Posts tagged Anglican Communion
Clarification on Friends of the Ordinariate (FOTO)
Feb 23rd
Deborah’s recent post on the new Friends of the Ordinariate (FOTO) initiative has caused a bit of controversy in the comment box. It was asked why this web site is restricted to members of the Church of England, the Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, or the Church of Ireland. It was even speculated that this was an attempt to sideline the TAC or other “extramural” Anglicans interested in the personal ordinariate scheme.
I have been in touch with one of those responsible for this initiative in the UK and am now able to clarify a few points of interest.
Firstly, at the present moment, whilst FiF UK is happy to commend the web site to their their people, the Forward in Faith Council has not formally approved the initiative, and, as such, it remains an unofficial enterprise. The site is essentially a head-counting exercise and it should make sense that FiF UK is interested in gauging the support for Anglicanorum Coetibus amongst its own members. The exclusion of a sign-up category for members of the Traditional Anglican Communion is being revisited, and the administrator of the FOTO site will be in touch with the TAC Vicar General in England to discuss the matter.
As I mentioned in the comment box of Deborah’s initial post, a similar initiative is being planned for the North American context under the auspices of the TAC. All interested Anglicans of whatever jurisdiction will be invited to participate when the time comes. When this new personal ordinariate “society” is launched, it will be announced on The Anglo-Catholic.
Please keep in mind that the Holy Father’s offer was addressed to groups of Anglicans. Ultimately, these separate groups will unite under the banner of the future personal ordinariates, but at the moment, each must contend with its own challenges. That FiF UK has moved (unofficially) to poll its membership should not be interpreted as jockeying for position. After all, the TAC itself is attending to its own internal interests as well. The leadership of the various Forward in Faith branches and the TAC are most definitely collaborating behind the scenes and all will be well in the end. But as we work our way through this process — which is, after all, unprecedented — let’s try not to get bent out of shape by every development which does not seem to have been perfectly coordinated or which does not fit our own expectations.
General Synod Declines to Recognize ACNA
Feb 10th
The General Synod of the Church of England passed the following resolution on Wednesday by a vote of 309 to 69:
That this Synod, aware of the distress cause by recent divisions within the Anglican churches of the United States of America and Canada,”(a) recognise and affirm the desire of those who have formed the Anglican Church in North America to remain within the Anglican family;
(b) acknowledge that this aspiration, in respect both of relations with the Church of England and membership of the Anglican Communion, raises issues which the relevant authorities of each need to explore further; and
(c) invite the Archbishops to report further to the Synod in 2011.”.
On a “private member’s motion,” the General Synod of the Church of England was asked by a lay representative from the Diocese of Chichester, Lorna Ashley, to “express the desire that the Church of England be in communion with the Anglican Church in North America” (ACNA). The ACNA web site is running a news story entitled “General Synod Affirms Anglican Church in North America” and David Virtue is calling this a “slap in the face at Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and an affirmation of the ministry and ecclesiastical of ACNA Archbishop Robert Duncan,” but far short of recognizing ACNA as a new province of the Anglican Communion, the General Synod merely deigned to acknowledge that the aspirations of this upstart group of “conservatives” may be sincere. What a breakthrough!
Ecclesiastical Sundries
Feb 2nd
- Cardinal DiNardo shares his views on the Apostolic Constitution during a special parish meeting at Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, TX. Cardinal DiNardo made no mention of the ACA/TAC (or any Continuing Anglicans) during the talk and it is unclear if he had only the current Anglican Use/Pastoral Provision in mind. He seems to take a high view of the role that the USCCB will have in the erection of future personal ordinariates. While the local episcopal conference will be consulted in due course, I believe that the application and erection process will be principally the concern of the petitioning Anglican group and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
- The Archbishop of Westminster has assured the Holy Father that his invitation to Catholic Anglicans has not “seriously disrupted” the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Church of England! Well that’s nice to know. Certainly ARCIC III is on the verge of a real breakthrough. How careless the Holy Father has been in nearly derailing the whole thing! Archbishop Nichols is also willing to work with Anglicans interested in coming into full communion with the Holy See. How very generous of him!
