Inch by Inch the Rifts Will Heal

In a document released yesterday, Mary: Hope and Grace in Christ, the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, a non-authoritative joint church group that represents the primary Anglican-Catholic ecumenical dialogue, tells Anglicans it is time to backtrack on centuries of dissent about the Virgin:

We have agreed together that the teaching about Mary in the two definitions of
1854 and 1950, understood within the biblical pattern of the economy of grace
and hope outlined here, can be said to be consonant with the teaching of the
Scriptures and the ancient common traditions

but notes that Anglicans are not obligated to accept these doctrines as part of belief. As a commenter on jimmyakin.org noted, that is why they are Anglicans. Given that the document appears to be in line with Catholic Doctrine, I for one will take this as a positive development; it will be interesting to see how much fur will fly in the Anglican Communion.

(cap tips: Southern Appeal, Defensor Fidei)