Diana Prayers Spark Concerns: CEN 8.31.07 p 3. August 30, 2007
Posted by geoconger in Church of England, Church of England Newspaper, Hymnody/Liturgy.trackback
Prayers penned by the Archbishop of Canterbury to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales have sparked controversy among Evangelical leaders, concerned by their theological implications of an intermediate state after death, or purgatory.
While Prayers for the Dead are not expressly forbidden by the Articles of Religion, the Homilies, a major source of the doctrine of the Church of England, reject their use. Dr. Williams’ Diana prayers depart from the Church’s historical teachings, critics note, and offer the strongest official support for the efficacy of prayers by the living for the salvation of the dead.
However, a spokesman for Lambeth Palace told The Church of England Newspaper, there is “no suggestion of purgatory” in the Diana prayers.
On Aug 20, the Church of England released the text of prayers written by Dr. Williams for use at the Aug 31 memorial service led by the Bishop of London at the Guards Chapel to commemorate the death of Princess Diana.
“The text of the prayers read: God our Father, we remember before you DIANA, Princess of Wales, and offer you our gratitude for all the memories of her that we treasure still. Her vulnerability and her willingness to reach out to the excluded and forgotten touched us all; her generosity gave hope and joy to many. May she rest in peace where sorrow and pain are banished, and may the everlasting light of your merciful love shine upon her; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Father eternal, unfailing source of peace to all who seek you, we entrust to your love and protection all for whom this anniversary of the tragic and untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales reawakens the pains of grief and loss. Comfort all who mourn, that casting all their cares upon you, they may be filled with your gifts – of new life, of courage and of hope; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Critics of the prayers note that while the twee references to “vulnerability” may not be to taste for some, the petition that she “may rest in peace where sorrow and pain are banished, and may the everlasting light of your merciful love shine upon her,” implies an intermediate state between heaven and hell, where the soul of the departed may benefit from the petitions and prayers of the living.
The President of the Prayer Book Society of the United States, Dr. Peter Toon stated the “formularies of the Church of England neither contain nor call for prayers for the departed.”
They were used by Anglo-Catholics as additions to the approved liturgy from the late Nineteenth century forward, but came into vogue following the World Wars. Liturgical revisions approved by Convocation and then Synod have “allowed vaguely worded prayers for the departed,” he said.
However, the “Prayers for the late Princess are stretching the Common Worship vague provision into specific request and are provided not really for theologically reasons but social ones, the popular cult of the departed lady.”
The Rev. David Phillips of The Church Society commented that Anglicans had become “numbed to this issue because too much ground was given in liturgical revision of the ASB and to some extent with Common Worship.”
“The arguments people put forward in revision were all devious, relied on sentiment, and avoided explaining what theology of death underlies them,” Mr. Phillips said. “What is authorised is clearly wrong. It is intercession for the departed and therefore undermines the Biblical gospel. This new prayer appears to be more of the same.”
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