Archbishop Nichols characterized the Holy Father’s response to Anglicans who have requested communion with Rome as “generous and paternal.”
And he affirmed that the groundwork of “close cooperation and deepening friendship and communion” between Anglicans and Catholics have “helped us to ensure that the various interpretations of and reactions to ‘Anglicanorum Coetibus’ have not seriously disrupted the relationships between our Ecclesial Communions.”
“Indeed,” the prelate said, “the commitment to commence a third round of discussions as part of the work of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission has reinforced this relationship. We remain ready to explore with those Anglicans in England and Wales who wish to take up your generous and paternal response to their requests the ways forward towards full communion.“
- The Holy Father has officially confirmed his upcoming trip to the UK. In his address to the English and Welsh bishops at the end of their visit ad limina Apostolorum, Benedict XVI also challenged the bishops to teach with united voice, upholding orthodoxy, and not legitimizing dissent against the teaching of the Church.
In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognise dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free.
- The President Bishop of the Episcopal/Anglican Diocese of Eqypt, The Most Rev. Dr. Mouneer H. Anis, has resigned from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion. Bishop Anis says that there is no longer any place for orthodox Anglicans in the Anglican Communion.
After much prayer and consideration, I hereby submit my resignation from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion (SCAC). I have come to realize that my presence in the current SCAC has no value whatsoever and my voice is like a useless cry in the wilderness.
Many sing praises of “inclusiveness” while at the same time they exclude others. I am deeply disturbed in my conscience when I see a kind of double-standard in dealing with different issues. While emphasising the importance of caring for the marginalised in our communities, like the LGBT community, the orthodox Anglicans are being marginalized. I understand that in a family, the concern of every member is cared for; but this is not the reality in our meetings where the orthodox voices are disregarded or suppressed.
- SSPX group attacks FSSP chapel over rumor of an ecumenical Mass. The FSSP Chapel of St Peter Apostle in Guadalajara (The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter) was asked to schedule a Mass for the conversion of those outside the Church, in an effort to promote true unity among all Christians. The Mass was called a Mass for the conversion of sinners outside the Church, to be followed by a rosary in reparation for false ecumenism. The SSPX however heard through the grapevine that an ecumenical Mass was going to take place and they jumped to false conclusions. As a result, the SSPX went ballistic, calling for a protest against the upcoming scheduled Mass at the FSSP chapel. The SSPX laymen came to the FSSP church the morning before the Mass on Wednesday Jan 20th, 2010, and they spray painted the walls around the church! A first hand account wrote, “Ecumenismo no! Judas!” was spray painted in huge letters three times, almost all the way around, and one time on the side walk.
The Same Tired Establishment Nonsense
Jan 11th
I don’t like to be seen as too negative, but I think some things here and there need to be answered. We got this comment today on The Anglo-Catholic from a Church of England cleric who took our previous criticism of his position personally:
The comments on this blog reveal a serious lack of comprehension of the Catholic movement in the Church of England, for which the article was written. It describes attitudes here as they are, rather than as wishful thinking would like them to be.
Anglicanorum Coetibus does seem to be designed principally for the Church of England, rather than TAC. Cardinal Kasper has said so. The announcement was made in England, with the Archbishop of Canterbury on the platform, not representatives of TAC.
AC needs to be appraised realistically. Will it be viable in England? I note the very subdued expectations on this blog about its reception by Anglicans in N America.
I would answer simply by saying that if this priest is right, the Pope is truly poaching – and that makes nonsense of his assurance to +Rowan that ecumenism would continue. Perhaps His Holiness is lying? We have already commented on Cardinal Kasper’s comments, which are totally misleading and irrelevant. The Pope and Cardinal Levada trump Cardinal Kasper. I suppose Father doesn’t have an ace up his sleeve? See the comments on the original posting.
Another couple of titbits I picked up today concern Evreux and France. In the official review of the diocese of Evreux, we find a curious position on the Eucharist for a Catholic priest.
When one speaks of the Real presence, the idea expresses the real presence of Christ in his Church.
