Tag Archives: Archbishop Thomas Collins

It Depends on What the Definition of "Corporate" Is

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As a postscript to my last article, I thought that I would add one clarification regarding what are legitimate aspirations for "corporate" reunion (as opposed to the demands of some leaders of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada).

Certainly it is not at all unreasonable — all things being equal — for an existing Anglican jurisdiction to desire that discussions with the Catholic Church engage the appointed leaders of that ecclesial group (were these officials rightfully able to conduct them).  After all, the Apostolic Constitution is called "Groups of Anglicans."

It has been suggested by some partisans that Archbishop Collins has shown himself reluctant to communicate directly with the TAC group in Canada.  I do not know this to be true (at least in the sense that some have claimed).  Again, all things being equal, this would likely be an error on his part — and contrary to the spirit (if not the letter) of Anglicanorum Coetibus.  However I can full well understand the Archbishop's reluctance to deal with the leadership of the ACCC given their party line (as I described in my last post).  "Our way or the highway" is not conducive to productive dialogue.

To request that the Church hold joint discussions with the leadership of those communities contemplating full communion with the Holy See is perfectly reasonable.  So too is it justifiable that an existing fellowship of Anglicans petition for some group identity once they have come into the Catholic Church.

But the hardline position of certain ACCC leaders that their group simply become the Canadian Personal Ordinariate is rightfully unacceptable to the Catholic Church.

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Thank you, also, to the several Canadian lay members of the ACCC who have already emailed me personally to share their concurrence with my earlier evaluation of the situation.  My prayers are with you all!

Some have noted their reluctance to speak publicly for fear of recrimination from their leadership.  This should be a wake-up call to all.  The time for petty politics and posturing is over.  People are hurting and no one and no thing should now presume or be allowed to stand in the way of Christian Unity.

May God bless Bishop Wilkinson and those good people of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada who are willing and ready to make a go at forming a faithful personal ordinariate in the country!  May all of the leadership and people recognize that to follow the call of Christ the King may require some discomfort, privation, and sacrifice.  This has and will continue to be the case for all of the Anglican groups who have committed themselves to respond to the Holy Father's most generous offer.

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A Prayer for Canada

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This post originated as a reply to a comment on the story "And for Some Slow Learners…" which attributed to the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC/TAC) the status of the Personal Ordinate in Canada.  I hope that I will come across as gently and charitably as I intend in this response, but it is precisely the sort of ignorance or presumption in the original comment that is hampering the establishment of an Ordinariate in Canada, a goal for which we all ought earnestly pray.

500px Coat of arms of Canada 223x300 A Prayer for CanadaThere is presently no Personal Ordinariate in Canada (as elsewhere in the world outside of the UK). There is a small, but historically solid and faithful, "Continuing Anglican" (TAC) ecclesial community in the country (though one unnecessarily diminished by the woeful course of action taken by the ACCC to-date and described in this comment). Many of its leaders and people would like to see the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada enter the Catholic Church, and some had conceived (and unfortunately continue to conceive) of this as an ecclesial union whereby the ACCC "would [simply and without institutional disruption] come into full communion with the Catholic Church."

This union scheme came to be understood in the context of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus as the TAC province simply "becoming" the Canadian Ordinariate. Apart from the Traditional Anglican Communion's desire to be taken seriously as a "Church" (properly so-called; cf. Dominus Iesus) and a "partner" in "negotiations" with the Holy See, it was also argued that this wholesale integration of the ACCC as a future ordinariate was necessary to protect church property and legal trusts from those within the organization who would invariably balk at the church's move to Rome and that, ultimately, most of the "converts" to the Catholic Church would be coming from the existing denomination anyway.

The Catholic Church seems to have made it very clear that this reunion scheme is not on the table. If there is to be a Canadian Ordinariate it will be denominationally-neutral; no one should be hesitant to join because of the jurisdiction's basis in the ACCC. Those wishing to enter an Ordinariate must be willing to put the good of the Church before their attachment to their old denominational structures, titles, and perquisites. While, God willing, the majority of the initial converts in Canada will come from the ACCC — which has provided, these thirty some odd years, a faithful witness to Our Lord's solemn command for Christian Unity — as our esteemed Father Phillips has noted on several occasions and here quite plainly on The Anglo-Catholic, the ACCC (like all of the interim Anglican structures which have been striving to keep the faith in the wake of the apostasy of the "official" Canterbury Communion) must die so that the Ordinariate might live.

