Tag Archives: CDF

Gerhard Ludwig Müller for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

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Rocco Palmo reports:

A priest of Mainz, the new prefect spent most of his priesthood as a theology professor in Munich before his appointment to Regensburg in 1992. He has served as a member of the congregation since 2002.

Given common perceptions of the current pontificate, it's worth noting that Müller's appointment to lead the CDF survived an attempted subterfuge by some conservatives in Vatican circles, who — among other things — sought to play up a longstanding friendship the new "Grand Inqusitor" has kept with a leading architect of liberation theology, the Peruvian Dominican Gustavo Gutierrez.

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Among CDF's relatively new areas of jurisdiction are several matters of sizable import to the church in the English-speaking world, above all deciding final outcomes to the worldwide church's clergy sex-abuse cases (a task entrusted to Ratzinger in 2001 after a Curial turf-fight), and the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus, the Pope's 2009 initiative allowing for Anglican groups to enter the Catholic church as collective units, with their own liturgy and governing structures. In the space of just over a year, the latter development has arguably made for the Western church's largest boon of married priests in the millennium since mandatory celibacy became universal policy.

Your thoughts?

Update: LifeSiteNews.com reports positively on the appointment:

In 2006, Müller acted to halt over 2 million Euros in Church funding to pro-abortion ‘Catholic’ groups after their dissident activities were exposed by faithful Catholic bloggers and a group called Union for the Associations Faithful to the Pope.

Central Committee of German Catholics had received more than two million Euros in financing from the Church prior to the cut off.

The association Donum Vitae created by the Committee came under fire for aiding women in obtaining abortions. The association fulfilled pre-abortion requirements for women by offering counseling and certificates, clearing the way for the abortion procedure.  Moreover, the Committee openly criticized the hierarchy of the Church, calling for the development of a democratic structure that would give authority to the laity.

Archbishop Müller also suppressed the Diocesan council of Lay People and thirty-three other dissident organizations.

UPDATE II: Father Z reacts to the appointment:

Some people have expressed misgivings over Müller’s open thoughts on a range of theological questions, including Liberation Theology.  Let us not forget that Joseph Ratzinger used a point from Liberation Theology as a starting point for a book on liturgical worship: Christ is the Liberator who frees us from sin and death and liturgical worship is as an act of the Liberator, liberating for those who participate.  Frankly, I think that focusing on the fact that Müller has read Liberation Theology is not very productive.  Liberation Theology has been pretty much junked, and picked over for the good points it had.

Note also that Müller begins his tenure as Prefect on the eve of the Year of Faith, which is clearly an important project for Benedict.  The Holy Father must see in Müller, as Prefect of “Faith”, someone who can advance that project.

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Regarding the SSPX, the Holy Father made Archbp. DiNoia the Vice-President of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei“.  I imagine he will exert greater immediate influence.  Nevertheless, Müller will have a different view of the stand off than did the previous Prefect.

Müller has made some statements about clerical celibacy and Mariology that have a few people scratching their heads.  That said, his job is to make this run smoothly at the Congregation, not to shape the Church’s doctrine.

UPDATE III: John Allen Jr.'s take on the appointment.  (The comments section is interesting.  Reaction on the Liberal side is as negative as that from the traditionalist side.  Maybe it means the Holy Father has struck the right balance?)

The pope’s new doctrinal czar has a profile in Germany as a staunch defender of Catholic orthodoxy, yet not an ideologue. Among other things, Müller has a strong friendship with Peruvian liberation theologian Gustavo Guttierez.

Müller clearly enjoys the pope’s confidence.

Aside from the fact that Müller is the bishop of the pope’s home diocese, where Benedict’s brother Geörg still resides, he’s also the editor of Benedict’s “Opera Omnia,” a comprehensive collection of all the pope’s theological writings. Müller himself is a prolific author, having written more than 400 works on a wide variety of theological topics.

Despite his broadly conservative reputation, Müller actually earned his doctorate in 1977 under then-Fr. Karl Lehmann, who went on to become the cardinal of Mainz and the leader of the moderate wing of the German bishops’ conference. Müller’s dissertation was on the famed German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Moreover, Müller is also a close personal friend of Guttierez, widely seen as the father of the liberation theology movement in Latin America. Every year since 1998, Müller has travelled to Peru to take a course from Guttierez, and has spent time living with farmers in a rural parish near the border with Bolivia.

