Tag Archives: TAC

Ordinariate Denies Favoritism Charges

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The following article is from Anglican Ink, and it presents an issue which has floated around amongst both Ordinariate and non-Ordinariate clergy and laity. Posting this here should not be taken as doubting the assertion that there has been no favoritism shown, but it's probably important for the Ordinariate leadership to continue to take seriously the fact that there are those with this perception, and to address it in "thought, word and deed."

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Ordinariate denies favoritism charges

TEC clergy dominate new U.S. Anglican Ordinariate

By George Conger

The head of the U.S. branch of the Anglican Ordinariate, Msg. Jeffrey Steenson, has denied accusations it has given preference to former Episcopal clergy in its ordination process. However, among its first class of priests, 16 of 19 are former Episcopal clergy, with only 3 receiving their formation and orders from the continuing church.

Questions and concerns about the implementation and interpretation of Anglicanorum coetibus have met the Vatican’s initiative to create a liturgical home for Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church. In an interview with PBS’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Dr. Ian Markham, Dean of the Virginia Theological Seminary criticized the pastoral provision for Anglicans for sheep stealing.

“There was a perception that this was poaching by the Roman Catholic Church of Anglicans around the world. It was discourteous, it was stealing sheep, it was unecumenical,” he said, adding “It’s viewed as not recognizing the value of and integrity of our traditions.”

Its critics also charge the sheep stealing is directed towards the Church of England and the Episcopal Church. While talks began in 1991 between leaders of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) and the Vatican on returning Anglican Catholics to Rome, TAC clergy have been noticeably absent from the Ordinariates in the U.S. and U.K. The three TAC bishops who spearheaded the reunion efforts with Rome — David Moyer, John Hepworth and Louis Falk – are absent from the clergy ranks of the Ordinariate.

Some former TAC clergy who have applied for ordination in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter tell Anglican Ink that they have been treated brusquely. Others report that a year after contacting the Ordinariate’ s Washington office, they are still waiting to hear what the future holds.

One clergyman, who asked not to be named as he had applied for reception, told Anglican Ink he had been discouraged the “Pastoral Provision was so un-pastoral”. A “Fort Worth mafia” was dominating the U.S. Ordinariate – Msg. Steenson is a former Fort Worth rector, while the vicar for clergy, the Rt. Rev. Charles Hough III is the former canon to the ordinary of the Diocese of Fort Worth.

A second aspirant said he had been pressed to explain why he had not come to Rome when he left the Episcopal Church some twenty five years ago. If he accepted papal supremacy and the dogmas of the Catholic Church, why had he delayed a quarter century in making his submission, he was asked, the clergyman told AI.

The question is not an unfair one, however, as the Catholic Church’s self-understanding of its role in the economy of salvation is found in the statements of the Second Vatican Council.

Lumen Gentium 14 states: “Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved”, which on its face, would appear to render suspect in Roman eyes those who have held long standing doubts as to the veracity of Anglican truth claims and delayed going over to Rome.

Of the 19 clergy re-ordained for service in the Ordinariate, 7 have come directly from the Episcopal Church, 6 from the Episcopal Church via the Anglican Church in North America, 3 from the Episcopal Church via the Anglican Church in America, 2 from the Anglican Church in America, and 1 from the Charismatic Episcopal Church.

Asked to respond to the assertions of unfair treatement of TAC clergy, Msg. Steenson said:“Not true. The judgment of Apostolicae curae falls on each of us alike. We treat each applicant equally, and apply the objective criteria of discernment that the Catholic Church requires.”

