Posted on 10/20/2009 7:41:22 PM PDT by Salvation
The Holy See took the ecumenical imperative out of the hands of ecumenists, with the result that the reunion of Christians -- at least in one limited area of schism -- ensued. From the Vatican website:
With the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution, the Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion. In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy.
The Times of London, with its dizzyingly reckless Monty Python approach to religion stories, headlines its article Vatican Moves to Poach Traditional Anglicans, but the "poaching" metaphor is an odd choice of images when the "rabbits" in question have been pleading, sometimes for decades, to jump into the hunter's game bag. After all, the decisions that changed the playing field were made by the Anglican churches, not the Pope. The Vatican's explanatory statement does not hesitate to point to the shattering effect of Anglican capitulations to Left/liberal secularism:
In the years since the Council, some Anglicans have abandoned the tradition of conferring Holy Orders only on men by calling women to the priesthood and the episcopacy. More recently, some segments of the Anglican Communion have departed from the common biblical teaching on human sexuality -- already clearly stated in the ARCIC document "Life in Christ" -- by the ordination of openly homosexual clergy and the blessing of homosexual partnerships.
While in recent years the Catholic Church has lost some members to Anglicanism, she has benefitted overwhelmingly from the inbound traffic. As your Uncle Di has pointed out before: the dissatisfied Anglican leaves because his Church ain't what she used to be. The dissatisfied Catholic leaves his Church because she is.
Orthodox Catholics deserve to feel satisfaction at today's development. Yet it's easy to exaggerate the advantages. On one hand, the Anglicans coming home to full communion will be active in practice, theologically aware, and proportionately resistant to gay and feminist faddishness. On the other hand we have to admit that a sizable minority of (nominally) Catholic clergy envy the Church of England for precisely the reasons its orthodox are bolting. Who knows how many of our own ecclesiastics, even unindicted ones, are gazing wistfully at the lighted windows of Gene Robinson's honeymoon suite while Rembert Weakland's autobiography slumbers in their lap?
By the same token, under the earlier dispensation most Anglican converts found themselves in ordinary Catholic parishes -- with the ordinary attendant problems -- and they gave a boost to the orthodox cradle Catholics in the customary street-fighting for decent liturgy, decent catechesis, decent clerical deportment, etc. Yet those potential allies who convert under the terms of the Personal Ordinariate will in one sense be in quarantine, hived-off with their own clergy and their own bishop, able to help out in the Catholic culture wars only indirectly if at all. Were I a Robert Lynch or a Roger Mahony I'd feel relieved that these new Catholics, even those domiciled in my diocese, were not under my "pastoral care" -- which means I'd have no need to respond to their articulate and well-informed pleading for the redress of grievances.
Based on who's sputtering in indignation at the Holy See's move and who's not, the Personal Ordinariate is a score for right team. The Church is perpetually and perfectly one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic, but by today's action the attributes "one" and "Catholic" are realized that much more visibly. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.
I can't recall reading a sentence that was this funny while simultaneously being so tragic.
This is going to be very interesting, to me personally as well as to the general "dynamic" of the Church.
In the Diocese of Richmond a great many of the clergy are "Spirit of Vatican II" types who really seem to want to be Episcopalians, or something of the kind. It is increasingly evident that one of the problems the Diocese has with "Pastoral Provision" clergy is that we actually believe the Church to be as she says she is and we believe what she teaches. This is not a popular view among our "pro-life but not anti-abortion" (no, really!) diocesan clergy. (I'm SO glad I'm a Dominican in a Dominican parish!)
So while the VOICED resentment among many Catholics will be about the "unfairness" of Anglican Ordinariate priests being allowed to be married, the actual resentment will be about their orthodoxy and loyalty to the Holy See.
If I were running the show, I'd make it clear that all CURRENT Anglican clergy, candidates, and postulants who are married would be allowed, ceteris paribus, but once the ordinariates are established, celibacy would be required of all subsequent postulants. Personally, while I prize our "Anglican Patrimony", I am worried that Anglican Ordinariates would be a kind of oddity in the Church. I'm open to other opinions on this.
"Anglicans who become Roman Catholic generally become very conservative Roman Catholics, while Roman Catholics who become Anglican tend to become very liberal Anglicans," he said. (from here)I think this is the real problem. Every year in RCIA I see several young, thoughtful, and fervent converts from Anglicanism being ready to give up the good parts of their "patrimony" for union with the Holy See. I find myself reluctant to deprive them of this small sacrifice. Still, in general, I think this is going to prove to be an excellent, though bumpy, move. Viva PapaBenXVI!
Any more of an oddity than the non-Latin churches? Granted, those communities tend to be more insular and are not even generally known among American Catholics, but I don't believe their membership in the Church is an oddity.
