Some of you have expressed interest in reading the document which established the Pastoral Provision in 1980, which was approved for implementation in the United States. Reprinted below is the letter from Franjo Cardinal Seper to Archbishop John R. Quinn, in which the terms of the Pastoral Provision are outlined. As is evident in I.2, a “statute” or “pastoral provision” was supposed to be provided for the “common identity” of the group which was being established. This speaks to a couple of interesting points.
First of all, the Pastoral Provision envisioned “groups” from the very beginning. This pastoral provision was not intended only as a way of bringing in individual clergy to be absorbed for ministry in the wider Latin Rite, while leaving behind all Anglican patrimony – although certainly that became normative over time. Only a small number of priests coming through Pastoral Provision minister in Anglican Use parishes; the vast majority are engaged in ministry outside the Anglican Use.
The second point of interest is this “statute” which is mentioned. Those of us who came through the Pastoral Provision and are now serving in Anglican Use parishes have long wondered about this statute. Had it been written? Could a copy of it be obtained? In fact, some of us asked about it, but never received any definitive answer. I think we have the answer now: the statute finally has been written, and it is called Anglicanorum coetibus.
There’s another item of great interest in this letter. In II.1 it states, “the possibility of some other type of structure as provided for by canonical dispositions, and as suited to the needs of the group, is not excluded.” That seems to be an opening for what we see happening today, with the Personal Ordinariates.
Obviously, the Pastoral Provision is not the only thing that led to the issuing of Anglicanorum coetibus. The many requests by Anglicans from all over the world, and the petitions from groups such as Forward in Faith and the Traditional Anglican Communion, were key elements leading to the present development; however, it seems evident that the Pastoral Provision has had some small part in all the things which have brought us to this historic moment in the Catholic Church.
Document Outlining the Pastoral Provision
issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
on July 22, 1980
Prot. N. 66/77Addressed to:
His Excellency, the Most Reverend John R. Quinn
Archbishop of San Francisco
President, N.C.C.B.Your Excellency,
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its Ordinary Session of June 18, 1980, has taken the following decisions in regard to the Episcopalians who seek reconciliation with and entrance into the Catholic Church.
I. General Decisions:
1) The admission of these persons, even in a group, should be considered the reconciliation of individual persons, as described in the Decree on Ecumenism Redintegratio Unitatis, n. 4, of the Second Vatican Council.
2) It will be appropriate to formulate a statute or “pastoral provision” which provides for a “common identity” for the group.II. Elements of the “Common Identity”:
1) Structures: The preference expressed by the majority of the Episcopal Conference for the insertion of these reconciled Episcopalians into the diocesan structures under the jurisdiction of the local Ordinaries is recognized. Nevertheless, the possibility of some other type of structure as provided for by canonical dispositions, and as suited to the needs of the group, is not excluded.
2) Liturgy: The group may retain certain elements of the Anglican liturgy; these are to be determined by a Commission of the Congregation set up for this purpose. Use of these elements will be reserved to the former members of the Anglican Communion. Should a former Anglican priest celebrate public liturgy outside this group, he will be required to adopt the common Roman Rite.
3) Discipline: (a) To married Episcopalian priests who may be ordained Catholic priests, the following stipulations will apply: they may not become bishops; and they may not remarry in case of widowhood. (b) Future candidates for the priesthood must follow the discipline of celibacy. (c) Special care must be taken on the pastoral level to avoid any misunderstanding regarding the Church’s discipline of celibacy.III. Steps required for admission to full communion:
1) Theological-catechetical preparation is to be provided according to need.
2) A profession of faith (with appropriate additions to address the points on which there is divergence of teaching between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church) is to be made personally by all (ministers and faithful) as a conditio sine qua non.
3) Reordination of the Episcopalian clergy, even those who are married, shall be allowed in accord with the customary practice, after the examination of each individual case by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.IV. The statute or “pastoral provision” will not be definitive, but rather will be granted ad tempus non determinatum.
