The second and final day of the annual Anglican Use Conference began as the first day did, with Morning Prayer according to the Book of Divine Worship in the crypt chapel of the Cathedral in Newark. On this Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Father Davis delivered a moving and powerful sermon lamenting the absence of Our Lady from the devotions of Anglo-Catholic churches.
The final session of the conference on Saturday morning began as Dr. Anne Barbeau Gardiner, Professor Emerita of English at John Jay College of the City University of New York, presented a fascinating history of great literary beauty on the English convert kings of the 17th century.
In response to a question about publication of the papers delivered at the conference, Steve Cavanaugh again confirmed that they would be published in Anglican Embers, the quarterly journal of the Anglican Use Society, and that in addition some of the material would be provided on the Society website.
The conference continued with a question-and-answer session with Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, introduced by Msgr. Sheehan. This was a follow-up to the Bishop’s canonical discussion of the personal ordinariates as presented to the conference the previous evening. Among the questions presented were two from Fr. Bergman, one relating to the status of individuals originally baptized outside of the Anglican tradition, but fully initiated through Confirmation within the Pastoral Provision. The second question concerned the manner in which Church real property might be held under the ordinariates, specifically, would church property be held in the name of the ordinariate, or in the name of the local diocese, or in some other form? Bishop Arrieta was thoughtful and gracious in his answers, and took the occasion to underscore the importance of cooperation between the personal ordinaries and the diocesan ordinaries, but it was clear that these and other details have yet to be worked out.
Bishop Arrieta was warm, friendly, and sincerely interested in the concerns of both the Pastoral Provision community and the Anglicans who are discerning reconciliation. As a curial official in the Holy See, Bishop Arrieta may be in a position to make the pastoral concerns of both groups better understood in Rome. Mr. Blake, Archbishop Myers and Monsignor Sheehan were farsighted and prudent in inviting the Bishop to participate in the conference. And in his partcipation, Bishop Arrieta demonstrated that he is more than a scholar and canonist, but is also, as befits the grace of his orders, a kind and thoughtful pastor of souls. I pray that the Bishop will be consulted by the Holy Father and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Before the conference adjourned, the final appearance was by the Traditional Anglican Communion Bishops. Archbishop John Hepworth, Bishop Carl Reid and Bishop David Moyer, who had been present throughout the conference, stood before the assembly while Archbishop Hepworth spoke with feeling, describing the way in which the churches of the TAC (ACA in the United States of America) will proceed as the ordinariates are established. (Archbishop Louis Falk had been present throughout the first day of the conference but was unavailable during this session.)
This is not the proper forum, and I am not the proper reporter, to interpret the Bishops' intent. There are important pastoral issues to be considered as these Bishops work with their people, and it is clear that the Bishops will do this work with great love and great sensitivity. I hope it will be sufficient in this forum to say that the conference was most favorably impressed with the remarks of Archbishop Hepworth, and that the conference expressed a clear message of approbation and welcome with an enthusiastic standing ovation for these Bishops that was the concluding event of the conference. Clearly this is a time of great hope and great promise for the people of the Traditional Anglican Communion and for the cause of Christian unity.
Following the adjournment of the conference, the Anglican Use Society conducted its annual meeting, which was open to all present. Then, at noon, the concluding Mass of the conference was offered in the crypt chapel of the Cathedral Basilica.
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One slight correction to Mr. Johnston's great summing up of yesterday morning's conference: it was Bishop Carl Reid of Ontario, not Archbishop Falk, who stood with Archbishop Hepworth and Bishop Moyer. Archbishop Falk had indeed been at the conference, but had to leave before the end, so he could return to his parish.
I thank Mr. Cavanaugh and have made the correction to the report text.
Ralph Johnson did an excellant job as MC for the conference.
I do not know what is the case in Anglo-Catholic churches in general, but I can assure you that there is no absence of devotion to our Lady in the three churches in which I serve regularly. The festivals of our Lady (even the minor ones) are kept, and the Angelus is sung (yes, sung) after the principal Sunday morning Mass, before the High Altar in one case, before the statue of our Lady of Walsingham in the others. It is also said at the beginning of Evening Prayer. Our Lady is frequently mentioned in sermons by all our priests.