In the past year, as Archbishop Thomas Collins, the delegate for Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada has attempted, with generosity and respect, to reach out to the TAC province, the relations between the Catholic Church and the ACCC have been unproductive and confusing due to the latter's misguided conception of itself as the Anglican end-all and be-all in the country, for which the Apostolic Constitution should be especially adapted. The denomination's less-than-humble stance has led to mentor priests sent from the Catholic Church being summarily "uninvited" from local parishes, public and unseemly disagreements and discord between the ACCC leaders and the collaborators of Archbishop Collins, and now, at least it seems, very little progress towards an understanding is being made.

Here in the United States of America, we look joyfully to the Autumn, when we have been promised the canonical erection of a Personal Ordinariate for this country. We pray, too, for our Canadian friends who do not yet have any assurance of their deliverance. What a shame it would be were there, in the end, only a single North American Ordinariate! Here in the United States, in Canada, and all across the world, Anglicans must learn to humble themselves before Holy Church, which, arguably, while certainly not lowering Herself in any way, has made to us an extraordinary and strictly unnecessary accommodation in the interests of Christian peace and unity. For this we ought to be eternally grateful and willing to compromise our preconceived notions of what such unity might entail.

[I should add that (obviously) opinion varies from parish to parish, and indeed bishop to bishop in the ACCC.  Not all of our Canadian Anglican friends are still laboring under a misguided and unworkable notion of corporate reunion.  It is simply our prayer that all come around to the reality (and goodness) of the circumstances, and, united in a common goal, accelerate the pace toward, and probability of, the erection of a Canadian Personal Ordinariate.  But time is short, and discord may spell disappointment for the legitimate aspirations of the good people of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada.  The view in Rome is presently being colored by the apparent inability of substantial numbers of the Anglicans of Canada to come together under the guidance of the CDF's appointed representative there.]

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Archbishop Thomas Collins on Anglicanorum Coetibus

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Have a look at this excellent presentation by the Archbishop of Toronto.

0 Archbishop Thomas Collins on Anglicanorum Coetibus

If you want to order the full set of videos, which includes all the presentations from the Toronto Conference which took place this past March, you may do so here.

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Statement from Archbishop Hepworth

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17th May 2011

Statement from Archbishop Hepworth

I am grateful that Archbishop Collins has published a statement clarifying the implementation of Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada.

My letter to Bishop Peter Elliott was a private communication on the eve of his current trip to Rome. Besides being the Delegate for Australia, Bishop Elliott has been requested by Cardinal Levada to liaise with me on Ordinariate implementation concerns of the Traditional Anglican Communion,

I very much regret the publication of this letter and the anguish caused to many of those involved in the process of discernment that confronts each of us as the Anglican Ordinariates are formed.

Australians engage in robust debate with each other. Bishop Elliott and I had an exchange of letters in July last year concerning almost identical issues to those that have recently arisen in Canada. Australian forthrightness is not to be confused with anger.

My task is to ensure that those in the TAC “who desire to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in a corporate manner” (Introduction, AC) can do so. I must also ensure that the integrity of assets and trusts that have been gathered with great sacrifice by those departing from the Anglican Communion in the past thirty years are dealt with legally and in conformity with the intentions of those who administer them.

As Archbishop Collins notes, the TAC in Canada has a corporate and ecclesial structure. It has bishops and pastors who are responsible in conscience for the souls committed to their care. Until the Ordinariates are proclaimed, the TAC bishops and the CDF Delegates have to discover working relationships in each country where they are seeking an Ordinariate. Far more significant than issues concerning assets is the pastoral responsibility of the present pastors for their flocks.

As unity becomes a reality, new and potentially challenging relationships must be formed. In a number of countries, TAC bishops and clergy are having to discover concrete ways of sharing their responsibilities with Catholic Bishop Delegates, priest mentors and a wider public that is following the evolution of Ordinariates with emotions ranging from admiration to alarm.

Each of the Ordinariates being formed at present poses unique problems. The Torres Strait, where the Bible is still being translated into the three indigenous languages and where decision-making is a long and detailed process with whole Island communities, is not Canada. And Australia, whose constitution forbids the “establishment” of any religion, is not England, which has an Established Church.

I should also make clear that in the original memorandum on which the Canadian bishops sought my advice, most of the matters raised by the priest-mentor in question were entirely fair and in accordance with Anglicanorum Coetibus. The difficulty was created by quite specific points.

