ARTICLE 63: CATHOLIC CHURCH MONOPOLY: THE CANONIZATION OF SAINTS It was interesting to see altars and statues of St. Ignatius, Augustine, Patrick, and others in the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, while I was in New York some years ago. "Who canonized them? Protestants?" "Since when did they become Anglicans?" were some of the questions in mind at the time. The answer was given recently in The Living Church, Protestant Episcopal church monthly. The answer is of interest as a study of the peculiar intellectual slant, caused by the belief that the Catholic Church is a part of the "Holy Catholic Church in its entirety," of which P. E. church is another part. Hence Saints that were canonized by occupants of the Chair of Peter, whose jurisdiction Anglicans repudiate, are Anglican church Saints. Here's the answer: "The Saints of God are representatives of the Holy Catholic Church in its entirety. Since the Anglican Church is part of this, she has a right to the veneration of all Saints in no matter what division of Christendom they lived on earth. There is no machinery for canonization in the Anglican Communion (nor authority either) therefore the only Saint we have formally canonized is Charles Stuart, King of England and martyr ..." Contact Us HOME------------TRADITION www.catholictradition.org/Tradition/goldstein63.htm |