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Müller has been rumored to be in pole position to take over at the doctrinal congregation for some time, and late last year there was a push in traditionalist circles to try to block the appointment. E-mails were circulated suggesting that Müller, already a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is not a man of “secure doctrine.”

Specifically, the e-mails cited Müller for espousing suspect positions on the virginity of Mary (which he said in a 2003 book shouldn’t be understood in a “physiological” sense), the Eucharist (Müller has apparently counseled against using the term “body and blood of Christ” to describe the consecrated bread and wine at Mass), and ecumenism (last October, Müller declared that Protestants are “already part of the church” founded by Christ.)

Defenders of Müller argued that in each case, his words had either been taken out of context or were consistent with official teaching.

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So Who Will Replace Cardinal Levada?

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I remember two years ago when lots of people were speculating that Cardinal George Pell was going to be named Prefect for the Congregation of Bishops and, at the last minute, Cardinal Marc Ouellet was named instead.

We are now awaiting some more important changes in the Roman Curia.

Cardinal William Levada is set to retire as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and various names are being bandied about.  Cardinal  Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone is also past retirement age and some pundits have wondered whether he might be replaced some time soon.

So, let's have a little fun and do some speculating.  Who do you think is going to get CDF?

If the Holy Father does name a new Secretary of State, who do you think it will be?  Who would be best in that role?

Who would be your ideal head of CDF be?

 

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Cardinal Wuerl's Remarks Add Little Additional Information…

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A few more details…
  • 67 dossiers of Anglican clergy submitted to the CDF so far
  • 35 dossiers have received the nulla osta from the CDF
  • Priestly formation via Saint Mary’s Seminary in Houston
  • Local bishops asked to ordain Anglican clerics in their own dioceses
  • The votum of the local bishop seems necessary for Ordination Candidates
  • Bishop Kevin Vann (Ft. Worth) is new Pastoral Provision Delegate
  • Cardinal seems to downplay authority of Ordinary on Day One
  • Permission of current Ordinary to transfer Anglican Use parishes to Ordinariate stressed
  • "Surplus" newly-minted Anglican Use clergy seen as help to dioceses
  • Priestly formation program to last six to nine months
  • Pastoral Provision to continue indefinitely
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Ordinariate Reception

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KNandWL Ordinariate Reception

Photo: Fr. Tim Finigan

Last night the great and the good (and I) were in the throne room at Archbishop's House, Westminster for a special reception, sponsored by the Catholic Herald. The guest of honour was Cardinal Levada, from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees the Ordinariate. He, Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Mgr Keith Newton all made short speeches; I had hoped that one of them might use the occasion to release some exciting news (for instance about when an American Ordinariate might be set up), but I was disappointed; His Eminence deliberately side-stepped that one. Mgr Newton appealed eloquently for funds, and a quick glance around the room showed many who might be prepared to dip into their pockets to help.

And now, at the risk of this sounding like a Hello magazine article:

Several bishops were present besides the Archbishop; there were also the retired Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark (is London unique in having two metropolitan sees in one city; in fact the two cathedrals less than five miles apart?), Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood (another London see, sort of) Bishop Alan Hopes, auxiliary in Westminster, and another I didn't know; three abbots, of Douai, Buckfast and one other I didn't recognize.

The Ordinariate prelates were there, of course; Monsignori Broadhurst and Burnham, Frs Silk and our own Barnes, and several of the clergy including the now-famous Deacon James Bradley.

There were several historians, besides the Abbot of Douai, Dom Geoffrey Scott, there were the magisterial Jack Scarisbrick, the first 'revisionist' historian who revealed the real character of Henry VIII for the first time, and now the tireless campaigner for Life; Professor Eamon Duffy and John Martin Robinson.

There were many titled people there also, Lords and ladies; one I was pleased to see has no title, but he doesn't need one; Jack Eyston of Mapledurham, the descendent of St Thomas More, and his wife were there.

Someone pointed out to me Julian Fellowes, the man behind Downton Abbey, and Rocco Forte, the entrepreneur. No doubt there were many others that I should have recognized, but didn't.

Peter Sheppard, Luke Coppen and the staff of the Catholic Herald sponsored this event, and dispensed wonderful hospitality.

And finally, there were bloggers! Fr Tim Finigan and Fr Ray Blake have already written comments on their respective blogs. Fr Barnes is of course known to you already.

