Anyhow, he became an Anglican. I keep wondering why whoever is now Archbishop of Canterbury doesn't make a counter-constitution Catholicorum coetibus or something -- almost certainly more Catholics become Anglican than Anglicans become Catholic, but that doesn't stop the hemorrhage of Anglicans to other denominations or none -- and likely, the Catholics who become Anglican are mainly doing it as a face-saving step as they transition into general loss of faith.
The reason Mr Coren gave in this piece was similar to the reasons ex-Catholics give in other surveys on why they leave -- they disagree with the Church's teachings on The Usual, which I don't even need to mention. I think this reflects what the Church is missing as it addresses ex-Catholics or potential converts, and I think it also reflects some basic errors in thinking behind Anglicanorum coetibus.
Let's get a few things straight. Nobody -- or, nobody other than the insignificant numbers now in Anglican ordinariates -- is becoming Catholic or returning to the fold because they appreciate the Precious Spiritual Treasures of the Anglican Patrimony, a vague term that refers mainly to the faux Cranmerian English of the BDW. This is an Edsel, a New Coke.
The appeal of Anglicanism is not that it has a precious prayer book. The appeal of Anglicanism is that it no longer makes demands on its members. Catholics who don't like demands have found this appealing. In particular, if a denomination is "welcoming to gays" or however you express it, it's sending a message that tells people gee, if that's OK, then whatever else I'm up to must be no big deal, either.
The first issue, it seems to me, is to knock away the excuse that maybe Mahometans, or the same-sex attracted, or adulterers, or whoever else, will not feel welcome at mass. As I was once told in confession, the issue is "not my zoo, not my monkeys". The issue is to examine our own conscience, and this is where the discomfort lies among those leaving the Church. They're unhappy about examining their own consciences and what they find there, not that the Church might make someone else feel uncomfortable.
This is the sort of thing Catholic apologists need to address. Anglicanorum coetibus is completely beside the point. An Anglican who becomes Catholic is going to do it for comprehensive intellectual reasons, and indeed reasons of conscience, and a cutsey-pie prayer book isn't going to do much one way or another. Indeed, an Anglican will become Catholic for the same good reasons a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Taoist, or a Mahometan will become Catholic -- or indeed, a lapsed Catholic will return to the fold. Bring back Aquinas.