Comments?
Absolutely it does. Looks who is cheering this - the Traditional Anglican Communion. By coincidence, that's the group that formally petitioned Rome back in 2007 and asked for guidance on how they could be brought (corporately) into full communion with Rome. The TAC's response to this announcement? "They have given us everything we asked for and more."
Have other inquiries been made? You can bet they have. Has any other Anglican group gone as far as the TAC did? I don't think so.
This is a direct response to the petition of the TAC that is being structured in a way that it can be used by others going forward - it's not a one off.
Theologically, ecclesiologically of course the Uniates etc are not oddities. But "on the street" they are, and I really wonder how seriously they are taken in, say US Church policy decisions and thinks of that kind.
I readily confess to being out of my depth here, so I also wonder how much it would matter if they were the kind of sociological oddity I am contemplating.
A special gem on so many levels:
Who knows how many of our own ecclesiastics, even unindicted ones, are gazing wistfully at the lighted windows of Gene Robinson's honeymoon suite while Rembert Weakland's autobiography slumbers in their lap?Please add me to your list, if you have one!
I don’t see that. I think most of the Latin Rite folks think there should be MORE happy-clappy, not less.
I think it is the same way with the Pastoral Provision and will be with the Personal Ordinariates. I don’t think most cradle Catholics are even really aware of them, and if they are, aren’t sure they’re quite “real”, nor are sure that receiving there meets the Sunday Obligation, not that they really care about that.
I’ve been following this for days and it is a HUGE and very important event. We all need to pray for the transition of so many people.
Interesting thoughts. You all perhaps don’t recall, but there was a book called ‘Stand on Zanzibar’. While mostly Malthusian dystopia, the one interesting element was the forecast that the Church would split along liberal/conservative lines, much as is actually happening. Of course, that simply adds a left-right slice to the Catholic/Protestant/Orthodox/Anglican dices that already existed. It is said a bird flies because of having both a left and right wing. That is probably true, and it is often whimsically applied to political and religious schisms, as if the heterodox somehow provide ‘balance’. Well, mostly they provide dissension (the original meaning of heretic). The question that underlies all of this is obedience and to Whom that obedience is ultimately due. It seems to me that religious leftists generally want to be able to reinterpret Scripture and doctrine as the occasion demands, rather than being willing to accept ancient discipline and face occasions. To me, it looks like Papa Benedict is attempting to be flexible enough to increase communion but not so flexible that doctrine gets twisted into a pretzel to accomodate whoever thinks it would be a neat idea to seem like a Roman Catholic. The motto of my newly adopted home state is “Esse quam videri” which may not be very good Latin, but is intended to mean something like “We are what we appear to be”. I’d rather be something than seem to be. I also prefer to have charity for others than to insist they conform to the obedience I have chosen.
Guess those are more random thoughts. One day I’ll organize them into something logically connected. Others ought not to hold their breath in anticipation.
This is SO not true...I left the RCC because it was all becoming charismatic contemporary egalitarian clap-trap i.e. priest facing the congregation, happyhappyjoyjoy, raising of arms,swayingtothemusic, social justice promoting, contemporary "don't scare them with dogma" blather. Since joining the traditional Anglican Catholic church I have learned more about the history of the church and about my Catholic FAITH than I ever did in the hippie 70s Vatican II CCD. I feel as if I have worshiped GOD when I leave the church, not listened to incantations for spiritualism.
So you left the Catholic Church for TAC? How does it feel to be a round tripper back to the Barque of Peter?
Amen ping.
Some very interesting situations will arise. It sounds like the clergy issue will be resolved at it was with the Eastern Catholic rites. Married Anglican priests can be ordained married priests in the Latin Rite. These converted clergy may not become bishops, and if their spouse passes away, they may not re-marry.
Question I have is what happens with currently unmarried Anglican clergy. If they cannot be married after converting, will they rush to be married before they receive Holy Orders?
Also, current Anglican adherent laypeople who wish to cross the Tiber will have to pass a marriage test. i.e., divorced-and-remarried Anglicans will have to apply for annulment of previous marriage before being received in the Church in their current state - as far as I understand it.
What is really fascinating is the possibility/likelihood that this is softening the LZ for at least the Russian Orthodox Church to re-enter the fold. Other Orthodox churches may follow. We may also see collateral conversions from the Episcoplian church in America.
What would be really interesting is what would happen in Catholic parishes where Episcopalian churches converted. Would facilities be shared or sold off? Would Catholics be able to attend either church in their community, if both are Roman Catholic?
When you say this is HUGE, it’s huge beyond the newscopy. There are many many issues that will have to be addressed, but it’s a win-win situation and it will be well worth the work!
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