Statement on the Implementation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus
The Establishment of a Personal Ordinariate in England and Wales
Much has been achieved over many years as a result of the dialogue and the fruitful ecumenical relations which have developed between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. Obedient to the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Heavenly Father, the unity of the Church remains a constant desire in the vision and life of Anglicans and Catholics. The prayer for Christian Unity is the prayer for the gift of full communion with each other. We must never tire of praying and working for this goal.
During his visit to the United Kingdom in September, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI was therefore keen to stress that the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus: “…should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all.”
It is now just over one year since the Apostolic Constitution was published. The Pope’s initiative provided for the establishment of personal Ordinariates as one of the ways in which members of the Anglican tradition may seek to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. As the Holy Father stated at that time, he was responding to petitions received “repeatedly and insistently” by him from groups of Anglicans wishing “to be received into full communion individually as well as corporately.” Since then, it has become clear that a number of Anglican clergy and their faithful do indeed wish to bring their desire for full ecclesial communion with the Catholic Church to realisation within an Ordinariate structure.
In collaboration with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) in Rome, the Bishops of England and Wales have been preparing for the establishment of an Ordinariate early in January 2011. Although there may be practical difficulties in the months ahead, the Bishops are working to address these at a national and local level.
Five Anglican Bishops who currently intend to enter the Ordinariate have already announced their decision to resign from pastoral ministry in the Church of England with effect from 31 December 2010. They will enter into full communion with the Catholic Church early in January 2011. During the same month, it is expected that the Decree establishing the Ordinariate will be issued and the name of the Ordinary to be appointed announced. Soon afterwards, those non-retired former Anglican Bishops whose petitions to be ordained are accepted by the CDF, will be ordained to the Catholic Diaconate and Priesthood for service in the Ordinariate.
It is expected that the retired former Anglican Bishops whose petitions to be ordained are accepted by the CDF, will be ordained to the Catholic Diaconate and Priesthood prior to Lent. This will enable them, together with the Ordinary and the other former Anglican Bishops, to assist with the preparation and reception of former Anglican clergy and their faithful into full communion with the Catholic Church during Holy Week.
Before the beginning of Lent, those Anglican clergy with groups of faithful who have decided to enter the Ordinariate will then begin a period of intense formation for ordination as Catholic priests.
At the beginning of Lent, the groups of faithful together with their pastors will be enrolled as candidates for the Ordinariate. Then, at a date to be agreed between the Ordinary and the local diocesan Bishop, they will be received into the Catholic Church and confirmed. This will probably take place either during Holy Week, at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday or during the Easter Vigil. The period of formation for the faithful and their pastors will continue to Pentecost. Until then, these communities will be cared for sacramentally by local clergy as arranged by the diocesan Bishop and the Ordinary.
Around Pentecost, those former Anglican priests whose petitions for ordination have been accepted by the CDF will be ordained to the Catholic Priesthood. Ordination to the Diaconate will precede this at some point during Eastertide. Formation in Catholic theology and pastoral practice will continue for an appropriate amount of time after ordination.
In responding generously and offering a warm welcome to those seeking full ecclesial communion with the Catholic Church within the Ordinariate, the Bishops know that the clergy and faithful who are on that journey of faith will bring their own spiritual treasures which will further enrich the spiritual life of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The Bishops will do all they can to ensure that there is effective and close collaboration with the Ordinariate both at diocesan and parish levels.
Finally, with the blessings and encouragement they have received from Pope Benedict’s recent Visit, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales are resolved to continue their dialogue with other Christian Churches and Ecclesial Communities on that journey towards the communion in faith and the fullness of unity for which Christ prayed.
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Will Bishop Mercer be entering into communion with Rome together with the other former Anglican bishops? After all, he was once a Canterburian bishop in Africa. Therefore, it would seem that he should be entering into communion at the same time other retired bishops do so.
P.K.T.P.
Well, if all this happens by Pentecost, they we do not have long to wait for Rome to approve the preferred liturgical options.