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Archbishop Falk Will Not Be Joining Ordinariate

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From Fr. Chori Seraiah's blog (h/t Fr. Smuts):

I have been fairly silent lately. Yes, I have been busy, but there is more to it than that. It has been difficult for me to hold my tongue, but it was necessary. New events have occurred and I am able to answer the questions that many have been asking. My former parish St. Aidan's here in Des Moines has made its final decision and chosen not to join the Ordinariate after all. They will remain Anglican and Bp. Louis Falk is remaining with them (any questions about the parish itself should be directed to them and not to me). It has been a very difficult time for them, as they had come to realize that the Ordinariate was not what they wanted (at the same time that I was in the process for ordination–not an easy task for any parish). I am happy to say that there is no strife between the parish and I (or my family either). Each of us realized that we were not on the same path, and yet there is peace between us. I ask everyone to pray for them at this time.

I, on the other hand, am happily serving as a substitute hospital chaplain (a very rewarding ministry!) for the next few months, and in the meantime I am seeking to begin an Ordinariate community here in Des Moines. Anyone interested in being a part of this, please let me know by contacting me at my email address listed to the left side of this page. I am especially seeking any Anglicans/Episcopalians who are interested in what the Ordinariate has to offer; Lutherans may also find something of interest in this venture.

It is sad news to see Archbishop Louis Falk is not joining the Ordinariate and that St. Aidan's has decided not to join either.  I have never met him, but I know he was a staunch advocate of Christian unity when he was Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC).  He was one of the three Anglican Church in America (ACA) bishops who welcomed Anglicanorum coetibus.

Fr. Anthony Chadwick, my former blogging partner at the now defunct The English Catholic,  posted some rather trenchant observations about the price the Traditional Anglican Communion paid for its bid for unity.

He writes:

We in the TAC got well and truly burned. The captain at the helm looked at only one thing – his compass bearing, and to hell with the rocks, fog and other ships. The ship was wrecked. Rome said to us “Yes, but as dismantled spare parts“. They would filter, screen and sift us, have every single priest send in his application and have his vocation re-evaluated from zero all over again. The rest – all that doesn’t matter just as long as they don’t tell anyone that they are institutionally dead. And by the way, forget it if you’ve already read the book, seen the film and been there! Some shipwrecked sailors are now picking through the bits of broken mast, pieces of companionways, barrels of preserved food and shreds of torn sails – looking at what they can salvage, and then rebuild. Those courageous men and women have my esteem and prayers, and they do not have to listen to the voices of those who have become Roman Catholics “Come in, the water’s warm“. “Just be patient and wait. Rome thinks in centuries“. Forget it. Either go over or stay and rebuild, or go somewhere else.

It’s in the nature of things: the small entity approaches the big entity because it is unable to compete. Big entity considers only one thing – what is useful to it and how it can get bigger and richer. There is no idea of helping the small entity in some way.

The whole exercise has left behind such pain and bitterness.  The TAC did ask for some form of corporate reunion but the only corporate reunion that ended up on offer was parish by parish, reconstituted after individuals had converted.  I do not blame Archbishop Hepworth for his overly expansive interpretation of Anglicanorum coetibus.  As fine a mind as Fr. Aidan Nichols' told me he didn't see why the document could not cover the corporate reunion of a diocese or even a province.

For many the unfolding of the Ordinariates' character might seem too much like absorption, too much like a loss of identity for those hoping for corporate reunion of some kind.

Thankfully for us we have not experienced our coming into the Catholic Church as a loss of identity at all.  Our celebrations of the Eucharist on Sundays and everything else we do is not much different from what we did before we became Catholic.  We have guest priests now, but they love our patrimony and are doing their best to help us maintain it as we wait for our own clergy to be ordained as Catholic priests.

But this was not an easy journey.  For some it has proved impossible, at least for now.

Let's keep our comments respectful and measured, seeing as I trust most of us do hope for the Ordinariates to be successful and that eventually those who are unsure now might find them truly places where Anglican identity and patrimony are flourishing within the Catholic Church.

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I Wish I Had Known It Would Be Like This!

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"I wish I had known it would be like this!"  That's what I wrote last April to someone who also made this similarly arduous journey into the Catholic Church as part of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada.  I wish I had known how it was going to be when we were actually received into the Catholic Church because this might have spared me such disappointment and anguish over the previous year.  As most of you know from my complaints and dismay expressed publicly from time to time, I sure felt as if Cardinal Kasper's words regarding the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) — "the train has already left the station" — applied to us, that we were the chopped liver of Ordinariate applicants, treated like second class citizens, that really only those from the Canterbury Communion need apply and so on.

