Clarification from Archbishop Hepworth

6th June 2010

1. On Wednesday of last week, a preliminary report on the recent meeting of the Anglican Church in America's House of Bishops and Executive Council was posted to The Anglo-Catholic in my name.

2. Though the reports available at the time of the formulation of the preliminary statement have since been proven accurate, due to difficulties in communication with me in outback Australia, there was some confusion, and the message published was not entirely helpful.

3. I have since had the opportunity to discuss the House of Bishops and Executive Council meeting with the chief participants and I am now satisfied that, insofar as any matters concerning the ACA's relationship to an eventual personal ordinariate in the USA are concerned, the meeting was a positive step toward meeting the TAC's commitment to pursue unity with the Catholic Church under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.

4. The Traditional Anglican Communion is committed to seeking full communion with the Catholic Church and each of its bishops remains committed to the Petition that we formally signed and delivered to the Holy See.

5. The College of Bishops of the TAC is the only body with authority to determine the teaching of the TAC, and has officially determined that,

We accept that the most complete and authentic expression and application of the catholic faith in this moment of time is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium, which we have signed together with this Letter as attesting to the faith we aspire to teach and hold.

(October 2007 Portsmouth Petition)

6. In order to maintain an absolute distinction between official announcements and the open discussion conducted on The Anglo-Catholic blog, a new section will provide links to authoritative documents, released by the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, its constituent jurisdictions, or the Catholic Church, and related to the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Benedict XVI, Anglicanorum Coetibus. Discussion will be prohibited on this page and all subsidiary official document pages.

7. The Anglo-Catholic site has my endorsement and blessing as a trusted source of information for the Traditional Anglican Communion's quest to attain full, visible communion with the Catholic Church. While official documents are posted here, the commentary of the contributors and commenters is their own. I certainly reserve the right to disagree with any of the opinions expressed on The Anglo-Catholic.

8. Christian Campbell has done an outstanding job for the cause of the Apostolic Constitution in founding and moderating The Anglo-Catholic, and the very fine array of writers and the standard of debate attest to this. He retains my complete confidence. His integrity is not in doubt.

9. The Anglo-Catholic is not an organ of the Anglican Church in America, and never has been. It would be very unwise for any church to own a blog and allow an open policy of posting.

10. I will continue to release all official statements regarding the implementation of personal ordinariates under Anglicanorum Coetibus here on The Anglo-Catholic.

+John Hepworth
Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion

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