Of course, should Rome approve nothing new, the incomers from the TAC will have to give up their current Mass texts and choose among the following:
(a) An Anglican liturgy based on the 1979 U.S.A. prayerbook, not even the 1928 one, with the N.O. Offertory intruded;
(b) The Traditional Latin Mass, offered, however, in Latin alone. That should go down well with Anglican incomers.
(c) The Novus Ordo Missæ in all its glorious purity.
So far, I see no other options being approved. What am I missing?
P.K.T.P.
Bishop Mercer and the Traditional Anglican Communion have been frozen out.
Once the ordinariate is established, then individual TAC people can apply one by one to come in. But we will have no part in the foundations of the ordinariates.
This seems as well to be what's going to happen in Canada and Australia as well.
This is crushing.
But then, the fix was in when CDF held a week of secret meetings with the Church of England Bishops last spring and made crucial decisions about the formation of the ordinariates that basically excluded the TAC and our aspirations for corporate reunion. Our bishops got an hour a short time later and those decisions were never revealed. We were left twisting in the wind while a concerted campaign of negative information went around the world to discredit our primate and that campaign then also discredited all those who are loyal to him.
Bad faith? Favoritism? Sheer incompetence? I don't know.
But this is a sad day for the Traditional Anglican Communion.
Deborah
The situation in the UK is quite different than it is either above or below the 49th. As evidenced by the Becoming One conference in San Antonio the TAC and the big AU parishes are the major players and it seems to me that we are on the same page. I am sure that the TTAC folks will be cared for in the UK, but the relatively vast numbers of the FiF, especially in regard to the laity, are the major pastoral concern. I know Bishop Mercer has been a major and early mover in bringing this to pass and I am sure he will wait patiently until the laborers from the eleventh, ninth, sixth, and third hours have gone through the line.
Dear Mrs. Gyapong:
Thank you for responding to my posts but I wonder if they could be published now? I'm not sure the supporters of the Anglo-Catholic have that much to fear from my misgivings. They will celebrate the current news no matter what I say, and they can be sure of my prayers and good will. I have never wanted anything less than the best for them. I am sorry if some here were offended by my characterisation of the N.O. but it is absolutely an honest assessment. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I suggest that people read Michael Davies's books on the subject, which are the best sources for my perspective written in the English tongue.
P.K.T.P.
I am optimistic. At the very least, this finally gives us a when, which is very joyful.
Unless clarifications are made from Rome, the Anglicans in the U.S. will be left out of any Ordinariate scheme as there is virtually no TEC interest. The overwhelming interest is from TAC and other continuing Anglicans of other jurisdictions. I hope this is all a misunderstanding but you may be correct Deborah. If so, this horse ain't gonna run and it's all over.
Matt,
Check out the pictures from the Becoming One conference. Be not afraid!
So this is the establishment of the ordinariate in England and Wales. The TAC in E&W has, according to its website, 20 clergy, of whom (as of May) 8 were definitely in favour of joining the ordinariate – as at this link: http://www.thetraditionalanglicanchurch.org.uk/dossier180510rev.pdf
I think the faithful of the TAC in E&W should turn to their clergy and bishops to find information about their status, rather than being encouraged to be bitter that the CofE is perceived to have 'got in first'. There will surely be no place for bitterness, or for being – in whateverway and from whichever side – 'holier than thou' in the ordinariate.
Incidentally, the bishop's conference's statement refers to 'former Anglicans' and 'former Anglican bishops', with no reference to the CofE. Should Bishop Mercer make a statement of the kind that the five CofE bishops did, there is nothing to indicate that what the CBCEW has said would not apply to him. So, whence all this pre-emptive gnashing of teeth?
The bitterness and pre-emptive gnashing of teeth seems to come from people who also post on The English Catholic blog. Might there be some agenda here?
I have seen this post, or others similarly worded, in more than one place about the interweb.
I've been commenting on The English Catholic since its inception. I don't think that the people who post articles there have any particular agenda. Worried? Nervous? Absolutely. An "agenda"? Highly unlikely.