Yes, I hoped for a much more corporate approach to our reception than the parish by parish model that in effect disintegrated the ecclesial bonds we had enjoyed in the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada and forced us to walk away from considerable assets for a poor group like ourselves in terms of wills and trusts.  I still think that Rome could have handled this aspect better and maybe we would not have lost so many people.

But it is what it is.  And while we are so much smaller, a remnant of the 700 Canadian communicants there were when we first reported our numbers to the Catholic Church, but  those who remain are more united, more bonded.  As my grandfather always used to say, "Everything always works out for the best."  Who knows?  Maybe some of the people we lost will come back eventually.  I hope so.

So what I am I trying to say here?

I really want to avoid anything that is going to look preachy in smugly telling people to be patient and not fret.  I used to get annoyed from time to time back in the day at pep talk posts that seemed to be saying my attitude was the problem when all I saw was alarming and hurtful and it felt like I was being admonished to close my eyes to injustice.

Okay.

Things did not work out the way I expected them to and adjusting my expectations and accepting the disappointment was difficult.  Experiencing the disintegration of the Traditional Anglican Communion was awful.  Watching Archbishop John Hepworth's trials, I found agonizing.

I reached a point where I was really wondering if I could become Catholic.  All I could see were the Church's flaws. I wanted to flee to a simpler, more direct personal relationship with Jesus Christ like I'd experienced as an evangelical.

But once our bishops and clergy decided to join the Catholic Church with no conditions, without a nulla osta in sight, things suddenly changed for us.  The welcome and generosity we have experienced has been amazing.  The sense of constant spiritual attack also lifted.  It's been a honeymoon of grace since last January when the request was made to come in in April.

The generosity comes not only from our local bishops but also from the Ordinariate.

We in Canada have had a good experience of our Ordinary Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson and have found him accessible and attentive to our concerns.

I wonder, though, whether in the United States there is a disappointment concerning the Anglican Use parishes, particularly Our Lady of the Atonement (OLA), and their apparent lack of a role in the new Ordinariate.

I don't think I'm the only one who envisioned the Anglican Use parishes being the spine of the U.S. Ordinariate, providing it with an initial stability and income that no other country would have.  So, I can understand there might be some dismay that OLA, the first and most successful Anglican Use parish, is not part of it, even if we do not know all the reasons behind its withdrawal.

This morning, I saw a comment on another blog that indicated some Traditional Anglican Communion parishes in the United States feel like they and their clergy are being left on the platform as the Ordinariate train rolls by.

One thing that wise correspondent told me in response to my "I wish I had known that it would be like this" was something to the effect that maybe, in some mysterious way, the suffering and anguish contributed to the good result we are experiencing now.

"It changed you, no?"

Well, it did force me to pray.  Suffering is like that.  But it was risky because I was so tempted to bitterness, which is not my usual besetting sin.  It was like getting hit with a craving for gambling, which I am so not interested in!

Given how bleak things looked even a year ago for us, I wonder what things will look like two years from now for those in the United States who are feeling left out or who have concerns now about how things are taking shape.  Maybe Our Lady of the Atonement, will be safely and happily part of the Ordinariate and those communities that feel left behind at the station will have been gathered in.  We can pray for that result.

I ask, too, that if you comment about disappointments or concerns, that you take a measured tone.  There is much going on in the Ordinariate that is behind the scenes but progress is being made.  Maybe not on our timetable or unfolding as we expected, but it will, we can all hope and pray, work out for the best.

Meanwhile, we can expect that there will be lots of turbulence and spiritual warfare attacking any moves towards greater Christian unity.  It used to help me when I recognized that some of what I was feeling was spiritual attack.  The other thing that helped was to know that everything that was happening was still under God's watchful eye and Providence.  Jesus was allowing this to happen and was I going to kick against Him?