V. Particulars regarding the execution of the decision:
1) The contents of the statute or “pastoral provision” are to be determined with the agreement of the Episcopal Conference. In what concerns the liturgical aspects of the statute, the Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship will be asked for its accord. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will keep informed of any developments both the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches (the latter in view of the possible influence on the particular dispositions for ecclesiastical celibacy among Eastern-rite priests in the United States).
2) A Catholic ecclisiastical Delegate, preferably a Bishop, should be designated, with the approval of the Episcopal Conference, as the responsible person to oversee the practical application of the decisions here reported and to deal with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in what pertains to this question.
3) These decisions should be implemented with all deliberate speed in view of the waiting period already undergone by the Episcopalians who have presented this request.These decisions were approved by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in the audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation on June 20, 1980.
The complexity of the above decisions, Your Excellency, recommends early contact between yourself and the Congregation in order to discuss the details and procedures for their implementation. Given your knowledge of the matter, it would seem ideal that, even after your term as President of the Episcopal Conference has expired, you might remain as Bishop Delegate (cf. V, 2) responsible for overseeing the admission of these persons into full communion with the Catholic Church. Permit me to express the hope that, if convenient for you, you will contact the Congregation for the purpose of initiating the necessary discussion of this question during your stay in Rome to participate in the 1980 Synod of Bishops.
Finally, I am enclosing a letter which I would be grateful to you for forwarding, after you have taken note of its contents, to Father John Barker of the Pro-Diocese of St. Augustine of Canterbury, informing him that their petition has been accepted in principle. Since you will be in the best position to know what publicity may be deemed unavoidable or suitable, I would like to leave in your hands the manner and timing of any communication about the fact or nature of the decisions here reported. I am sure you will have already noted in the decisions as reported a concern for the sensitive areas of ecumenism and celibacy.
You will no doubt want to inform Bishops Law and Lessard of the abovementioned decisions, since they were so closely involved in the negotiations during various phases. Since the group in question involves a certain number of English clergy and faithful, the Congregation will undertake to give the necessary information to the hierarchy of England and Wales.
With every best wish for Your Excellency, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
/S/ Franjo Card. Seper, Pref.
Related posts:
While Cardinal Wuerl and Father Hurd have indicated that the Pastoral Provision Office would continue as a separate entity unrelated to the Personal Ordinariate, has it even had any activity since Anglicanorum Coetibus? Their website does not seem to provide any information that is more recent than 2 years old. Their News page announces the upcoming Anglican Use Conference of June 2009. They indicate that Msgr. Stetson is the contact person, though I can recall about the same week that Anglicanorum Coetibus came out there was a retreat for Pastoral Provision priests underway in which he was introducing his replacement as he was retiring. Though I would think there were some priest candidates going through the process at the time, has anyone entered the process through the Pastoral Provision process since?
I applied for the Pastoral Provision and quit when the Roman Catholic bishop and I could not agree on whether he would accept my parish or just me (he wanted another priest rather than another parish).
I heard Cardinal Wuerl's statement about parishes or individual clergy in Seattle and considered whether or not he had read the Pastoral Provision document.
Actually, there is no reason that one would have expected him to do so.
I considered also that he was speaking (in Seattle) to an audience which included some bishops who are not in favor of the Ordinariate idea.
There is an interesting blog article entitled "U.S. Anglican Ordinariate Emerges" at a blogspot site called the Catholic Knight today (June 17), which contemplates some positive additions we "former" Anglicans can make to the Church at large.
Was it with St Columba's church? I would be very interested to know more about the parish you lead, Father. Perhaps it could be featured on this site, as were Christchurch Dennison and a couple of other parishes?
Daniel,
there has been activity at the Pastoral Provision office; priests from not only the Episcopal Church but Continuing Anglican jurisdictions have entered the process and been ordained. Last year when we had our Anglican Use Society annual conference in Newark we met with the new secretary for the Pastoral Provision office, Msgr. Sheehan; he had only recently taken over for Msgr. Stetson.
