Have Much in Common

Traditional Catholics and Orthodox Anglicans quietly bond but theological differences remain

COMMENTARY

By David W. Virtue, DD

www.virtueonline.org

April 23, 2025

The death of Pope Francis has put the Roman Catholic Church in limbo.  The church is in transition. Which way will the church go now that its hero to many has gone?  The last two popes before Francis were traditionalists; Francis sought to take the church in a new direction, with many believing it was a disastrous move.

His views on homosexuality, salvation, other religions, women etc. provoked outrage from traditionalists, and rejoicing from the great unwashed. For some, the rock of Peter now looks stained with the blood of the faithful. Add his collusion with China, his betrayal of Chinese Catholics and his veneration of the baby Jesus lying on a swaddling keffiyeh — the symbol of Palestinian resistance and Jew-hatred, and the full picture reveals a different Pope.

Publicly his persona was one of kindness and empathy showing concern for women, the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized and downtrodden, washing the feet of prisoners, even befriending, Argentine Anglican Archbishop Gregory Venables on the train together when he was simply Archbishop Bergoglio. He befriended the sexually abused when efforts were made to conceal and cover up abuse in Chile. But he never once went back to Argentina during his papacy. Did he know and cover up priestly sexual abuse and did not want to face his accusers? When his friendship with the artist Fr. Ivan Rupnik came to light with the Jesuit priest’s sexual assault on multiple nuns, it devastated the pope. Rupnik was expelled from his order. Francis was forced to defrock former Cardinal McCarrick, finding him guilty of sex abuse; both serious stains on the pope’s hands.

But the way forward has been marked and there is no going back. Pope Francis loaded his incoming College of Cardinals with men who thought progressively like himself; while cardinals and archbishops like Vigano, Strickland, Burke, Chaput, Sarah et al were sidelined or excommunicated. Crossing the Big Man in White was met with retribution, none of it divine. One could argue that this was about power and politics and you might be right.

Francis understood his church to be a big tent which, to his mind, did not mean a theologically fractured church. His liberal Catholic theologians argued that the church is big enough to accommodate millions of Catholics from different countries, cultures, colors, with different points of view. As a result, no one position can speak for all Catholics.

So remarried Catholics, homosexuals (“who am I to judge”), the divorced, while unacceptable in one cultural context is acceptable in another. Doctrinal certitude was up for grades, regardless of what the Magisterium might adhere too. “Thus saith the Lord” was no longer on the table. As Western culture changed and evolved, the pope sought to evolve with it. Compassion replaced certitude; uncertainty and doubt replaced a fixed doctrinal mindset. The Tridentine Mass or Latin Mass had to go of course, replaced by the Vernacular Mass following the Second Vatican Council. Francis restricted the use of the ancient Latin Mass to promote unity among the Catholic Church. Did it? Today there is a resurgence of the Latin Mass led by young people. Go figure.

With this perspective, it is easy to write off a small group of traditionalist cardinals and theologians who speak only for a handful of disgruntled orthodox Catholics who represent a minority of faithful followers. The die has been cast.

ROME AND CANTERBURY

Herein lies a tale. Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury had a relationship characterized by mutual respect, dialogue, and a shared commitment to ecumenism and social justice. They met on multiple occasions, exchanged messages, and collaborated on issues of global importance.

Both leaders shared a commitment to social justice, peace, and promoting Christian values, particularly in areas like marriage. They issued joint declarations, such as the one on the environment, highlighting areas where their two churches can work together.

They collaborated on issues like poverty, climate change, and the plight of Christians in the world. On the thorny area of homosexuality, the churches both agreed and disagreed.

The Catholic Church’s official line from the Catechism is that "homosexual acts" (i.e., sexual acts between persons of the same sex) are "acts of grave depravity" that are "intrinsically disordered,” and “they are contrary to the natural law.”  But Francis met regularly with a Fr. James Martin, a Roman Catholic priest, author, and advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in the Church and they worked together for the full inclusion of homosexuals in the life of the church. “Who am I to judge” became a turning point for the church.  One headline ran that Pope Francis created a 'seismic shift' toward LGBTQ acceptance. LGBTQ Catholics and theologians said the late pontiff’s legacy teaches that change can happen when leaders are willing to listen.

Listening became the mantra of Western Anglicanism; its lead exponent was the late Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold who presided over the consecration of the first openly outed homosexual in the person of Gene Robinson. The Episcopal Church changed forever. Gay and lesbian priests gave way to pansexual bishops and ultimately to homosexual marriage enshrined in resolution B012; that in turn saw the expulsion of a godly bishop who refused to go along with the unbiblical definition of marriage.

The rest of Western Anglicanism including and especially the Church of England has all but embraced the behavior, parsing the language with blessing same-sex unions but not fully embracing homosexual marriage. Observers with half a brain know this is but a glitch on the road to full on gay marriage. Who is fooling whom.

In the area of homosexuality, Western Anglicans have triumphed; but pansexualists are not content in winning the culture wars here, they want to force Global South provinces into conformity with their sexual proclivities.

To date they are not winning. Both GAFCON and the GSFA are united in their rejection of homosexuality much to the annoyance of western archbishops, bishops, clergy and a vociferous laity who refuse to allow an alternative vision of sex within marriage or celibacy. God forbid.

They have held fast to Scripture, Lambeth Resolution 1:10; and The Jerusalem Declaration which acknowledges God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. There you have it.

We will only know where the church is going when a new pope is elected. Will a preponderance of cardinals, many of whom have homosexual proclivities, with some actively engaged in such behaviors, swing the church formally in a new direction? If so, will the church split?

The Catholic Church has always prided itself on not splitting; pointing the finger at the Heinz 57 varieties of protestant churches as a testament to their staying power.

But homosexuality could be a game changer. It has split every mainline church in America, and it is wreaking havoc in Rome with its Lavendar mafia, a hierarchy of sex, money, and exploitation conspiracies. Some have labeled it demonic. Recent popes have failed to root it out, and there is no evidence that a new pope would or could cast out the demon of sodomy.

As Biblical theologian and Christian historian Carl Trueman observed, time will tell whether the next pope will follow in Francis’s footstep and permit the continuation of liberal Protestant policies. It’s up to the (135) men who will be gathering in the Sistine Chapel in the coming weeks. As a Catholic friend once said about the last papal election, the Holy Spirit never errs. But the same cannot be said for the College of Cardinals.

Western Christianity is underwater with millions of Americans having fled their churches never more to return. All the mainline churches will be gone in a generation. Millions of Gen Zer’s have little interest in historic Christianity. The die has been cast.

Pope Benedict XVI predicted that the Catholic Church would become a smaller but more faithful institution in the future. “The future church will be more spiritual, poorer and less political, and will find energy for what is essential. It will be a church of the little ones.”

And those “little ones” will include both faithful Anglicans and independent evangelical churches with pastors and their small faithful congregations who have kept the faith in a broken and torn world.

END