Doubtless there will be further details that need clarification in the months ahead.

I have today advised the TAC bishops of Canada to resume the mentoring visits by local Catholic priests.

+John Hepworth
Primate

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Statement from Archbishop Collins

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Archbishop Thomas Collins has issued this statement, and it is posted on the website of the Archdiocese of Toronto:

Statement re: Implementation of Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada

With regard to the public discussion concerning the process for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada, I would like to make the following statement:

Canada is a vast country, and widely scattered across it are small groups of Anglicans who have expressed an interest in entering full communion with the Catholic Church through the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus. As Delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution, I have asked certain priests in different regions of Canada to serve as "mentor priests", to work with these small groups of Anglicans in their geographical area. These mentor priests have been asked as their first task to visit the communities, to get to know them, to respond to any questions, and to get a sense of the number of people who are interested.

Certainly, the experience of pastoral relationships and ecclesial structures such as those of the ACCC must be honoured with respect and gratitude. But the ACCC is not the only grouping of Anglicans in Canada. A fruitful implementation of Anglicanorum Coetibus requires that all groups of former Anglicans be equal within the new ecclesial structure, and each individual Anglican considering entering full communion with the Catholic Church through Anglicanorum Coetibus be fully informed and freely decide whether or not to proceed.

I realize that there are complicated corporate and legal issues relating to property which must be resolved if ACCC parishes seek to be part of an ordinariate in Canada. But those challenges can surely be overcome. The key reality is that Anglicanorum Coetibus offers a fresh beginning, a sign of hope, for any group of Anglicans who freely decide to be received into the Catholic Church, accepting the faith articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and forming within the Catholic Church communities in which some elements of the distinctive Anglican patrimony flourish and enrich the whole Church.

For more information on the process of implementing Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada, please refer to the article on that subject which has been on the website of the Archdiocese of Toronto for several months (www.archtoronto.org).

Archbishop Thomas Collins
Archbishop of Toronto
Delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada

You can find all related material having to do with Anglicanorum coetibus in Canada by going here on the archdiocesan website.

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Canada: The Straight Story

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Many of the blogs have been buzzing with reports about preparations for the Ordinariate in Canada being “on hold," as far as the Anglican Catholics are concerned. Some bloggers have incorrectly reported that this was a decision made by the Holy See; others have tried to make the case that the ACCC was having second thoughts about the whole thing. None of that’s true.

Using “leaked” emails, all sorts of things have been reported, including such things as “all the ACCC parishes are to be closed down,” and “ACCC people will have to attend territorial Catholic parishes, where they will be catechized,” and the list goes on, each measure sounding more and more draconian.

Archbishop Collins called me after all this broke out in the media and on the blogs, so I had the opportunity to ask him directly about these things. Did he really issue these orders? Were they presented to the members of the ACCC with his approval?

The short answer is, “no.” He told me quite plainly that it wouldn’t have entered his mind to suggest that the ACCC parishes be closed down. He has no intention whatsoever of telling those who are Ordinariate-bound that they must attend the local Catholic parish. He knows that people are being catechized now, and that will continue, with the mentor-priests being available to help. It’s not the intention of the archbishop that the mentor-priests are to “take over.” We spoke about the preparation of the clergy. If there are some who need further studies, there will be programs for that, taking into account individual circumstances and personal responsibilities. Clergy won’t be rejected simply because they need some supplemental studies. When it comes to the holding of property, the archbishop stated without hesitation that determining property issues isn’t part of his task as delegate.

The archbishop understands that his responsibility is to prepare things for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus. That’s all. In fact, many of these issues will belong more properly to the Ordinariate when it is erected, and will be dealt with, long-term, by the Ordinary and the Governing Council of Priests. I know the archbishop looks forward to the time when his task is finished, and Anglicanorum coetibus is fully implemented. In fact, aren't we all!

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Archbishop Thomas Collins' Talk

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Archbishop Collins is the Delegate who is responsible for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in Canada. The audio of his talk at the recent Conference can be found on the new website of the Calgary Ordinariate group, by going here.

As I said to those who were gathered there, "You're in good hands." I think you'll see what I mean when you listen to the archbishop.

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The Cracked Jar – Healing the Western Church

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An article by Peregrinations, from his blog.