Unfortunately, Msgr. Sheehan had some health problems shortly thereafter and I believe he is also the judicial vicar (in charge of the tribunal) in Newark. I've emailed offering to update the Pastoral Provision web site, but have never received a reply. I had thought my several years as editor of the AUS publication would qualify me, but they may prefer to keep it in house; but clearly, the PP office doesn't have the staff to do these things in house. Oh well, maybe the Lord is saving me from myself; it's not as if I needed something else to do
It was partly because the Pastoral Provision web site was not getting updated that I started my AU news blog http://anglicanusenews.blogspot.com/.
I'm aware of priests that have now been ordained while completing the process after Anglicanorum Coetibus, but the ones I've heard of were already in the process. Do you know that some have entered the process since? It doesn't seem that Cardinal Meyers has been very visible and it would seem he could also have been on the podium to take a question or two, but wasn't.
Have you heard of any efforts to streamline the process? I'm not quite sure why anyone would enter that process with the anticipation of it taking a considerable period of time when they could be ordained through the Ordinariate process in less than a year. Won't the Pastoral Provision process require them to find a bishop willing to accept them, and haven't many of the ones that have in the past set a quota for how many they would allow?
Are there any particular bishops out there that you'd be aware of that would be willing to accept a candidate through the Pastoral Provision process, or at this point aren't they more likely to say they should contact Cardinal Wuerl's office?
Perhaps the website is neglected by design. Stale information conveys a message, does it not?
Cynical comments convey a message as well, my brother.
It seems right, does it not, that if one is assigned a worthy task by the Church, and one receives compensation for that task, then one ought to perform to the best of one's ability, as a matter of justice. If the person so charged is not up to the task, or is not highly motivated, or finds it too difficult to do, and then ignores offers to help, then justice demands that he remedy the problem by passing the ball. There is no shame in that. These are people's lives we are talking about. Is this a worthy outreach tool? The Church is "ever new," so I'm sorry to say, but three year old information doesn't serve anyone.
The Ordinariate Portal blog is carrying the text of the homily which Bishop Alan Hopes, the Auxiliary of Westminster, who is the Episcopal Delegate of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales for the implementation of Anglicanorum Coetibus gave at the ordination of two more priests for the English Ordinariate in Norwich on 15th June 2011.
Bishop Hopes recalled:-
"At an Ordination Mass in 1967 in Rome, of a number of priests from England, Pope Paul VI said very beautifully, something which is true of our own Celebration today:
'Today’s Ordination is distinguished by special; circumstances: these new priests have been chosen among a people who in the course of history have been, to us in Rome, a cause of special drama: divided from us by half a world; but then, under the auspices of Pope S Gregory and S Augustine, most dear and close to us; later with immense pain, torn asunder from us; finally in recent times marked by new friendship and new hope, that people strongly and sweetly draws itself to our very heart.'
There can be no doubt of Pope Paul VI's desire to bring Anglicans back into communion with Rome. The present Holy Father is developing a policy which Paul VI held very dear.
Though since the Pastoral Provision process is exclusive to the United States; I've wondered what process those priests in England went through, how it differed from the process now set up for the Personal Ordinaraiate there, and if the process did differ do they see a need to continue that separate process? I'd expect that just as much as in the United States, there could be individuals that want to become diocesan priests rather than part of the Ordinariate.
An other pastoral provision for married clergy, much older, does exist: it is Pius XII's pastoral provision in 1954, aimed at married Lutheran clergy in Germany. The latest ordinand through this provision is Fr. Harm Klüting in 2011. His wife is now a carmelite tertiary. The reason of this provision was to give a home to the high-church lutheran clergy who at that time was fleeing the different regional lutheran Churches in Germany due to their union with the German Reformed (=Calvinistic) Church.
+ PAX et BONUM
As far as I know, no other pastoral provision has allowed for a liturgical use and the establishment of parishes and communities to maintain a common identity, as did the 1980 Pastoral Provision. This, I believe, is what gives particular importance to the U. S. pastoral provision.
This is interesting! Thank you for posting this. Do you or anyone on this forum have a copy of the enabling document issued by Ppope Pius XII or the Secretary of the Holy Office? There are references to this and some photos online, but no other documentation which I have been able to find.
Blessings,
Irl