That seem somewhat ambiguous and fairly harmless, but this priest has the kindness to make himself clear – source: “Let us not imagine we eat the flesh of the man Jesus … The flesh spoken about in St John’s Gospel “My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John vi. 51-53.) is the flesh of the resurrected, the body of Christ, a “spiritual body”. What is the mode of presence of a “spiritual” body? Not a physical presence but a sacramental or symbolic presence. The Sacrament, the symbol, uniting the human and the divine, the most material (bread) and the most “spiritual” (the body of Christ)”.
This is pure Gnosticism (dualism between flesh and spirit). Here is also a site on Gnosticism from the point of view of those who promote it. I would advise against reading the latter site unless you have a good grounding in Catholic theology. The characteristic of Gnosticism that is at issue here is that matter cannot participate in spirit (and vice versa). Thus the Incarnation and any consequence of the Incarnation would be impossible.
It gets better. The priest appointed to take Fr Michel’s place has had this to say:
Encouraging the commitment of each person in the service of the common good. Favorising la unionisation of persons to contribute to the social dialogue. Supporting elected authorities [preferably socialists?] in their initiatives to favour employment. Getting close to the most fragile. Interrogating those who have a certain power over cashflows to make money a means of development for all and not a source of personal enrichment. Maintaining international actions of solidarity. Avoiding making of our religion a disincarnate form of pietism and ceasing to live as if the way of God did not go though man.
This, though capable of a Christian interpretation, is pure left-wing politics.
These things are so many red herrings designed to weaken our resolve and confidence. Pope Benedict XVI is not senile or out of touch with reality. He would not put his entire credibility on the line for something designed to fail. He knows perfectly well what is going on. His purpose is one of restoration and a true Catholic movement to sweep away all this tired-out Establishment nonsense.
Anglicanism, a Protestant and Reformed Confession?
Dec 25th
Please don’t shoot the messenger! You know my pro-Rome position and my staunch backing of the Traditional Anglican Communion hierarchy in leading our movement towards union with the universal Church.
I came across this article in Virtue Online. The title is provocative, perhaps deliberately so.
Was Anglicanism really a via media in the opinion of Richard Hooker? Whether we agree with this article or not, it seems worth reading. It certainly seems to take the mask off a certain tendency that has been manifesting itself lately.
I would be interested in reading comments about this Virtue Online article.
Is there any point to ARCIC 3 and continuing dialogue with the Anglican Communion?
Dec 16th
One would have thought that, having promulgated the Apostolic Constitution, Pope Benedict XVI would simply have “trashed” the shipwreck of the Anglican Communion amidst shouts of glee and much smug gloating all round.
In writing this article, I have allowed myself to be influenced to a great extent by something written by Giles Pinnock on his blog.
The good Holy Father shows charity and courtesy to all, and this is what I love about him. And this is what gives us confidence in him for the carrying through of his new legislation and our canonical admission to the communion of the universal Church.
In itself, ARCIC 3 will be little more than polite platitudes and claptrap, but it keeps the door open. Simply, most Anglicans will not show any interest in the Ordinariates whether they are liberal, open-minded or closed-minded bigots. Some may come in after a time, and others will remain as they are or cease to practice any kind of Christian religion when Bishop Broadhurst’s analogy of the frog-boiling pot gets too hot.
The polite chit-chat may continue, and it keeps them occupied. If it looks in the future as if things are getting too close, then another innovation will be brought in to throw a spanner in the works. If present innovations are not enough, others could be introduced! There’s always a way to practice ecclesial coitus interruptus! One does wonder why time and money are spent “flogging a dead horse“.
There is one possible reason the dialogue is continuing.
While it is in the nature of Anglicanism that members of its competing groups give up on each other when we don’t espouse the right line on the particular neuralgic issue of the moment, the Catholic Church by nature cannot give up on any of the Baptized who are presently outside her.
ARCIC, for all its verbosity and hot air, was an attempt to introduce a gentle and subtle notion of catechetics and apologetics, helping people to see beyond the standard barriers that keep Christians apart and hostile to each other. People need to be drawn by beauty, truth and kindness – not by bitter reproach and hurling insults.