We should be clear that the situation in England is completely different from that in other countries. Only a tiny minority of traditionalists have broken with the Church of England to form TAC communities – as far as I know they have only one church building with a congregation of about 30, and the rest of their groups are house churches. By contrast there are thousands of members of Forward in Faith. It's only natural that the leaders of FinF should be the leaders of this new initiative. I very much doubt that anyone is being frozen out. I don't think the TAC can expect to have very much influence in England, given the numbers. Their philosophy and liturgy are also very different from the vast majority of Anglo-Catholics in England who are often used to Novus Ordo and haven't seen a Book of Common Prayer in years.
On the other hand, in Canada and the US the reverse situation prevails. Very few traditionalists are left in the Canterbury communion, most having joined continuing churches, the largest of which would be the TAC churches. So the Ordinariates here will cater mainly to the TAC and anyone coming from the mainstream would likely have to fit in with a TAC-led Ordinariate.
Clive, numbers need not be paramount. The TAC knocked on the door first and made up its mind ages ago. Under A.C., there can be more than one ordinariate per country. That is the beauty of the fact that these are *personal* structures. the 'personal' apostolic administration of St. John-Mary Vianney in Brazil occupies exactly the same territory as does the Diocese of Campos. This is *not* a problem. Nor is it a 'problem' to erect structures for very small groups. We in the Catholic Church have missions sui juris, we have an apostolic prefecture for the Galapagos Islands, one in northern Kazakhstan for about two parishes; we have an Armenian particular church (which is more juricially than is a personal ordinariate) for two Armenian parishes. It covers 30 countries from the Caribbean to Chile. Not a problem.
Those who think that it would be a problem to have a separate p.o. for the TAC in England are starting with their conclusion and then moving backwards to find premises to fit it. They expect Rome to say no and they are desperate, after a long struggle, to celebrate. They are not bothering to look at the facts in terms of juridical structures in the Catholic Church. We have an entire sui juris ritual church for only 3,000 Albanian Byzantines in Southern Albania and that is juridically far more than a diocese. We have another one for 50,000 Italo-Albanians in Calabria and Sicily. There is another one for only 2,500 Byzantine Catholics in Greece. It has one parish at Athens and one at Yannitsa, in Macedonia.
The TAC in England and Wales has about 18 parishes, two or three of these have their own church buildings (if not by ownership, then by control). This is perfectly feasible to become a personal ordinariate for the culture and charism of the Traditional Anglican Communion in England and Wales.
Given what has happened, the TAC worldwide should step back and regroup. I am NOT suggesting that the TAC decline the ordinaraites. I am suggesting that they delay entering them and consider a new proposal to Rome. After all, the C.D.F. delayed answering their request for two years and is now handing the structures over to others, all having the effect of dissipating their liturgical and disciplinary culture. Knock, and the door shall be slammed in your face?
The problem of the Mass has also not been solved. For most faithful, it is the Mass that matters and almost nothing else. To date, the options are a Mass in Latin, the Novus Ordo, and an Book of Divine Worship based on the American prayerbook of 1979 (not 1928) with the seriously-defective N.O. Offertory. I suggest that these options will assure that all the euphoria we are currently seeing will be short-lived. Let the TAC, at the very least, wait until real liturgical options become approved by Rome. The order of operations is crucial: you bake the cake before, not after, you eat it.
Enough for now.
P.K.T.P.
Deborah, et al. Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and not in man. Do not borrow trouble. The Lord will order all according to His purpose, in His way, and in His time. Patiently wait for Him. If you know that you are called to communion with Rome, do not let the Enemy discourage you. The Enemy is as much behind that as he would be behind any deliberate acts of "freezing out." Pride and plans must be made to take a back seat. However, I would observe that the situation in England, where the TAC is small, is hardly like that in the rest of the world — so it is rather early and self-defeating to panic over a single announcement about a single ordinariate.
Also, to echo Fr Phillips, the TAC and FIF etc are passing away. There is no room for oneupsmanship. We are not of Paul and Apollos, but of Christ.
Division and suspicion are not part parts of the Anglican patrimony that should be preserved.
The patrimony – in what is it reckoned to consist? Is there any clue about this?
The press release does not distinguish between those who are currently members of the C of E, and those who have already left it. There has been a major level of interest in the resignation of bishops from the C of E, so it is understandable that the press release would specifically address their situation.