So, I hope those who are outside and wondering why things are not going faster or more smoothly will know that I am with you in your suffering.  This kind of travailing is compared to labor pains for a reason.  But there are many reasons for hope and thanksgiving, too.

I hope someday you too will be saying like I am now, "I wish I had known it would be like this!"

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English Wisdom: Triumvirate

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Here's another contribution from former Our Lady of Walsingham parishioner, Vincent Uher.  This piece, for me at least, begs the question of when and how are we to see Governing Councils in the Ordinariates come to be.  Under Anglicanorum cœtibus, the Governing Council of a Personal Ordinariate has considerable sway, its approval necessary for a number of key pastoral decisions, such as erecting a new parish or advancing postulants to Orders.  These are unusual limits placed on the power of a Catholic Ordinary (and my only guess is that this was intended to be a nod to Anglican synodal government), but they are clearly mandated in the primary legislation and norms.  Presently, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is "governed" by the Ordinary, his assistant, Fr. Scott Hurd, and (truth be told) several "interested" Catholic bishops.

In England, at least, there has already been established some form of collegiality and aid to the Ordinary, Msgr. Newton.  It is this temporary arrangement which Mr. Uher addresses his latest piece and which we propose for our reflection.

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English Wisdom: Triumvirate

I think my family and friends in Britain have been blest greatly with a triumvirate at the head of your Ordinariate in Britain. While one must necessarily be appointed to make the final decisions, having a council of three at the top is a far better situation than having one leader in isolation. Even if in Britain this is more ad hoc than a canonical structure, I would hope this sort of triumvirate model would become the norm for the Ordinariates. Msgr. Newton has shown great, great wisdom through it.

Of course, it would be different in North America and in Australia. My family and friends in Australia might imagine the Ordinary being named and then two others raised up (as Monsignors of the Protonotary Apostolic or something like it) who would perhaps be former bishops in TAC, the Australian Anglican Church or former priests of the same. It would be incredibly wise to create from the marvellous incoming Church in Torres Strait such a Monsignor to serve in this triumvirate.

In North America it would make sense to create such a triumvirate under Msgr. Steenson as well. The territory is vast, and the Ordinariate is not the only expression of the Anglican Patrimony in the Catholic Church in North America. By way of example, a former Anglican Catholic bishop in Canada would make an excellent choice as another Monsignor with oversight for the Canadian deanery. And it would be prudent and very wise to make the senior pastor of the Pastoral Provision parishes also a Monsignor with similar oversight responsibilities among those in the Pastoral Provision but serving in concert with his brother in Canada and together with Msgr Steenson's leadership of the Ordinariate.

I offer these thoughts to my family and friends who are far more influential than I. No one seems much interested in what a lay hermit in Texas thinks of these things. So I entrust the ideas to you if they are worthy. The one thing that has become clear to me is that a single Ordinary with a Vicar General and an office assitant is an irreduceable minimum that should have been given more provisions for the journey by Rome. It is too small an organisational model to be effective with so great a missionary task.

I know some will say, But look here! In North America, the Ordinary has got health insurance for us this May. And look at all of the men being ordained through the training programme he developed. I am in no way trying to take away from these stellar achievements. One should applaud the Ordinary right heartily for being willing to take up a task where Rome provided no money and the USCCB offered no immediate help with Insurance from the get go. We see that as an historian and a scholar he is absolutely the right person for all of these tasks at the onset. There are other considerations though where he would be well served to have brothers — a Msgr. 'Canada' and a Msgr. 'Pastoral Provision' with which to work in this common mission.

What has developed in England from Msgr. Newton's excellent leadership and vision is clearly a model worth repeating. And it really is worth reapting everywhere an Ordinariate is established or where they might be a mixed situation like that in North America … say in India for example. My family in India have some very clear thoughts about these things, but sadly… and it is sad that this is the case across the board, there is only the most limited collaboration with the Laity in Christ of the Anglican Patrimony, a matter that should be corrected post haste. Bishops and priests don't make the Church. Jesus Christ and all of His Faithful make the Church.

