The official Anglican-Catholic dialogue body has issued a document saying that the Marian dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption are consonant with the Bible. That’s significant in a way, although it still needs approval from the Vatican and the Anglican Communion. On the one hand, Anglicanism is not monolithic and thus the decision of one commission is certainly not binding on the whole Anglican Communion. Certainly we’ve seen over the past couple of years how fractured the Communion really is.
However, it does lead the way in showing Protestants that Catholic teaching really is logical and reconcilable to the Bible and history. This is what ecumenism is supposed to be about, helping non-Catholic Christians to better understand the truth of Catholic belief.
It’s not like this was a great leap. I seem to recall that there have long been Anglican churches named after the Assumption, so there might have a predisposition to agreement. Still, it’s a beginning on the road to unity.
Now, there are two caveats: (1) This is one document produced by one commission and has no greater weight than that and (2) I have not read the actual document so I don’t know exactly what it says.