The point, of course, is a serious one. The Ordinariate cannot live on fresh air, and though Ordinariate parishes are likely to cost less than Anglican ones to run (without the crippling levies to be paid to Church House, for instance), as Mgr Newton pointed out, there are salaries and pensions to be found, and the expense of training new recruits. Those already ordained will continue to be trained by Fr Stephen Wang and his team for a further two years, he added, and then there are seminarians. One is already at St John's Seminary at Wonersh, where we pray he will be happy. All these things are expensive, and so if anybody reading this blog happens to have some money lying around that they don't know what to do with… please click here.

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The Pharisee and the Publican

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This last Sunday as I led Mass here at St. Aidan's I had much on my mind. Yes, I confess that I became distracted more than once. We in the parish are thinking often about the American Ordinariate being announced soon and it feels like we can almost taste it. I had Bishop Moyer and his "new" congregation come to mind more than once. I was thinking about my own people and their needs. I thought a few times about the fact that I have many things "on my plate" right now and it all came together and made me even more nervous than I usually am (which usually leads to chanting off-key, and it did once again). I am one of those who always feels a bit of terror before I step up to the altar, but this week it was more so.

Then right after the Gloria In Excelsis I prayed the Collect of the Day. "Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises." Grace again; the only way that we are able to obtain the promises of God is by His grace. The promises are "gracious" and we need grace to attain them. As Scripture tells us more than once, it comes in different measures according to both our need and the mercy of God. There are parishes that are struggling in the final hours to decide if they want to join the Ordinariate. There are Christians who realize that their parish is joining but that they do not want to and they are now looking for another Church. There are clergymen who are trying to teach their people the fullness of the Catholic faith and hoping that none will resist the truth. And there is the CDF's small staff doing its utmost to fulfill its calling (while we in America murmur that it is too slow). Each of these people needs "a measure" of grace to be able to obey God's commandments.

The Gospel reading for the day was aptly suited to the collect. The "pharisee and the publican" who went up to the temple to pray (Luke 18:9ff) tell us about the difference between grace and self-confidence. The pharisee was prideful, but that was not the primary focus of Jesus' parable. Rather it was the fact that the pharisee "despised others". He saw himself as righteous because he was comparing himself to the publican, and yet the publican was the one who was justified by his actions and not the pharisee.

If we are trying to make ourselves look good, then we can always find someone else who is doing worse than we are. Looking with contempt at another because he is not doing as well as you are, is the exact problem that the pharisee had. He trusted in himself more than in God, and it showed in his attitude to others. Are we much better today? It is self-serving to assume that you are holy and humble like the publican because you know that you need God's mercy. To a certain degree, assuming that you are like the publican (humble and justified) is precisely the thing that Jesus is warning us against: "for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 18:14).

Those of us who are petitioning for entrance into the Ordinariate can fall victim to the temptation to look down on those who have chosen not to. "I thank thee God that I am not like this Pope-rejecting, communion-hating, so-called-Anglo-Catholic". Those (whether already Catholic or soon to be so) who are staunch in their traditionalist views can give in to the temptation to look down on those who are more modernist or liberal. "I thank thee God that I am not like this compromising, contemporary-hymnody, westward-facing, so-called-Catholic". Those we look down on need grace, but so do we. Unfortunate for us, it is often those that we look down on that very well may need less a "measure of grace" than we do. This is why it is always bad to look down on someone else; only God knows their hearts. I need grace for what I am going through; you need grace for what you are going through; the guy that you are upset at needs grace for what he is going through.

Prayer should never be a last resort. We often treat prayer as though it is a hopeless endeavor. ("All we can do now is pray." "Oh, no; has it come to that?!") Yet, prayer is the most powerful work man can do. Pray for grace. Pray for each of us to have the "measure of grace" that we so desperately need right now. It is possible to look down on someone that you are praying for, but it takes a callous heart to do so. Pray for the parishes that are struggling. Pray for those whom you think have no worries (for we all do). Pray for those who write on the internet that they would realize Jesus reads what they are writing. Pray for the Anglican priests who are going to be going through preparation and formation for ordination. Pray for those who are confused and do not know what they should do right now (they are still out there). Pray for the future Ordinary of each Ordinariate that has not yet been established (you do not know his name, but God does). Pray for our Holy Father that he would stand firm and lead us to Jesus. We each need grace, and to assume we do not is to stand with the pharisee; unjustified and abased.