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Some Thoughts on Ascension Day

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IMG 6285 1024x768 Some Thoughts on Ascension Day

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast came to our little Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary today to celebrate Mass for Ascension Day.

IMG 6289 1024x768 Some Thoughts on Ascension Day

It was such a joyous occasion for us and such a gesture of kindness and generosity from him.  How welcome he makes us feel and goes out of his way to make us feel.

IMG 6294 1024x768 Some Thoughts on Ascension Day

If we are Catholic now, it is because of his fatherly graciousness towards us, his solidarity with us when we were suffering and uncertain, his gift to us of Fr. Francis Donnelly to accompany us on our catechesis and look after us now as we wait in hope that our own former clergy will be accepted for ordination.  Archbishop Prendergast showed us a face of a true shepherd and spiritual father in the Catholic Church that made it easier to trust that She is the Church of Christ.

While we have been staying to positive stories here on The Anglo-Catholic in hopes that we don't do anything to undermine the Ordinariates, I  know there are people out there who are still suffering in uncertainty or facing impediments to their dreams for unity or who have abandoned hope altogether because the price seemed unreasonably high or it seems the one exacting the price perhaps did so in a heavy-handed way that discouraged rather than encouraged.

Continue reading →

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More News about the Australian Ordinariate

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Here's an excerpt from a story from The Age (with my emphases):

Conference secretary Father Brian Lucas said last night the church expected about 500 Anglicans to convert, some from the dissident Traditional Anglican Communion, which broke away years ago after the Australian Anglican Church allowed women to be priests, and some mainstream Anglicans with a Catholic inclination.

He said he expected there would be two parishes in Melbourne, two in Sydney, one in Brisbane and one in Perth. The Pope had not yet appointed a bishop.

"This will be announced on June 15. But there are people needing to make a decision about their life, particularly Anglican clergy, and now they can make their plans with confidence in the next step in their journey," Father Lucas said.

Read the rest here.

I'm surprised it is as high as 500.  I would bet when all is said and done, the numbers will be more similar to those in Canada, which will initially add up to what, about 300, when all the groups are received.

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Interesting Parallels Between the TAC and SSPX

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There is a sense there could be a resolution soon between Rome and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).  I hope so.  But the acceptance of Rome's offer, perhaps of some sort of personal prelature arrangement that would regularize the traditionalist group, could risk breaking up the society because for some the offer will never be good enough or the Church of Rome will never be good enough.  Though I have not followed this closely, I hope and pray that this break can be healed.

Over at Rorate Caeli there is a translation of a letter from the SSPX General Superior Bishop Bernard Fellay and two members of the General Council to three other SSPX bishops who apparently are not keen on re-union with the Holy See at this time.

Here is a salient excerpt (with my emphases):

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First of all, the letter indeed mentions the gravity of the crisis gripping the Church and precisely analyzes the nature of the ambient errors that pullulate in the Church. Nonetheless, the description is marred by two defects in relation to the reality in the Church: it is lacking in a supernatural spirit and at the same time it lacks realism.

