The Fantasy of Reunion: Anglicans, Catholics, and Ecumenism, 1833–1882 by Mark D. Chapman (review)

Mark Chapman’s new book casts an eye on the seemingly narrow topic of ecumenical relations between Anglicans and Catholics in the nineteenth century. Yet the study provides a window into broader questions of Christian doctrine and authority and their relationships to national identity, history, and international relations in the nineteenth century.

The narrative begins with ecumenical discussions during the Oxford Movement (1833–45), which involved rival understandings of catholicity and doctrinal authority. Tractarians situated catholicity in a supposed patristic consensus, whereas Roman Catholics emphasized a catholicity of the present under the authority of the papacy. The arrangement of these theological loci provided numerous occasions for misunderstanding in the nineteenth century. In chapter 2, Chapman examines the rise and fall of the Association for the Promotion of the Unity in Christendom (APUC) and highlights contributions of figures such as A. W. N. Pugin, Ambrose Phillipps, and Frederick Lee. Chapman examines the APUC against the backdrop of historical nostalgia and medieval revival in the romantic era. He shows how Roman officials never warmed to the ideals of the APUC, and the institution’s emphasis on national communions ran afoul of the rising ultramontane movement. At Manning’s prompting the Association saw official condemnation from Rome in 1865. The central chapters of Chapman’s study examine Edward Pusey’s various Irenika and efforts of men such as Bishop Alexander Forbes and Victor de Buck to find bases for reunion in the 1860s. These efforts were also destined for failure, largely because Anglicans continued to seek foundations for Christian reunion in a patristic consensus, whereas Roman Catholics increasingly emphasized communion with the papacy. Pusey and Forbes were aware that their efforts remained marginal even within their own communion. Authorities in Rome also rebuffed these efforts, save for a select few, such as Archbishop Georges Darboy and Bishop Félix Dupanloup, who may have been more interested in seizing the initiatives for their own intra-ecclesial purposes. Pusey and Forbes still maintained their efforts until the definition of papal infallibility in 1870. After this point, attempts for reunion with Rome disintegrated, and dialogue re-emerged on a different playing field.

The final chapters (8–10) of the book focus on the period after the First Vatican Council. Here Chapman broadens his scope to include figures such as Henry Liddon, Ignaz von Döllinger, and Frederick Meyrick and traces new ecumenical efforts involving numerous cross-relations among Old Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and the American Episcopal Church. Chapman shows how these efforts were also destined to failure by the early 1880s on account of factors such as nationalist tensions in the late-nineteenth century, divisive personalities, and the inability of Eastern and Western Christians to agree on the ecumenicity of the Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD).

Chapman’s overall narrative forcefully contours the shortcomings, scope, and relentless rehearsal of misunderstandings in Anglican-Catholic ecumenism in the nineteenth century. In finishing the book, the reader can only agree with his choice of title. Yet the story Chapman tells offers a valuable contribution to our broader understanding of Anglicanism and nineteenth-century Christianity. Ecumenical exchanges focus light on precisely those questions, which many considered essential during a time of rapid social, intellectual, and geopolitical change. The approach isolates these concerns in debates about history, catholicity, doctrine, and understandings of church and state. The Fantasy of Reunion will interest scholars of modern Christianity and should be considered essential reading for Anglican and nineteenth-century specialists. Rarely does such a narrow investigation cast so broad a light on the landscape of an age.