Br. Stephen of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank has written to commend his most recent thoughts on the situation in the Church of England (and the anticipated personal ordinariates generally) in the wake of the recent General Synod.
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The debate on women in the episcopate has drawn to a close in the General Synod and Forward in Faith has issued a statement cautioning its members to be patient until province gatherings in September and the National Assembly in October, which will put this whole Ordinariate process at the one year mark. Many of us will want things to be wrapped up tomorrow, but I think it's fair to say that won't be happening. Here are my random thoughts:
First, let’s all do our best to remember that events are moving at lightning speed in ecclesiastical terms if not perhaps at T1 Internet speed. An incredible amount has happened since last October and much will likely be crammed into the next few months before those key fall gatherings. Reflect on the crises that drove the first seven councils and you’ll see that things are moving rapidly even if they’re not keeping up with our need for novelty.
Second, we all have a great need for a denouement, but let’s not start setting ourselves up to believe that October will be that event. At most we will probably see those who intend to take advantage of the Apostolic Constitution begin to unveil a plan for orderly withdrawal. The General Synod and Parliament are still 18 months from passing their respective bits of necessary legislation for the consecration of women to the episcopate. There can be no serious talk of compensation for clergy and negotiations over access to parishes until that reality is closer. The Holy Father is patient in this matter so it is not for us to castigate those who may be coming that they are moving too slowly.
Third, FIF and the other catholic bodies in the UK have an obligation to do what can be done for the welfare of those who will be staying on in the C of E. Yes, some Anglo-Papalists will be eating their words and staying put and it is uncharitable in the extreme for us to be serving up a buffet of condiments for them, but the larger group who will stay never had any desire to go. That’s hard for us who have older or newer cases of Roman fever to accept because we have come to love the Roman Catholic Church but, just as we seem to have no problem believing that people can be Russian Orthodox and Presbyterian because they genuinely believe what those bodies teach, we should not impugn the motives or intelligence of those who remain Anglo-Catholics either within the Church of England or the Continuum. This is part of our own separation that we have to go through. A relationship is dissolving and it is easy to feel betrayed and say regrettable things, but we must continue to hope the best for and love those from whom we are separating in the hope that one day we will be reconciled.
Fourth, people need space to grieve. However excited many of us are that we may soon be joined by some old friends, we have to remember that there is real loss and pain—no doubt many of us can remember our own. Give space and time for that process to happen and for psyches to mend.
Fifth, the consecration of women to the episcopate is the proximate cause of this exodus, of whatever size it turns out to be, but, in the months to come, that must become less and less important as positive reasons for making this change come to the fore. The last few days will have revealed to some who leave that there was a fundamental difference in understanding of the nature of doctrine and of the Church within Anglicanism. The articulation of that difference played out over the issues of the ordination and consecration of women, but these differences were not about gender in any final sense. Instead, they were about concepts of doctrinal authority and development. We need to help people see all that is good that they are being offered by being part of the Catholic Church and to dare to believe that now the strife is o’er, at least on what had become all-too-familiar battlefronts. I think that most of us who have become Catholic can tell those who come how amazingly quickly old battles are left behind on this side of the water. There are plenty of problems here as well, but they will mostly be new and different and not have anything to do with merely trying to survive.
Finally, for those of us who are watching from the outside, it is a time to pray for those who are coming and those who are at a loss for what to do. Take a person, take a parish, take a place and pray for it daily.
Related posts:
Several others have posited a similar question to my own: are Anglo-Catholics in the C of E, the US and elsewhere merely looking for some sort of wiggle room, excuse or rationale to become Catholic, or have they experienced a genuine lightbulb moment and see Mother Church not as the church of last refuge, but rather as their true home? I don’t think anyone should disparage why someone comes in the front door, but without a solid reason for coming in I hardly see these people having a good reason for staying. Of course, by our witness these same individuals may experience some of the grace that the rest of us who have already made the decision to become Catholic have experienced.
So what can we do?
My encouragement for anyone is that they ask and pray about: why do I want to become Catholic? I honestly don’t think that female clergy is the real root of the issue. So what real issues are driving the bus? Much like an onion, the real issues probably have several layers. Perhaps they should explore this further with their priest or spiritual director. Much like sin, we have to have a genuine conversion of heart (metanoia), a turning away. But this conversion also involves a simultaneous turning towards Christ. Mother Church has to be seen as the true church in its full expression and form. The Anglican/Episcopal Church of old no longer exists. All of the old arguments regarding it being the via media no longer exist. The baby was thrown out with the bathwater. They have abandoned orthodoxy, tradition and Scripture. There is no longer any room for debate on this issue.
So why do some choose to stay?
I do not know exactly. Each person has their own time; they are in God’s hands. We must pray for and witness to those who choose to remain. Perhaps once the Ordinariates are up and running they will see the Catholic faith in its fullness. We must take to heart Br. Stephen’s suggestions. We must not hate, we must not judge. We must be vigilante and pray.
Blessings,
Clark
Dear Clark, I think you need not worry about what is going on in other people's minds. Just let them get on with it. "Lord, and what shall this man do?" "What is that to thee? Follow thou me."
"Why do some people choose to stay"? Very easy to explain — they are comfortable and they are comfortable with a relativistic belief system which rationalizes everything, to make it O.K. No brainer.
Most Anglicans/Episcopalians were never properly catechized so they never had to think, make a decision, or even question Christ and the Church. Just hand me down religion.
You can put Catholic in that same sentence "Most Anglicans/Episcopalians were never properly catechized."
The next few months will offer all of us an opportunity to practice the virtues of prudence, charity, and humility in our speech. I'm certain most all of us will fall short with some regularity — I let myself snap disgracefully in another forum yesterday — but we all have to remember that what we say may effect what others do, and that's a weighty obligation.
Brother Stephen,
I said the above as a Catholic. I said it because it is true. The other day under Father Seraiah's post "A Thousand Generations" I commented that as parents our number one job is evangelization of our children. Proper catechesis starts in the home. Catechesis is a crucial form of evangelization that is critical at this moment. How many former Catholics do you know who left the Church because they really did not understand what the Church teaches.
Brian,
Your post is, unfortunately, quite correct. I teach a course entitled "The Catholic Tradition" at Saint Leo University, in our Continuing Education Program (adults). After teaching this course seven or eight times, I am still amazed at the number of folks who come up to me afterward and tell me that although they were raised Catholic, they never realized what the Church really taught. Some of them had left the Church for other denominations, while many just quit attending. Thankfullly, some are moved by God to go back.
+Ed
I'm sorry, there is no debate on women clergy, because there are no women clergy.
One can pretend all one wants, but the truth is the truth.
Brian,
I certainly agree with the need for catechesis and I appreciate your pointing out that a lack of formation is also a problem in the Catholic Church. My own Abbey ends up doing quite a bit, which isn’t what contemplative abbeys are set up for, but the need and desire are all around us. My reply was directed to the comment ahead of yours, which seemed to slip a little too close to needlessly denigrating people or at least to being susceptible to being interpreted that way. As I have said before, I’ve never known anyone to cross the Tiber because someone stood on the bank kicking sand in his eyes.
The gist of my earlier comment might be summed up in the words of Ephesians 4, " But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
When there is a need for instruction, it has to be offered in love and humility since we only pass on what we too have received by grace. Or, as St. Paul says in Galatians, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
Br. Stephen,
The work that you and your Abbey do is greatly appreciated, as are your comments about how we are to teach and speak to one another. The blessing I have in teaching the Catholic faith at a university, is that I can openly witness my own faith without students seeing it as "threatening". That is of course until they have to take the final.
+Ed