Fr. Paul,
In his homily at Mattins, Fr. Davis was speaking of his own upbringing in an Anglo-Catholic parish in Florida where there was an absence of any devotion to Our Lady. He found the same thing when he attended General Theological Seminary. He by no means was saying that absence of devotion is characteristic of all Anglo-Catholic churches, but it is one of those things that is sometimes claimed as an option, and as something that is done "elsewhere", thereby relieving a particular community from practicing it themselves.
Steve, I appreciate your comment to Fr. Paul. In its brevity, my description of Fr. Davis's sermon was inadequate. I stated that it was moving and powerful; what made it so was its very personal nature. Fr. Davis was reflecting on his own experience, and on his own attachment to Our Lady. He did not make any sweeping and general assertions, and I should have been careful to avoid any implication that he did.
On this particular point I would tend to agree wholeheartedly with Fr. Davis’s observation. Devotion to Our Lady has been sadly lacking in many of the seminaries and most certainly is felt even more so down to the parish level.
How many attended?
Approx. 105 people were at the conference. Considering that it was held in Newark where there is no AU parish and that everyone had to travel, this made it a well attended conference. There were people present from all of the Anglican Use communities in the US (St. Athanasius, St. Thomas More, All Saints Sisters, St. Paul's Phoenix, Our Lady of the Atonement, St. Mary the Virgin, St. Anselm, Our Lady of Walsingham, St. Therese-KC) as well as from the ACA, the ACCC and the TAC Australia.
Obviously the personal ordinariates can own their own churches, since they are juridical persons equivalent in law to dioceses. All this is pablum. What a pity there was no one there to ask the really interesting questions and then report back the answers or non-answers. This is so frustrating.
P.K.T.P.
P.S. Could anyone here, yet again, enlighten me about the TAC in Puerto Rico? Good grief, SOMEBODY must know. P.R. must be financially connected to the U.S.A., for instance. How many priests does the TAC have there? One? Two, 100?
Puerto Rico is a diocese of the Anglican Church in America, headed by Bishop Juan Garcia. Unfortunately, that's all that I know. Since there are, I think, a couple of other continuing churches that have a presence in PR, there might be the possibility of interest from other quarters. Also, I don't know how liberal the Episcopal Diocese there is. There might be some people who didn't jump to a continuing church, but who might go for something like this.
There are many folks who can answer your questions about P.R. as well as liturgy, only they aren't talking right now about these things because the information is being passed via very discrete mediums. The Church has many enemies within her own ranks that would love to find a way to scuttle the Ordinariate scheme, discretion is the better part of valor. As curious as we all are to know, the fact that there appears to be nothing happening is, I think, an indication that something is happening – there are good people working behind the scenes who know that silence is their best ally against their foes. I would guess that something bold and positive is going to happen soon.
Well, what I want to know is not what has been negotiated but what is there in Puerto Rico. I have been trying to discover this for years now. They have never had a website and I've never seen any TAC articles about them from elsewhere. I have no sense of them. Are they one bishop and his maiden aunt in San Juan? Are they fifteen priests scattered all over the Island? All I know is that their relations with the Latin Church have always been cordial. Bishop Ruben Rodriguez of TAC Central America said this on his website (which provides less information today than it did seven or eight years ago). I also know that a TAC group in the U.S.A. sent some students to Bishop Juan Garcia (P.R. TAC leader) on some charity project. But that was years and years ago.
I just want some information on how extensive they are. Anyone?
P.K.T.P.
What a pity there was no one there to ask the really interesting questions and then report back the answers or non-answers. This is so frustrating.
Peter, honestly, you are being so impatient. Those of us who traveled to the conference had to return home, attend to things in our parishes on Sunday and get to work on Monday. Give us a bit of time to get things up. I've got video, for example, of all the talks, but getting everything converted to a YouTube friendly format or transcribed takes time. If you don't like waiting, you need to come to these types of conference yourself : )
This morning I posted the homily Fr. Davis gave on Saturday morning at the AUS Conference. See http://anglicanusenews.blogspot.com. More is coming.
Gostaria de ter informações acerca de algum bispo ligado a TAC no Brasil ou America do sul/America latina. Sou reverendo anglicano, mas desejo estar ligado a TAC, para futuramente fazer parte de um ordinariado anglo-catolico no Brasil