Personally, I'm extremely pleased with this press release, because it shows that the bishops of England and Wales are trying to assist with this both with moral support and also financially. The ABC's comments help with this, because the Catholic bishops won't feel that they're doing something to harm relations with the C of E.
I'm also impressed by the timeline given – that the bishops will be ordained fairly quickly, and play a role in the reception of their people into full communion. The transition period outlined seems to be quick and relatively painless.
I am disappointed that we haven't heard more about the role of the TAC in England and Wales. However, it is understandable that we wouldn't get a lot of press, exactly… the TAC in Britain is infinitesimal. I remain hopeful, however.
At the end of the day, this isn't about us – it's about the Body of Christ.
Absolutely right, Michael. This is encouraging and very exciting.
This statement from Ian Gray (from the link) was interesting:
There appears to be some tension between what the TTAC and FiF desires. (Maybe there will be two ordinariates, after all? Then again, the TTAC numbers are terribly small, and look even more miniscule in light of the dossier.) What matters, though, is that last paragraph. We can talk all day about how Mercer and the TTAC's humility and eagerness should be rewarded. But if it is humility, it will survive this test, and will not show aggression. This is about Catholic unity–not about power plays. News that a Ordinariate is about to be established in the UK is joyful; it can only be joyful.
Dear Mr. Mendez:
Small by what standard? There is an entire particular church (which is juridically more than what the personal ordinariates are) for two parishes in the Greek Catholic Church in Greece, with far smaller numbers. Total lay membership: under 2,500. There is an entire territorial apostolic administration of Atyrau for 2,600 Latin faithful in Kazakhsan. It was erected in 1999 and has five parishes. And it is a full particular church–more than what a personal ordinariate is in law. There's a prefecture apostolic for the Galapagos Is. in Ecuador. The Armenian Catholics have an apostolic exarchate covering 28 countries from the Dominican Republic to Chile. IT HAS ONLY TWO PARISHES and 2,000 subjects.
The ritual Apostolic Administration of St. John-Mary Vianney occupies exactly the same territory as the Diocese of Campos.
Where there's a will, there's a way.
P.K.T.P.
P.S. No harm in publishing this purely informational post.
'I am disappointed that we haven't heard more about the role of the TAC in England and Wales. However, it is understandable that we wouldn't get a lot of press, exactly… the TAC in Britain is infinitesimal. I remain hopeful, however.'
Give it time. We may know more in a few days/weeks. The TAC may be small in the UK, but 23 priests have sent in their dossiers, not eight as has been mentioned elsewhere. We continue to pray and wait for our Bishops (Moyer and Mercer) to offer guidance, when they are free to speak.
The Anglican Communion was established in England first, so it makes sense that the first Ordinariate should be started there. Also Anglicans coming into the Church can't be divided between TAC and FIF, they must all be united. It doesn't make sense to have an Ordinariate for TAC and one for FIF members in England.
The Holy Father has offered this to all Anglicans worldwide, there surely won't be only one Ordinariate. Others will follow as Rome sees fit. I am saddened to see such little faith and trust shown.
I agree. We need to show more faith and trust in God that all this will work out in the end. I see nothing devastating about the news from England. At least we now know how the Ordinariate process will proceed.
I also can't see how the TAC is shut out of the process here in Canada when the majority of those wishing to enter the Ordinariate are TAC. Without the TAC there would be no prospect for an Ordinariate here.
There are also no ACC bishops ready to jump ship and highjack the process here, no "other groups" waiting in the wings ready to usurp the TAC..Also, those at the TAC church I have associated with myself do not feel as they are trying to enter as individuals, but as a group.
The only thing I may be puzzled about is how us Roman Catholics (former Anglicans) will fit in as far as officially joining an Ordinariate, but I am sure this will be quickly resolved and painlessly.
@Paul Nicholls
"The only thing I may be puzzled about is how us Roman Catholics (former Anglicans) will fit in as far as officially joining an Ordinariate, but I am sure this will be quickly resolved and painlessly."
