William Oddie writes in the Catholic Herald:
The English ordinariate, it seems, will be well on its way by the middle of this month. Three former Anglican bishops were received into full communion with the Catholic Church during a Mass at Westminster Cathedral on January 1. One of the comments following the Herald online report, noting that they were received in secular clothing, opines that “For Bishops to wear ties is simply saintly and to lose all that prestige they once held is stunning to the mind of a Catholic Bishop”.
Well, indeed. But I think that their former prestige is the least important aspect of what they are giving up: they are abandoning certainty and recognition within an established institution, for uncertainty within an institution – the ordinariate – that doesn’t even exist yet. What this shows is an absolute faith in the Catholic Church of which it will be a part, especially as it is embodied by the present Holy Father.
I last saw the most senior of the three, John Broadhurst, formerly Bishop of Fulham, splendidly caparisoned in full episcopal fig (I have known him, on and off, for over 30 years, and have never seen him except in clericals: I can hardly imagine him in a secular collar and tie) at the 150th anniversary of that great Anglo-Catholic institution, Pusey House, Oxford, just after the publication of Anglicanorum coetibus. I asked him for his reaction to the document (it was pretty clear that most of those present were elated by it): his reply had to do, not with the visionary excitements of the proposed ordinariate, but with its practicability: “it’s doable”, he simply replied.
Now, it’s being done (by him and others), and at a dizzying speed. After their ordination on January 1, the three former “flying bishops” will be ordained to the Catholic diaconate on January 13, and to the priesthood two days later. This, I am pretty sure, is unprecedented: Anglican clergy have previously had to undergo a period of seminary training before they are accepted for ordination in the Catholic mainstream.
What this new development demonstrates, apart from anything else, is the degree of knowledge, gained by the former Cardinal Ratzinger after a decade and a half of discussions with these men, of their already existing understanding of and belief in Roman Catholic doctrine and practice (entirely based, since its publication, on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and on other essential Catholic texts). The Pope is well aware that the Anglo-Catholic clergy who will inaugurate the world’s first ordinariate already have a degree of authentically Catholic priestly formation which some of our seminaries are today far from achieving or even attempting.
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"After their ordination on January 1…"
Surely he meant, "After their reception or perhaps, "After their confirmation on January 1", right?
I don't know if that's what he means. But you are correct. They WERE received, they WILL be ordained. Hopefully that author was so excited he just had trouble typing his words in the right order. Happens to all of us when we read great news like this! Yours in Christ,
Robert Smith
When the author says "our seminaries" does he mean Anglican or Catholic seminaries? I hope he doesn't mean Catholic. My experience as a current Catholic Seminarian is that our seminaries are VASTLY improved from what they were even ten years ago. If we aren't receiving an authentically Catholic formation I don't know what Catholic is. Everything we do is about being Catholic! I hope that when I go over to the American Ordinariate, (God willing this year?) I can stay at St. John Vianney. My one concern is that it will be hard to develop the Anglican side of things at SJV. (But I know the faculty, priests and students are behind the Ordinariate 100% so that helps.) To all laity that read this please understand; the things that plagued Catholic seminaries in the 60's, 70's, and 80's are gone. They have been replaced by an authentic, true Catholic faith, which is probably why American seminaries are growing like leaps and bounds. If current growth rates continue it might actually be possible to see an end to the priest-crises where there are not enough priests for the congregations. I can't say what the situation is in Europe, but here in the US of A there is great reason to rejoice.
Yours in Christ,
Robert Smith, Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary, Denver CO.
Robert:
This is very good news indeed. The several seminarians I'm in contact with on the east coast confirm this assessment of the Catholic seminaries as well.
Granted that this is anecdotal, but it seems to me that today's seminarians are interested in developing a Catholic identity that draws on our pre and post Vatican II patrimony. Also, they don't seem to have any difficulties with growing both the devotional and the intellectual aspects of our Catholic faith in their formation. As you said, this is great reason to rejoice.
Robert,
You wrote: My experience as a current Catholic Seminarian is that our seminaries are VASTLY improved from what they were even ten years ago. If we aren't receiving an authentically Catholic formation I don't know what Catholic is. Everything we do is about being Catholic!
I'm delighted that you are having such a terrific experience, but unfortunately I can't say with any certainty that it's universal. Archbishop Charles Chaput, O. F. M. Cap., is a wonderfully orthodox "no nonsense" guy who simply would not tolerate his diocesan seminary being any other way.