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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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The Patrimony of the Primate

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Stress was a big part of life during those years. I was dealing with various ecclesiastical issues that were enough to make me lose a considerable amount of weight (and I'm already as thin as a bean-pole). I was ministering in an REC parish, and finding myself completely out of place. Then a friend sent me a link to the ACA website and I read that the stated intent of the TAC was to seek unity with the Catholic Church. They were not seeking friendly relations with a signed peace treaty while smiling at one another across the pond, but "full sacramental communion". Furthermore, there were (contrary to the opinion of many) no conditions. I was hooked. Why? I cannot tell you precisely. I can say that I was overwhelmed with the realization that there were others out there who were not just talking about rectifying the horrible things that have occurred since the Protestant Reformation, but who were actually doing something about it. I kept reading and reading. Finally I looked up which diocese I was in and picked up a phone and called the diocesan office. After a couple of minutes I heard Bishop Louis Campese come on the line, and we ended up speaking for almost an hour.

I requested my letter dimissory to be sent out soon after, and then sat back to watch what has transpired over the last few years. I have been blessed both with being under Bishop Campese as my Ordinary (and Pastor), as well as being here in Des Moines and having Archbishop Falk right in my parish. These two men are now entering into the Patrimony of the Primate here in the United States because they believe the time is right. Bishop Campese has stepped aside as the Ordinary for the Diocese of the Eastern United States, and Archbishop Falk, although transferring to the Patrimony, remains the President of the ACA house of Bishops until April. The patrimony, while still within the jurisdiction of the ACA, is a sort of "holding tank" for the interim until the Ordinariate is actually established. These two men have done much of the work to get us this far, and have held true to the principles and foundational documents of the TAC, and should be fully appreciated for holding the to truth through all kinds of challenges and difficulties over the years. They stepped out in faith not knowing whether the fruit of their work would even be seen in their lifetimes.

Continue reading →

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Decree of Erection

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Oddly enough, even with our (almost) exhaustive coverage of the event, I don't think that we ever got around to publishing the actual decree by which the English Ordinariate was canonically erected.  So, for the record, here it is.

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DECREE OF ERECTION
of the Personal Ordinariate
of Our Lady of Walsingham

The supreme law of the Church is the salvation of souls. As such, throughout its history, the Church has always found the pastoral and juridical means to care for the good of the faithful.

With the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, promulgated on 4 November 2009, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, provided for the establishment of Personal ordinariates through which Anglican faithful may enter, even in a corporate manner, into full communion with the Catholic Church. On the same date, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published Complementary Norms relating to such Ordinariates.

In conformity with what is established in Art. I §1 and §2 of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, having received requests from a considerable number of Anglican faithful and having consulted with the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

ERECTS

the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham within the territory of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales.

1. The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham ipso iure possesses juridic personality and is juridically equivalent to a diocese. It includes those faithful, of every category and state of life, who originally having belonged to the Anglican Communion, are now in full communion with the Catholic Church, or who have received the sacraments of initiation within the jurisdiction of the ordinariate itself or who are received into it because they are part of a family belonging to the Ordinariate.

2. The faithful of the personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham are entrusted to the pastoral care of the Personal Ordinary, who, once named by the Roman Pontiff, possesses all the faculties and is held to all the obligations, specified in the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus and the Complementary Norms as well as in those matters determined subsequently by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on request both of the Ordinary, having heard the Governing Council of the Ordinariate, and of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales.

3. The Anglican faithful who wish to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate must manifest this desire in writing. There is to be a programme of catechetical formation for these faithful, lasting for a congruent time, and with content established by the Ordinary in agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith so that the faithful are able to adhere fully to the doctrinal content of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and, therefore, make the profession of faith.

4. For candidates for ordination, who previously were ministers in the Anglican Communion, there is to be a specific programme of theological formation, as well as spiritual and pastoral preparation, prior to ordination in the Catholic Church, according to what will be established by the Ordinary in agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales.

5. For a cleric not incardinated in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham to assist at a marriage of the faithful belonging to the Ordinariate, he must receive the faculty from the Ordinary or the pastor of the personal parish to which the faithful belong.

6. The Ordinary is a member by right of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, with deliberative vote in those cases in which this is required in law.

7. A cleric, having come originally from the Anglican Communion, who has already been ordained in the Catholic Church and incardinated in a Diocese, is able to be incardinated in the Ordinariate in accord with the norm of can. 267 CIC.

8. Until the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham may have established its own Tribunal, the judicial cases of its faithful are referred to the Tribunal of the Diocese in which one of the parties has a domicile, while taking into account, however, the different titles of competence established in cann. 1408-1414 and 1673 CIC.