At the Canadian Ordinariate Conference this weekend, Fr. Aidan Nichols, OP was enormously helpful in his patient and scholarly explanation of how the Church in England, and by extension the Anglican Communion, experienced trauma – the “breaking of the jar” – in the 16th century Western schism of the Church. Now the difficult and groundbreaking effort of mending the jar has begun with the inauguration of ordinariates for Anglicans who represent one shard of the broken vessel.

The inauguration in January of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in the UK signifies, Fr. Nichols said, bringing the Anglican shard together with the Recusant shard – those who maintained communion with the Western or Latin Rite of the Church from the 16th through the 20th century.

In his presentations at the conference and just before the celebration of the first-ever Anglican Use Mass in Canada by Fr. Phillips of San Antonio, the esteemed Dominican scholar and godfather of the Anglican Ordinariates laid out a magisterial view of how the coming together of Latin and Anglo Catholics in the UK is a landmark event embodying the grace of God in the restoration of Catholicism – an eschatalogical sign and foreshadowing of the Parousia, when all will be restored and united in God.

Using the image of the end of time and the fulfillment which is embodied in the Parousia, Fr. Nichols evoked and expanded upon the theme of healing at this historic gathering of Anglicans and Catholics from Canada, the UK, US and Australia. Hosted by Archbishop Collins of Toronto, the meeting allowed time for reflection upon the unfolding process for the erection of North American ordinariates.

While acknowledging the many and various reasons for this call of God to Anglicans articulated by Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Collins emphasized that Anglicanorum Coetibus is a response to requests made to the Holy See over the past 40 years by groups of Anglicans desiring to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church with essentials of their patrimony intact. The groundbreaking Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, provides for just such a reception. Aspects of the document were examined and the process laid out for individual reception of Anglicans within groups in Canada.

After careful instruction and examination of conscience, individuals will apply for reception as members of identifiable groups or parishes. This process in Canada will continue in a material and programmatic way after May 31 when the initial number of groups and individuals has been determined. In the Fall, the first wave of groups will begin final preparation for reception. Other groups and individuals will follow when they are ready. It was emphasized that there is no “sell before date”, so the offer for entry into full communion will remain open indefinitely. As one delegate put it, this constitution, the highest level of law in the Church, is for the ages.

Anglican deacons, priests and bishops will be individually assessed by the Holy See after submission of dossiers to determine what ministry they may be called to in the new ordinariates. Some married clergy may be ordained as deacons and some later as priests following their initial reception into ordinariates. Only celibate men will be considered for ordination as bishops in keeping with the universal practice of the Church in the East and West.

Fr. Nichols outlined the ecclesiology. This representative group of Anglican Catholics coming back into full communion with the Latin (Roman) Church represents the totality of Anglicans and is a sign of restoration, healing and hope in the universal Church and so in the Kingdom of God. It is a healing for both parts of the Church and will stand as an encouragement to Lutherans and many other Christians who long to fulfill our Lord’s prayer “that they all may be one”.

Fr. Christopher Phillips, pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement, in his two presentations outlined how the Anglican Use parishes in the U.S. over the past 30 years, have shown that the Anglican patrimony once received into the Catholic Church finds its natural home and begins to flourish to the benefit of those coming into full communion and to the wider Catholic Church. The cross-pollination that is accomplished embellishes and strengthens the witness to Christ by the Church, even as it offers healing and so enlivens the wider society and culture.

This exciting new enterprise has been blessed in San Antonio and elsewhere with dynamic growth. The Church of Our Lady of the Atonement has grown exponentially, adding two schools to a parish which now contains hundreds of families.

Archbishop Collins concluded the conference, enthusiastically endorsing the development of a Canadian Ordinariate in close association with U.S. Anglican Use parishes as they move into the U.S. Ordinariate within the next year. He described the gift that Anglican patrimony is to the wider Church and then laid out details for the first steps in implementation. The three speakers then concluded the conference with a panel responding to questions. The panel and the various presentations were recorded by Salt and Light TV and will be available from them soon.

In terms of the Anglican Church of Canada, two groups are hoping to be received into the Anglican Ordinariate upon its establishment by the CDF: the parish of St John the Evangelist, Calgary, and the first Toronto ordinariate group has just put up a website and will soon announce a location to begin meetings on Sunday afternoons.

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Canadian Ordinariate Conference

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I arrived back in San Antonio last night (Saturday) just after 10 p.m., after the Anglicanorum coetibus Canadian Conference in Toronto. The folks in the archdiocese had everything organized beautifully, and the 150 or so of us who gathered at the Queen of Apostles Retreat Center had a great time together. This was my first time to visit Canada, and I was delighted to meet so many with whom I have corresponded and talked to by phone, and it was wonderful to make many new friends, too. I want to get some of my initial impressions and thoughts posted before I get taken up with my Sunday duties here at the parish.