Archbishop Charles is also a phenomenally gifted preacher. I always look forward to assisting in his stational mass at 6:30 PM on Sunday evenings at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception whenever I visit my friends who live in Denver because I know that his homily will be very worthwhile.
You wrote: I hope that when I go over to the American Ordinariate, (God willing this year?) I can stay at St. John Vianney.
Don't fret. Our bishops are demanding orthodoxy of our seminaries, so all of the seminaries that are growing are growing because they are theologically and pastorally solid.
But JTOL, I suspect that the Ordinariate might prefer to send its candidates to a national seminary rather than a diocesan seminary because its clergy will be serving parishes throughout the United States.
You wrote: My one concern is that it will be hard to develop the Anglican side of things at SJV.
Why?
Norm.
Robert: Quality may no longer be a concern, but quantity is another matter. Latest statistics show US seminary enrollment up 2% from the previous year. Average age of a seminarian: 36. Average age of current priests: 60+. More priests over 90 than under 30. Two percent can't even be replacement level, and the lay Catholic population continues to grow. On what basis do you see the priest shortage ending any time soon?
I don't know the data well enough to say whether there "will be enough priests for the congregations," but Lina should note that when the priests who are now 90 were ordained, they were many more priests than congregations. Therefore, having enough priests for our congregations is NOT the same thing as having as many priests as once we had.
Lina,
You wrote: Average age of a seminarian: 36. Average age of current priests: 60+. More priests over 90 than under 30.
That's a rather irrelevant statistic. If most seminarians are over thirty, there will not be very many priests under thirty. The relevant question is how the number of individuals being ordained compares to the number of individuals who are retiring from active ministry.
FWIW, many dioceses now prefer that seminarians have a few years of actual experience working at a lay occupation before they enter the seminary, partly because they have found that seminarians who don't typically have not developed the level of maturity that active ministry demands and partly because they have found that those who don't often have difficulty relating to the circumstances of their parishonners. As a result, many dioceses are no longer accepting candidates for semianry who are much younger than thirty or so.
Norm.
Latest (2010) stats from CARA (Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate) indicate that 3,400 US parishes are without a resident priest pastor, so I think there is a bit of catch-up to do already. Don`t forget that the Church has gone from a lay population of around 45 million to about 65 million.
Lina,
You wrote: Latest (2010) stats from CARA (Center for Applied Research on the Apostolate) indicate that 3,400 US parishes are without a resident priest pastor, so I think there is a bit of catch-up to do already. Don`t forget that the Church has gone from a lay population of around 45 million to about 65 million.
That may not be as much of a problem as you think. In much of the midwest, the rural communities are very small — a typical parish has perhaps a hundred families. In many cases, a pastor has mass in one parish on Saturday evening, another relatively early on Sunday morning, and the third around noon on Sunday. The people all know that if they can't make mass in their own parish due to a schedule conflict, they can go to the mass in the next town (typically about ten miles away).
I'm personally aware of one instance in which a bishop canonically erected a parish with the understanding that the parish would have a lay administrator rather than a pastor, and that this would be a permanent arrangement. Of course, the lay administrator was an individual with a degree and suitable experience in pastoral ministry. I know it sounds a little hokey that I'm describing the Parish of St. Nicholas in the town of Santa Claus, Indiana, but the parish is about ten miles from Saint Meinrad Archabbey, a Benedictine monastary that operates a national seminary, so the administrator can always call the archabbey to for assistance whenever a pastor from a neighboring parish is not available to supply sacramental services. Many clerical religious orders are quite willing to assist nearby parishes in such situations.
The parish of St. Nicholas is not alone, either. Some years ago, a personal acquaintance with a degree in pastoral ministry accepted a position as a permanent lay administrator of a parish in upstate New York.
Norm.
Yes, there are currently 570 US parishes with such leadership, up from zero 20 years ago. I doubt that this is because large numbers of bishops feel the need to pay a salary attractive to a layperson with a doctoral degree to maintain 200-person parishes ten miles from another church.
And all that leads us to wonder if the sacramental grace these men received in ordination as Anglican clergy were really "absolutely null and utterly void"! Being raised to the Catholic priesthood after 12 days as laymen, two days as deacons is simply unprecedented in the post-medieval history of the Catholic Church. This to me is an implicit recognition of the validity of their Anglican ministries without really making Apostolicae Curae a papal bull of purely historical interest.