Anglicanorum Coetibus will only receive small numbers of Anglicans in the immediate future, but remains open to as many as are ready when they will be ready, however long it takes. It will certainly also extend to communities of high-church and Catholic-minded Lutherans who have a rich patrimony based on medieval German Catholicism.
Perhaps ARCIC 1 and 2 has done some good in catechising the Anglican faithful about the Mother of God and notions about the Church and the Pope. That is something, and something is better than nothing. What is important is charity and courtesy, and maybe much can be achieved in the future through Anglicanorum Coetibus or something even more developed in years to come.
It’s all frustratingly slow for those of us who are ready now, but too fast for those who are not ready. No one is beyond hope.
Cue the Fat Lady…
Nov 28th
In an interview given to Vatican Radio on Wednesday morning, Msgr. Mark Langham, the former administrator of Westminster Cathedral and now the head man for Catholic—Anglican dialogue for the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, revealed that the third — and likely final — phase of the ARCIC process will begin next year.
According to Msgr. Langham, the “starting point” of the talks would be “the broader question of the relationship between the universal church and the local church” with the divisive issues of women’s ordination (and that of practicing homosexuals) and same-sex marriage being discussed — despite the fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury, during his visit to Rome last week, characterized these as “second order” issues that should be downplayed in ecumenical dialogue.
This last phase of ARCIC (Anglican—Roman Catholic International Commission) is nothing more than a formality, Rome having lost faith in the Anglican Church as genuine ecumenical partner long ago. As late as the Lambeth Conference last year, Cardinal Kasper called for the Anglican Communion to “clarify its identity,” warning that the church must make “certain difficult decisions” to determine whether it belongs to the Catholic and Orthodox Churches of the first millennium or the Protestant Churches of the 16th century. This ultimatum came two decades too late, of course, but the Anglican Church has made it decision. As Fr. Geoffrey Kirk put it at the recent FiF UK National Assembly, “The Anglican Communion must be the only institution in the history of the world, willfully and deliberately, to call down plagues upon its own head.” The personal ordinariates provided by Anglicanorum Coetibus are the closest thing to “corporate reunion” as can now be achieved. We remain profoundly grateful to the Holy Father for the Apostolic Constitution, but the same time, faithful Anglicans everywhere are deeply grieved to witness the ignominious end of the once glorious Church of England and her Communion of sister Churches. O what might have been!
The Tired Ecumenism of the Liberals
Nov 24th
Forecasting a bright future for Catholic – Anglican relations, John Allen, Jr. of the NCR writes:
On the Catholic side, this sometimes leads to the suspicion that negotiating ecumenical agreements with Anglicans is a fruitless exercise, since there’s no way to be sure that the entire Communion will stand behind the results.
Really… you think?
According to Mr. Allen, the future of “ecumenism” is in Africa.
In addition, the flavor of Christianity in Africa is more ad extra than ad intra, more concerned with broad social, political and cultural issues than internal church debates. As a result, Catholics and Anglicans both see matters such as fighting poverty and corruption as better uses of their time than defining the precise nature of papal authority, or debating the fine points of liturgical practice. On those outward-looking social questions, Anglicans and Catholics in Africa generally share the same values and aims.
Finally, Anglican and Catholic leaders in Africa often aren’t as invested in the defining aim of the ecumenical movement in Europe and North America – full, visible, structural reunion. Instead, their ecumenism is often of a more practical stamp, focused on what the separate churches can do together right now on political and cultural matters.
Yeah… no need to define the aim. Certainly, “full, visible, structural reunion” — that would heal the open wounds in the Body of Christ — isn’t worth attempting. Better we focus on “practical” matters like politics and culture. Why be bothered with saving souls when we can win elections?
In that sense, the template for the ecumenical future may not be the new “personal ordinariates” decreed by Rome, but rather something like the “Christian Association of Nigeria,” a self-defense league formed in the late 1970s to defend Christians when Islamic militia began spreading around the countryside. It’s become an important player in Nigerian politics, with wings for both women and youth.