The description lacks a supernatural spirit. To read your letter, one seriously wonders if you still believe that the visible Church whose seat is at Rome is indeed the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a Church horribly disfigured, to be sure, a planta pedis usque ad verticem capitis, but a Church that in spite of all still has as its head Our Lord Jesus Christ. One gets the impression that you have been so scandalized that you no longer accept that it can still be the true Church. For you, it would seem to be a question whether Benedict XVI is still the legitimate pope. And if he is, there is a question as to whether Jesus Christ can still speak through him. If the pope expresses a legitimate will concerning us which is good and which does not order anything contrary to the commandments of God, have we the right to neglect or to dismiss this will? Otherwise, on what principle do you base your actions? Do you not believe that if Our Lord commands us, He will also give us the means to carry on our work? Now, the pope has let us know that an abiding concern for the regularization of our situation for the good of the Church lies at the very heart of his pontificate, and also that he knew very well that it would be easier both for him and for us to leave things as they stand now. And so it is indeed a decided and legitimate will that he is expressing.
    With the attitude you recommend, no room is left for the Gideons or the Davids or for those who count on the Lord’s help. You reproach us with being naïve or fearful, but rather it is your vision of the Church that is too human, and even fatalistic. You see the dangers, the plots, the difficulties, but you no longer see the assistance of grace and of the Holy Ghost. If one grants that Divine Providence leads the affairs of men while safeguarding their liberty, it is also needful to admit that the gestures in our favor over the last several years are also under its guidance. Now, they trace a line  — not straight — but clearly in favor of Tradition. Why should this suddenly stop when we are doing our utmost to be faithful and to intensify our prayer? Will the good God let us fall at the most critical moment? That does not make a lot of sense, especially as we are not trying to impose on Him the least self-will, but are trying to examine events closely so as to discern what God wants, and being disposed to all that shall please Him. At the same time, your description is lacking in realism as regards both the degree of the errors and their extent.
    Degree: Within the Society, some are making the conciliar errors into super heresies, absolute evil, worse than anything, in the same way that the liberals have dogmatized this pastoral council. The evils are sufficiently dramatic; there is hardly any reason to exaggerate them further (cf. Roberto de Mattei, Une histoire jamais écrite, p. 22; Mgr. Gherardini, Un débat à ouvrir, p. 53, etc.). Needful distinctions are not being made, whereas Mgr. Lefebvre did make the necessary distinctions on the subject of liberals several times. This failure to distinguish is leading one or the other of you to a hardening of your position. This is a grave matter because this caricature no longer corresponds with reality and in future it will logically end in a real schism. And it may well be that this fact is one of the arguments that urges me to delay no longer in responding to the Roman authorities.
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The letter reminds me of some of the objections and hardened positions and insistence that Rome repent or change or recognize "we're already Catholic" etc. that I encountered among those in the Traditional Anglican Communion who have decided to refuse the offer of Anglicanorum coetibus.
Bishop Fellay sounds like a voice of sanity.  I hope the rest of the SSPX follows him.
Of course the TAC is nothing compared to the SSPX in size or any other Catholic standard.   I'm just saying the parallels struck me.
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St. Agatha's Beautiful Web Site

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For those of us who trace our Ordinariate-roots to the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), St. Agatha's Church in Portsmouth holds a special place in our hearts.

This is where the members of TAC College of Bishops, dressed in their robes and mitres, solemnly signed on the altar the 2007 Portsmouth Petition, which said, in part:

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Recognising that obligation, and with great confidence in the Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit, a worldwide community of Anglican Christians has united under the name “The Traditional Anglican Communion” for three main purposes:

  • To identify, reaffirm and consolidate in its community the elements of belief, sacraments, structure and conduct that mark the Church of Christ, which is one throughout the world:
  • To seek as a body full and visible communion, particularly eucharistic communion, in Christ, with the Roman Catholic Church, in which it recognises the fullest subsistence of Christ’s one Church; and
  • To achieve such communion while maintaining those revered traditions of spirituality, liturgy, discipline and theology that constitute the cherished and centuries-old heritage of Anglican communities throughout the world.

The Bishops and Vicars-General of this Communion, now meeting in Plenary Session in the Church of Saint Agatha, Portsmouth, England, on the Feast of Theresa of the Child Jesus and in the days following, have reached the following mind which they have asked their Primate and delegates to report to the Holy See:

  1. We accept the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter, which is a ministry of teaching and discerning the faith and a “perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity” and understand this ministry is essential to the Church founded by Jesus Christ.  We accept that this ministry, in the words of the late John Paul II inUt Unum Sint, is to “ensure the unity of all the Churches”.