Archbishop Thomas Collins is a very gracious and attentive host, and he’s really the perfect choice for getting Anglicanorum coetibus implemented in Canada. It’s apparent that he understands the historic and pastoral importance of this, and he stated many times that he wants to do everything necessary to help establish a solid foundation for the Canadian Ordinariate – and he wants this to be as soon as possible. As he said in some of his remarks, “We don’t want to dither over this!”

Obviously, there are some practical things to be done in preparation, and those things necessarily take a bit of time, but there won’t be any time wasted. He has set May 31st as the date when he would like to have the information about how many want to enter the Ordinariate, and he will immediately get that information to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, so things can be set in motion for the formal establishment of the Ordinariate.

The largest number of those at the Conference were from the (TAC) Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, but there was a good number from the Anglican Church of Canada, too. I had the opportunity to make a couple of presentations, using our experience in the Pastoral Provision as a starting-point to speak about many of the practical and spiritual challenges and opportunities there will be when the Ordinariate is erected. Fr. Aidan Nichols’ presentations on the theological and liturgical foundation were truly inspired and inspiring, as he helped us look at the vision of Pope Benedict XVI.

A bit of history was made, too. On Friday evening, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, we celebrated an Anglican Use Mass. This was a “first” for Canada, and they really pulled out all the stops for the occasion – fabulous music, a beautiful church in which to celebrate, followed by a lovely reception where the wine flowed freely… Anglican patrimony at its best!

All the presentations will be available on video very soon, since Salt + Light recorded it.

Here are a few pictures, stolen shamelessly from Deborah Gyapong. Since I was busy as a participant, I wasn’t able to take pictures, so I’m following that tried-and-true principle of asking for forgiveness rather than permission.

img 39981 1024x682 Canadian Ordinariate Conference

Archbishop Thomas Collins

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Anglican Use Mass at St. Joseph's, Streetsville

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Preparing for the Canadian Ordinariate

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Archbishop Thomas C. Collins of Toronto has been working to get everything ready for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in Canada. As the Delegate appointed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the archbishop has organized a conference for all those who are interested in becoming part of the Ordinariate when it is erected, and the response has been very strong. Here is the schedule:

Anglicanorum Coetibus Conference – March 24-26, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011
4:00 p.m.
Registration opens

7:00 p.m.
Welcome: Archbishop Thomas Collins
Evening Prayer

7:45 p.m.
Opening Session: Father Christopher Phillips: "Becoming One"

9:00 p.m.
Wine/cheese reception

Friday, March 25, 2011
8:00 a.m.
Breakfast

9:00 a.m.
Morning Prayer

9:30 a.m.
Father Phillips: "Living the Anglican Patrimony"

10:30 a.m.
Break

10:45 a.m.
Father Aidan Nichols:
“The Theological Context of Anglicanorum Coetibus”

12:00 p.m.
Lunch

1:30 p.m.
Father Nichols:
"The Place of Anglicanorum Coetibus in Pope Benedict's Vision”

2:45 p.m.
Break

3:15 p.m.
Father Nichols:
"Liturgical dimensions of Anglicanorum Coetibus"

5:30 p.m.
Dinner

6:45 p.m.
Buses to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church

7:30 p.m.
Anglican Use Mass celebrated by Fr. Christopher Phillips
(held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Streetsville)
(Reception to follow in parish hall)

Saturday, March 26, 2011
8:00 a.m.
Breakfast

9:00 a.m.
Morning Prayer

9:30 a.m.
Archbishop Thomas Collins:
"Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada"

10:30 a.m.
Break

10:45 a.m.
Panel Discussion
"The Path Ahead"

12:00 p.m. Lunch & Adjournment

Keynote speakers include:

• Fr. Christopher Phillips, Pastor, Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas. He is the founding pastor of the first Anglican Use parish, erected in 1983 under the terms of the Pastoral Provision.

• Archbishop Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, Delegate, Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada (as appointed by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith).

• Father Aidan Nichols, O.P. has the honorary status of Affiliated Lecturer in the University of Cambridge. He has also taught at the Pontifical University of St Thomas, Rome; St Mary's College, Oscott; and Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. He has published some thirty books, and over seventy articles.

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