9. The faithful of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham who are, temporarily or permanently, outside the territory of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, while remaining members of the Ordinariate, are bound by universal law and those particular laws of the territory where they find themselves.

10. If a member of the faithful moves permanently into a place where another Personal Ordinariate has been erected, he is able, on his own request, to be received into it. The new Ordinary is bound to inform the original Personal Ordinariate of the reception. If a member of the faithful wishes to leave the Ordinariate, he must make such a decision known to his own Ordinary. He automatically becomes a member of the Diocese where he resides. In this case, the Ordinary will ensure that the Diocesan Bishop is informed.

11. The Ordinary, keeping in mind the Ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis and the Programme of Priestly Formation of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales, is to prepare a Programme of Priestly Formation for the seminarians of the Ordinariate which must be approved by the Apsotolic See.

12. The Ordinary will ensure that the Statutes of the Governing Council and the Pastoral Council, which are subject to his approval, are drawn up.

13. The location of the principal Church of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will be determined by the Ordinary in agreement with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales. Likewise, the Seat of the Ordinariate, where the register referred to in Art. 5 §1 of the Complementary Norms will be kept, will be determined in the same way.

14. The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has as its patron Blessed John Henry Newman.

Everything to the contrary notwithstanding.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 15 January 2011

William Cardinal Levada
Prefect

+ Luis F. Ladaria, S.J.
Secretary

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Swimming the Tiber

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Fr Andrew Cole of the Diocese of Menevia wrote an article about the Ordinariate for the British Province of the Jesuits; it has been published in a new form in the Beda Review 2009-10.  Fr Cole gives some answers which I have not seen set out so clearly before, and raises a number of questions.

For instance, he says quite plainly, "Membership of the Ordinariate is open to former Anglicans who have been received into full communion with the Catholic Church, or who receive the sacraments of initiation within the Ordinariate."  I have found some confusion about this; certainly in the USA members of the Anglican Use are able to transfer to the Ordinariate, but it was not clear (to me, at least) that this would also be possible for former Anglicans who had converted in past years.

There is still a question, though, over those who were baptised as Catholics. They are "not ordinarily eligible for membership, unless they are members of a family belonging to the Ordinariate" — and Fr Cole adds that "the meaning of 'family' in this context is unclear."  Surely just one of many questions which the CDF will answer for us as the Ordinariates are established.

Then he asks questions which, he admits, cannot be answered until the Ordinariates are established, such as "How many Anglicans will seek to enter full communion with the Catholic Church?  How many of those will wish to join the Ordinariate?  How willing will those … be to integrate with the local Catholic community?"  He also poses the 'more technical yet fundamental question' about the status of the Ordinariates … 'which canon lawyers and theologians will surely discuss for years to come' viz. 'Is the Ordinariate a particular Church, in the way in which a Diocese is a particular Church'  (my own sense is that the answer must be NO, since the Ordinary does not have to be a bishop, and a Particular Church relates to a Bishop, not simply an Ordinary — but then, I am not a canon lawyer…) and 'does a Catholic who joins the Ordinariate remain or also become, as case may be, a parishioner of his local parish' to which once again, in my ignorance, I would suggest the answer is NO, since the Ordinariate is a non-geographical body distinct from existing dioceses and parishes … but these are fascinating questions which will, no doubt, amuse us for many years to come.

In the end, though, Fr Cole expresses the hope that "as Ordinariates are established … a positive invitation to Anglicans to embrace full communion with the Catholic Church will be fulfilled, so that Our Lord's will 'that they may all be one' will be more effectively realised."  To which, surely, we must all say "Amen."

Folkestone 150x150 Swimming the TiberI cannot sign off today without reminding you that this is the 11th Anniversary of the death of one of the great founders of the Ordinariate, before there was any idea of an Ordinariate.  That is Bishop Michael Houghton of blessed memory, who followed John Richards as Bishop of Ebbsfleet.  How pleased he must be that the parish of which he was Vicar has been one of the first in England to declare for the Ordinariate.  St Peter's Folkestone was his in a very special way, since he saw to its restoration after the fire (by arson) which had threatened not only the church but also his home and family.  He only had a year as Bishop of Ebbsfleet, but achieved so much in those few months.  Requiescat.

Fr Simon Ellis is publishing a series of reminiscences of Bishop Houghton which may be ordered through the Additional Curates' Society website (www.additionalcurates.co.uk).

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