No need to wonder; such rapid ordinations are par for the course in many Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions, when a Protestant minister (say, a Lutheran or a Pentecostalist — not just an Anglican) brings over into Orthodoxy a flock with him.
Ben,
And all that leads us to wonder if the sacramental grace these men received in ordination as Anglican clergy were really "absolutely null and utterly void"! Being raised to the Catholic priesthood after 12 days as laymen, two days as deacons is simply unprecedented in the post-medieval history of the Catholic Church. This to me is an implicit recognition of the validity of their Anglican ministries without really making Apostolicae Curae a papal bull of purely historical interest.
I'm not so sure that the timeline is as unprecedented as you assert. While surfing the 'net a month or two ago, I ran across an account of the process of reception for an intact parish that came to the Catholic Church from the Episcopal Church – U. S. A. (ECUSA), now known as The Episcopal Church (TEC) nearly thirty years ago. The entire sequence of events, from formal candidacy for reception to ordination and canonical installation of the pastor, including reception of the whole parish, was less than a month.
In any case, nobody disputes the training and qualification of former Anglican pastors to continue in the pastoral ministry that they have been doing for years. The critical distinction, though is between ministry and sacramental orders — it's the sacramental orders that Pope Leo XIII declared to be "utterly null and void" due to loss of apostolic succession. The ordinations by Catholic bishops correct this deficiency going forward.
Norm.
Norm, you may be remembering the account I gave of the establishment of Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, which was "nearly thirty years ago." We didn't come directly from ECUSA; rather, our parish was a rag-tag group of former Episcopalians who formed a parish within the Pro-diocese of St. Augustine of Canterbury — an organization which was a gathering-place for Anglicans who wished to head Rome-wards. Here's what I think you're referencing: http://www.theanglocatholic.com/2010/10/digging-around-in-the-archives/
You'll see that our "process" took a little less than a month, once it got underway.
Fr. Christopher,
You wrote: Norm, you may be remembering the account I gave of the establishment of Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, which was "nearly thirty years ago." We didn't come directly from ECUSA; rather, our parish was a rag-tag group of former Episcopalians who formed a parish within the Pro-diocese of St. Augustine of Canterbury — an organization which was a gathering-place for Anglicans who wished to head Rome-wards. Here's what I think you're referencing: http://www.theanglocatholic.com/2010/10/digging-around-in-the-archives/
Your account does appear to be similar to the account that I recall reading a while ago. Thank you for locating it!
And BTW, congratulations on (1) your phenomenal growth as a parish at Our Lady of the Atonement and (2) orchestrating what was, by all accounts, a hugely successful "Becoming One" conference!
I have read many ecstatic comments about both your parish and the "Becoming One" conference on other web sites. It's very clear that the conference was very instrumental in removing all doubt of the future of the "Anglican patrimony" in our Church. The fact that similar conferences are now in the works for Australia, for Canada, and in St. Louis is a powerful witness to its value. Those who attended clearly were very favorably impressed!
Norm.
As a baptized and confirmed Catholic and former seminarian who became an 'institutional' Anglican 20 years ago, I expect to be received into the Ordinariate by reconciliation rather than reception. Since I am currently the pastor of a parish that will also be entering the Ordinariate, I would expect that I would be ordained to the Catholic priesthood, D.v., relatively soon afterwards.
In the case of the CofE bishops there should be little surprise at their being ordained so quickly. They have studied theology and have taught the Catholic faith for some time and have had years of pastoral experience. They are at least as qualified as most Catholic ordinands.
I have always enjoyed reading William Oddie's articles. They are insightful and direct.
I applaud him for his strength in keeping alive the ecumenical spirit of the Anglo-Catholics in the Anglican Church and their fervent desire to enter into full communion with the See of Rome.
I have no doubt that the English Ordinariate will thrive. There will be teething difficulties but the Holy Spirit will work its way in assisting our Anglo-Catholic brothers and sisters establish themselves with the Catholic Church. After all, it took the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches more than 80 years to establish full communion with Rome though some joined down the centuries.
Yes, I have heard of angry, spiteful remarks from Protestants (Methodists, Anglicans, Baptists) about the establishment of the Ordinariate. I also know they wish the effort to fail but I pray that the Holy Spirit will prove them wrong.
I pray that an Ordinariate will be set up in Singaproe where I live. Then, we will be able to witness the rich patrimony of the Anglo-Catholics.