For Mr. Allen, a successful political party is a apparently greater ecumenical achievement than a revolutionary new structure that will reconcile separated brethren with the Catholic Church!
Read the entire story here.
When in Rome…
Nov 20th
On Thursday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, delivered an address in Rome as part of a symposium put on by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity to mark the centenary of the birth of Cardinal Willebrands, the first president of the Council. Dr. Williams is making his first trip to Rome since the announcement and subsequent release of the Holy Father’s Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus and he will have an audience with the Pope on Saturday (oh to be a fly on the wall for that one!).
The enormity of the propositions put forth by the ABC in this address is absolutely grotesque.
In Rowan’s mind, the differences that exist between the Canterbury Communion and the Catholic Church are really not all that great. Apparently there’s been a “strong convergence” between the Anglican and Catholic understandings of the nature of the Church (who knew?). It turns out that disagreements over papal primacy and the ordination of women are “second order” issues and the Roman Church is just being silly for believing otherwise.
Once again, I am asking how far continuing disunion and non-recognition are justified, theologically justified in the context of the overall ecclesial vision, when there are signs that some degree of diversity in practice need not, after all, prescribe an indefinite separation. I do not pretend to be offering a new paradigm of ecumenical encounter, far from it.
No, Your Grace, you are correct; this definitely sounds like the same old “paradigm of ecumenical encounter” — the tired “ecclesial vision” of the professional ecumaniacs: “Why can’t we all just get along?”
According to the ABC, Rome should look to the Anglican Communion as a model for successful church government in the future! Referring to Cardinal Willebrands’ ideas, he suggested that the Church might be “a ‘community of communities’ and a ‘communion of communions’ – not necessarily a single juridically united body.”
The current proposals for a Covenant between Anglican provinces represent an effort to create not a centralised decision-making executive but a ‘community of communities’ that can manage to sustain a mutually nourishing and mutually critical life, with all consenting to certain protocols of decision-making together.
The ABC admitted, however, that this covenant was “part of a variegated response [to "the crises and controversies of recent years"] that will, no doubt, continue for a good while yet to be refined and formulated.” Yep, the Anglican Communion just needs a tune-up.
Perhaps most astonishingly, Dr. Williams questioned Catholic doctrine on the ordination of women and even suggested the Anglican provinces that had introduced the innovation had done so based on principles agreed in ARCIC!
I don’t want here to rehearse the arguments for and against the ordination of women, only to ask how recent determinations on the Roman Catholic side fit with the general pattern of theological convergence outlined. The claim of certain Anglican provinces is that the ordination of women explicitly looks to an agreed historic theology of ordained ministry as set out in the ARCIC report and other sources. Beyond that, many Anglicans have been wary of accepting a determination of who can be ordained that might appear to compromise the some of the agreed principles about how ordination relates to the whole body of the baptised. This, by the way, would hold for at least some who believe that a decision within a divided Church about a matter affecting the universal ministry should not be taken by a single province or group of provinces. But for many Anglicans, not ordaining women has a possible unwelcome implication about the difference between baptised men and baptised women, which in their view threatens to undermine the coherence of the ecclesiology in question.
And lastly, Rowan says the new provision for Anglican ordinariates in the Catholic Church doesn’t break any fresh ecclesiological ground.
The recent announcement of an Apostolic Constitution making provision for former Anglicans shows some marks of the recognition that diversity of ethos does not in itself compromise the unity of the Catholic Church, even within the bounds of the historic Western patriarchate. But it should be obvious that it does not seek to do what we have been sketching: it does not build in any formal recognition of existing ministries or units of oversight or methods of independent decision-making, but remains at the level of spiritual and liturgical culture, as we might say. As such, it is an imaginative pastoral response to the needs of some; but it does not break any fresh ecclesiological ground. It remains to be seen whether the flexibility suggested in the Constitution might ever lead to something less like a ‘chaplaincy’ and more like a church gathered around a bishop.
Somehow I think the breaking of fresh theological ground will be the only thing in ++Cantuar’s mind when he sits down with the Holy Father on Saturday!
