SIR,—What a highly pessimistic, not to say bitter, Christmas sermon!
Mr Waugh rightly says he can be accused of arrogance. 'I would rejoice to see the Orthodox back. in the fold.'
Yes, indeed—there can be no genuine unity and peace in Christendom until the great thousand-year breach of Rome and Constantinople is healed. Protestantism may be said to stem from that, since that breach has caused both sides to grow lop- sidedly. But surely any such reunion must be on mutual terms, each stretching out to embrace the other.
I am not Orthodox myself, nor do I pretend to any great historical knowledge, but surely in terms of doctrine the Orthodox has an equal right to the term 'catholic' as has Rome. A reunion on equal terms, not a taking back 'into the fold' as if only Rome was right, would enrich both Churches, and maybe modify the aberrations of each which spring from that lopsided growth caused by their divisions. The present widespread desire for unity on the part of Christians may often be woolly, but it is at least genuine.
With regard to the luckless, 'idle, dishonest, time- wasting Anglicans,' local churches here, whether High or Low, are well attended. Many are regular communicants, and there are regular penitents (few in number maybe, but the leaven of the lump). Yes, we have many faults, and far more 'fringers' than Rome with its stricter discipline, but there is still a hard core of a worshipping, praying people, pro- Romancing nagn sac oinmt sm ul ensiso nso pbecutta ca saints ilna rta mn eavyebreth atiheas sn, thtnoutbghe ▪ _ A) I, alas, like Mr Waugh, as this letter proves, am not among them!
IRENE LAUDERDALE
St John's, Lansdowne Road, Angmering
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