A great relief to have at least some things in the open. Brother Stephen has given you most of the details in his previous posting; the only things to be added are Lambeth's formal announcement (mentioning only the two Canterbury Suffragans) and Forward in Faith UK's response.
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, today gave the following statement in response to the resignations of the suffragan bishops of Ebbsfleet and Richborough:
"I have today with regret accepted the resignations of Bishops Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton who have decided that their future in Christian ministry lies in the new structures proposed by the Vatican. We wish them well in this next stage of their service to the Church and I am grateful to them for their faithful and devoted pastoral labours in the Church of England over many years."
The Archbishop will now set in train the process for filling the vacant sees. In the interim, arrangements have been made for pastoral care to be provided by Bishops John Ford, Mark Sowerby and Lindsay Urwin for those who formerly looked to Bishops Burnham and Newton for their episcopal support and have decided to continue ministry in the Church of England.
Forward in Faith UK responded:
Forward in Faith assures the five bishops who have announced their desire to enter the Ordinariate when it is created of the love, prayers and support of all its members and of our grateful thanks to them all for their ministries to us..
We likewise assure the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London of our prayers, as they seek to discern how the sees of Ebbsfleet, Richborough and Fulham are to be filled.
Related posts:
Safe journeying to you and the rest of the 'Faithful Five'.
Has the Bishop of London made any statement about pastoral provision for those who have been cared for by the Bishop of Fulham under the 'London Plan'?
Thank you all for your courage and witness. You will be welcomed by all faithful Catholics, we who are so proud of our Holy Father for making this provision.
May the Catholic Church in England welcome the "fab five"! Godspeed and welcome home!
I expect +London will nominate a successor to +Fulham, although whether that nominee will be a forceful proponent and advocate of what English Anglicans have termed "the orthodox integrity" (i.e., opposed to WO) remains to be seen. (The Bishop of London is one of only three remaining CofE diocesan bishops opposed to WO [the other two are Chichester and Blackburn -- although the Bishop of Exeter stopped "ordaining" women two years ago, and is credibly reported to me as having quietly become an opponent], although he has never openly declared his opinion on the subject; since becoming bishop in 1995 he had delegated all ordinations in his diocese to one or another of his suffragan bishops.)
The same is true as regards successors for +Ebbsfleet and +Richborough, although the AbC has already indicated that he will nominate successors for the two departing bishops. They will undoubtedly be opponents of WO — but how forceful and vigorous (agewise) they will be will be an important consideration.
The Bishop of London has announced that the Bishop of Willesden, Peter Wheatley, will have the care of those priests and parishes in London, Rochester and Southwark dioceses which have asked for extended pastoral care. There will be a new Bishop of Fulham whose task will be quite different from the one Bishop John has hitherto fulfilled. He will assist the Bishop of London in 'the two cities' – by which I think he means the Cities of London and Westminster.
Oh, not Minneappolis and St Paul then. (What a pity.)
Edmonton, not Willesden, surely?
Quite right, thank you, so he is… I always get lost north of the river. +E
In all things, glory to God.
Be assured, Bishop Edwin et al, that Catholics everywhere will be rejoicing at this news. While there may be some Catholics who are less than pleased at the prospect of the Ordinariates, nevertheless there are a great many (I believe most) who will welcome you, and all our separated brothers and sisters who come with and after you, with open arms.
In the past, you have all been honoured guests at ecumenical events. We are so pleased to learn that you are coming to join us permanently. Welcome. A thousand times, welcome!
Question now answered!
Y E S !!!!!!
Deo Gratias!
Welcome home!
Wonderful news: a special welcome to Bp Edwin Barnes of this blog!
Actually I don't believe that there are many Catholics including priests that are aware of the Ordinariate. Hopefully once they are established and parishes are erected the word will get around. There are many Latin Rite Catholics who would probably be very interested in attending an Anglican Use parish.
From what I have read the Catholics most opposed are either the extreme traditionalists, some who barely recognize the Pope and the very liberal Catholics who want women priests etc.
I will be glad when all is said and done and we all can just get on with our spiritual lives and hopefully become united among ourselves. As Christ said, at least I believe He said it, the first shall be last. It doesn't matter if TAC, FIF or any other group petitioned Rome first, it only matters that Rome has responded.
Let us approach the Ordinariate in a humble manner and gain the respect and trust of the Church. In many ways we are an unknown entity to Catholics. We will all be a family soon and let all show love and charity towards one another.
A most gentle statement from the bishop of Exeter:
http://exeter.anglican.org/article.php?tabnam=newsnews&artid=2016&pagetyp=full
Bishop pays tribute to work of assistant bishop
Bishop David Silk, Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Exeter, has announced that he will leave the Church of England to join the new structures proposed by the Vatican.
Bishop David is the former archdeacon of Leicester and Bishop of Ballarat in Australia from 1994 to 2003. He studied at Exeter University and on retirement returned to the county.
The Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Revd Michael Langrish, paid tribute to Bishop David.
He said: 'I would like to express appreciation for all that Bishop David has contributed as an Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Diocese. All Christians are on a journey of faith which can take each one of us in a variety of different, and sometimes surprising, directions.
‘As Bishop David and Joyce take this step of faith after much careful thought and prayer, they do so with my blessing and my own prayers for a future in which we will continue to be friends and fellow disciples of the one Lord.'
(8 November 2010 )
It is time for the Bishop of Exeter to give the Bishop of London a lesson in gracious and Christian behaviour.
I have heard that the Bishop of Exeter, once a proponent of WO, had ceased "ordaining" women to "the priesthood" for the past two years, and had provately become an opponent to the "priestly" (but not the "diaconal") "ordination" of women.
Can anyone confirm this?