As an Anglican, I consider myself closer to Roman Catholicism than to many other contemporary Protestants, and there are several things about Roman life and worship that I think they do better than us. I follow quite a few queer Catholics on here, whom I greatly admire for loving their church enough to stick with it even when it discriminates against them.
That said, I personally could never be Roman Catholic. My disagreements with Rome are too serious—and it’s not just because I’m ‘woke’. I believe the Roman Church is wrong about things like the doctrine of Purgatory, the accompanying practice of indulgences, and the exclusivity of Rome as the sole possessor of salvation and the sacraments. And, of course, the big one: the papacy. As I understand scripture and church history, the Bishop of Rome is not properly the supreme head of the entire earthly Church, nor do I believe it is right to force all Christians to bend the knee to him under pain of eternal damnation (I actually believe the true, original order of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church has been preserved by the Orthodox, with some Protestants recovering it in the Reformation).
Now, none of that is said to disparage the Roman Church or her adherents. Again, I greatly respect Roman Catholics, and as an Anglican I view Rome as a true, living branch of the Church. But they are not the only branch, and as long as I believe them to be in such grave error, my conscience withholds me from submitting to Rome.
