The sun., 1896-10-25
The Anglican Church Congress on the
Reunion of ChristendOm

The Congress Of the Church Of England
which has been held for thirty-six successive
years, met at Shrewsbury in the first week
Of the present month. and remained in ses-
sion for four days. Among the subjects
discussed with especial interest, the
Papal Bull, rcasscrting the invalidity Of
Anglican orders, naturally figured in the
foreground. 1t was recognized that by the
decision embodied In that document the
project OF corporate reunion was definitely
brought to naught. The only method Of
reunion sanctioned by LEO MIL is that Of
individual conversion and complete submis-
sion to the Church Of Rome.
But is there, 1t was asked. no alternative? (?
May there not be another way of remcdying
tho isolation in which members OF the
Anglican Communion stand, and OF uniting
them with large part although not with
the whole. of Chrstendom' The question
was answered In the Affirmative by Mr.. II.
Q. WAKEMAN. u Fellow of All Souls Col
lege, Oxford. who maintained that efforts
should be made at all events to effect
q species Of union of the Church of England
with the national churches of the Tcutonic
and Slavonic peoples, which, and not the
Latin peoples that on the whole are salts
fed with the monarchical organization OF
the Roman Church, seem destined to be the
masters of the world Mr.. WAKEMAN, in
deed, acknowledged that corporate
union Of the national churches of
all the Slavonic and Teutonic ma
tions under one organization. even II
desirable. would be under present condi-
tions impossible, What he does, however,
believe to be within the sphere of practical
bility is intercommunion and religious CO
operation among the separately organized
branches of the Church universal. This
plan, or, we should rather say this hope,
seemed to receive some countenancc from
the papers read by the Bishop of Peter
borough and the Bishop of Southwell
We fear that this species OF reunion will
prove as impracticable as the other. 1t is
hard to understand what Mr.. WAKEMAN has
in view when he speaks of the national
churches " of the Teutonic peoples. Lu-
theranism In Germany is moribund, and
the German race Is now, so far
as it is earnestly religious at all, divided
between Catholicism and evangelical
non-Episcopal Professionalism. On the
other hand, intercommunion between
the Church of England and the Eastern
orthodox" churches could scarcely be
brought about for the reason that the latter
bodies do not conform 10 the Bishop OF
Peterborough's definition OF national
churches. The Bishop says: These local
bodies OF believers constituting national
churches) have no power to change the
creeds of the Universal Church or its early
organization. They simply have the right to
determine the best methods of setting forth
to the people the contents OF the Christian
faith. They may regulate rites, ceremo-
nies, usaRes, observances, and discipline for
that purpose, according to their own wisdom
and discretion" The so-called Orthodox
Church has never confined itself within the
limits fixed by the Bishop of Peterborough.
1t has arrogated III the past, and it still as
serts in theory, the right TO change the
creeds of the Universal Church." il by
that phrase Is meant the creeds formu-
lated before the subversion OF the Western
Roman Empire. There is 30 much miscon-