Posted on 06/22/2009 1:32:02 PM PDT by bdeaner
Catholics are humbled by the stories of former Anglicans who were faced with a decision and stepped out in faith to join the Catholic Church, said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston.
"The Catholic Church understands and appreciates the sacrifices made by former Anglican clergy and laity who have made the journey as individuals or as communities to full communion with the Catholic Church," he said June 12.
"Truly, Rome is home and a place of abiding in our pilgrimage to the father," noted the cardinal in a keynote address at the 2009 Anglican Use Conference in Houston.
The June 11-13 gathering explored the pastoral provision that the Vatican approved in 1980 allowing retention of some elements of Anglican identity in liturgy when a number of Episcopalians from the same congregation or the same area enter full Catholic communion.
That provision was included when the Vatican granted permission for special U.S. procedures to admit into the Catholic priesthood former Episcopal priests who have become Catholic.
In 1976, after the Episcopal Church -- the U.S. member of the Anglican Communion -- decided to ordain women to the priesthood, some former Episcopal priests and laity sought full communion with the Catholic Church. In 2003, the Episcopal Church's decision to ordain an openly gay man prompted other Episcopalians to join the Catholic Church.
In his address Cardinal DiNardo said that the gift of Catholic unity is sometimes taken for granted by those in the Catholic Church, but this cohesiveness is not lost on those seeking communion.
The cardinal observed the eventual reconciliation of church communities was anticipated by the Second Vatican Council, but he acknowledged that Christian unity "may not be realized in our own time." BR> In the meantime, the church is "necessarily dependent on the personal and individual model to further the vision of Catholic unity," he explained.
"The pastoral provision has made it possible for Anglicans to know the blessing of full communion but it is important that you simply do not walk away from your old relationships, especially those that may have been damaged by the tragic conflicts of contemporary Anglicanism," the cardinal said.
The 2009 conference was hosted by Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church in Houston, one of only eight Anglican-use communities in the U.S.
Besides Houston there are Anglican-use Catholic parishes in San Antonio and Arlington, Texas, and in Columbia, S.C. In addition, there are Anglican-use congregations sharing the facilities of regular Catholic parishes in Boston, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Scranton, Pa.
About 150 people from 14 states and two foreign countries made the trek to Houston to attend the conference. Activities and lectures were held on the grounds of Our Lady of Walsingham and also at St. Mary Seminary.
In his remarks Father James Ramsey, Our Lady of Walsingham's pastor, talked about the historical and ecumenical significance of the Anglican-use provision.
"It was the first time since the Reformation 500 years ago that the Roman Catholic Church made it possible for a Reformation tradition to return to the Catholic Church and bring its tradition with it," he said.
While traditional Anglicans will find something familiar, Father Ramsey said, Catholics accustomed to the Latin-rite Mass will notice some differences in Mass celebrated in an Anglican-use church.
"I think they would notice a dignity, a reverence, a respect, a certain grace, transcendence, a sense of the holy and of the sacred," he said. "Those would be starters that were always a part of our Anglican tradition."
He said the Anglican-use Mass follows the same order as the Latin-rite Mass. Old English is used throughout, and most of the Mass, including the readings, is sung. In addition, there is a generous amount of incense and use of a communion rail. Also, the priest faces the altar.
Father Eric Bergman, a former Episcopal priest who is pastor at the Anglican-use church in Scranton, joined the Catholic Church in 2005, when it became evident, he said, that he and other conservative Episcopalians were becoming an oddity in his denomination.
He credits the Catholic Church's unwavering stance on the dignity of human life and its view on the sanctity of the marriage bond as major factors in his decision to become a Catholic.
Under the pastoral provision, he and his wife and children and his parishioners all entered the Catholic Church at the same time.
Joe Blake, president of the Anglican Use Society, reported that about 120 Episcopal and Anglican priests have become Catholic priests since 1980. Most are married and working in Latin-rite parishes. Approximately 700 laypeople have made the transition into the Catholic Church with their priests.
AAM: You’ve been there. I haven’t. Do you think the description in Post Number 3 is fair, accurate, and in good taste?
I’ll ask my 75 year old Episcopalian mother and get back to you.
So far I see little humility on this thread.
It's fair to point out that TEC is definitely a comfortable home for homosexual baby-killers, as they are running the denomination and are quite happy (note the new head of the Episcopal seminary who is an avowed lesbian and in an address or a sermon (can't remember which) declared that "abortion is a blessing" and that "our work is not done" until everybody could have one any time they wanted . . . and led her audience in a cheer or chant to that effect -- just creepy if you ask me.)
My real objection would be that the homosexual baby-killers who are currently running TEC are not "for Christ" and haven't been for a long, long time.
I don't see how we can avoid bad taste in discussing what my family's former home for six generations has become. These horrible people took over my church and destroyed it. I bear them no good will at all.
Don't disturb your mom. She's probably like my parents -- she's remained Episcopalian because she's found a quiet little parish where what's going on at the national level doesn't affect her. So long as they don't have to replace their rector, they'll be all right.
My parent's church owns its property under a deed of gift that will revert to the donor if anybody other than the parish (the national church for example) successfully asserts a claim to the church and the graveyard. They also have a very nice endowment with similar strings attached to keep 815's fingers off it. They can afford to call an orthodox pastor -- so long as such an animal exists. They are in their 80s, so this arrangement will most likely last out their time (although their bishop is retiring, so who knows what will happen next).
Neither did I! Coming up on ten years in the Church now.
My wife has just assured me that “it’s brutal but it’s true”. She converted from TEC just a few years ago. She says: “the truth hurts. If you stay and do not speak and work against it, you are condoning it.”
I count that as a vote “for” Rom’s statement.
I could not in good conscience allow my children to remain in a church that officially approved fornication, adultery, homosexual sex, and the killing of little children (how do you think CHILDREN feel about that? "You are expendable, you little tick"), not to mention bishops that denied the divinity of Christ, the Resurrection, and the Trinity without any consequences from authority.
Episcopal Priest: "God Rejoices in Abortion"
Johnson's* Law: It is impossible to parody the Episcopal Church, because they always catch up and pass you.
*Christopher Johnson of Midwest Conservative Journal.
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