The Apostolic Constitution says this:
'Both the lay faithful as well as members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, originally part of the Anglican Communion, who wish to enter the Personal Ordinariate, must manifest this desire in writing.'
So, when an ordinariate is set up where you are, if you wish to be on its books, as it were, you write to your nearest ordinariate priest, or to the ordinary, stating that this is the case.
Of course, all Catholics of whatever origin will be able to fulfil their obligations by attending ordinariate masses.
"Of course, all Catholics of whatever origin will be able to fulfil their obligations by attending ordinariate masses."
This is important, and something which we who are already Catholic must make very clear to our fellow Catholics from the very outset. The territorial Ordinariates (I hope they rename them soon; it's getting very tiresome) are part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The liturgy celebrated therein and thereby may seem different to what we're used to, and things may on the whole be done in a way with which we are not accustomed. But Ordinariate churches are still Catholic churches, and the Mass is the Mass.
I think that most Catholics will be quite happy once it is explained to them, but some may require more determined persuasion.
Paul,
I wrote to Archbishop Wuerl asking to be part of the Ordinariate and received a letter back from Fr. Hurd that they would be keeping me informed.
I have no fear as a Catholic (former TEC) of becoming part of the Ordinariate. Hopefully my former parish will be voting soon to enter it. You should write to whoever is your Pastoral Delegate as soon as possible.
Let us suppose that Cardinal Levada and the C.D.F. wanted badly to ensure that the TAC and other Anglo-Catholic Anglicans wanted to enter the coming ordinariates. What might they do? His Eminence might pose such a question to his Congregation. What would be the answer from the experts? Well, says one, their bishops have submitted a Mass text that would be welcomed with exceptional gratitude by those people, and it is entirely orthodox. It was submitted at Pentecost of this year.
Question: So why, this late in the game, has this not been approved for use in the coming ordinariates? The sooner it is approved, the less suspicion and fear will arise. Its acceptance will bring unity to the incomers; it will warm their hearts and quell their fears. Consider the situation. At present, the only approved forms for the Mass are the N.O.M., a B.D.W. based on a later and purely American prayerbook and which includes the N.O. Offetory as a mandatory part, and a Latin Mass that would be regarded as foreign by most incoming laics.
So where is the approval? Perhaps it is not here because it is not coming. Just a thought.
Suppose a wondrous Mass text were approved, one that marries the sonorous cadences of the Anglican prayerbook to the Roman Canon and the *Traditional* and very sacrificial Roman Offertory. Who might suffer from such a fusion? The Canterbury Communion would. And who are the friends of the Canterbury Communion liberals? Answer: the libeals who dominate the Latin Church and the episcopal conferences. Just a thought.
Now is not the time for a wild party. Now is the *real* time for 'discernment', and in the older and the correct sense of that term, not the nonsense the term bears in post-conciliar Roman blather. This process began when the TAC made its commitment publicly in October of 2007. Three years later and we have nothing but a coming FiF-led ordinariate for England, the Novus Ordo, and a later American prayerbook with a N.O. Offertory. Think before you jump.
P.K.T.P.
No word on any forthcoming publication of a distinctive "Anglican rite" liturgy. Is this because the UK clergy involved already use the OF of the Roman rite? Do Anglican Use parishes in the US anticipate any revision to the BDW ahead of the erection of the Ordinariate there?
I'd say that any changes to the BDW are anticipated to be made after an Ordinariate has been established rather than before. It would seem that the Ordinary would be the person to propose changes to the CDF, Whether or not the CDF is considering the use of some other liturgical books could be a different story, but I would be a bit surprised if anything were approved prior to the appointing of an Ordinary. The Ordinary might very well get additional texts approved fairly quickly, despite the fact that Bishops' Conferences seem to take 10 years to approve a translation.
I was hoping for an announcement about liturgy yesterday, but having thought about it, you're probably right – an announcement about the liturgical norms of an Ordinariate is within the preserves of its Ordinary. It may be that great strides have been made already towards preparing a "patrimonial" liturgy for England and Wales, but announcements are being withheld for reasons of politeness until the Ordinariate is erected and the Ordinary is in place.
It's not like we need it yet, no matter how much we all want to see it.