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I still find this letter inspiring.  I loved it that this is what the TAC stood for.  Sadly, the new TAC has abandoned this approach.

The bishops also signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium.

Did they know what they were signing?  Did they know what accepting the ministry of Peter meant?

One who did is former Bishop Robert Mercer who was ordained a Catholic priest earlier this year.  It warms my heart to see the impressive new web site of St. Agatha's up, with a picture of him that was taken here in Ottawa with our altar behind him.

And what a great work St. Agatha's Trust is doing to preserve the treasures of history.

Check out their campaign to get a full set of bells!

An appeal has been launched to provide a ring of 8 bells for St. Agatha’s Church in the heart of Portsmouth. This will establish the St. Agatha’s Ringing Centre, to promote the art of Church bellringing among the young people of the area. The bells will be rung regularly by the many ringers in the locality and from all over the country. How appropriate that St. Agatha is the patron saint of bellringing!

 

St. Agatha’s is sometimes called "The Cathedral of the Car Parks”. Standing virtually alone in what was an artisan area of Portsmouth, the church was the inspiration of the legendary Fr. Robert Dolling, champion of the poor, who was greatly loved and respected by all. Abandoned in 1954, it became a Naval Store for many years, and was restored for public use in 1994. St. Agatha’s now serves the community, not only as a church, but also as a concert hall and exhibition centre. The building is cared for by St. Agatha’s Trust, a registered charity that will also manage the appeal.

 

St. Agatha’s Trust has saved many fine artefacts no longer required by redundant churches and, with the help of the Keltek Trust, a registered charity that finds new homes for redundant bells, has now acquired 4 bells which will provide the 4 deepest notes of the octave. The money raised by the appeal will provide 4 new bells to complete the octave, hanging all 8 bells in a new bell frame and the fitting out of the Ringing Centre.

It touches me deeply that this place is such a place of hope and renewal, not only for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, but for the treasures of our Anglican patrimony.

Beautiful web site.  And!  They have a Facebook page.  How about going on over and "Liking" it.  There are only two likes so far.  I think I was #2.  Let's see how much traffic we can send!

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How Cool! We're Included!

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The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter lists our sodality in Ottawa among the eleven communities now part of it.  Here's the list from the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter web site.

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Anglicanorum coetibus, the Apostolic Constitution that created the Ordinariates for people of the Anglican Patrimony, envisions parishes, groups, and religious communities entering the Ordinariate.

Communities in the Ordinariate include the following:

Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, TX
Mount Calvary, Baltimore, MD
Saint Luke's, Bladensburg, MD
Saint Timothy, Fort Worth, TX
Saint Peter the Rock, Fort Worth, TX
Saint Michael the Archangel, Philadelphia, PA
St. Joseph of Aramathea, Indianapolis, IN
St. John's, Calgary, Alberta
Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ottawa, Ontario
St. Anselm’s, Greenville, SC
St. Thomas More, Scranton, PA

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And it's also good to see this list of men being ordained for the Catholic priesthood in England, including at least a couple former TAC priests and the former Fr. John Hunwicke!   Such good news from the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham web site.

AISBITT  Osmond John
ALLDRITT  Nicholas Sebastian Fitzansculf
BENNIE  Stanley James Gordon
BERRY  Kenneth Percy John
BOUNDY  David
CANN  Christopher James
CORBYN  John Robert
COPUS  Brian George
GIBBONS  Paul James
GILL  Brian Alvan
GRIEVES  Ian Leslie
GIFFIN  Alan Howard Foster
GULL  William John
HUNWICKE  John William
MAUNDER  John David
MINCHEW  Donald Patrick
NARUSAWA  Masaki Alec
READER-MOORE  Anthony
STAFFORD  David George
WATTS  Franklin Charles
WESTON  Ivan John

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Looking Back and Looking Ahead

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In 1990, I visited a nearby Baptist Church.  I told Pastor Doug Ward that I was a maverick and a heretic and had never been able to sign on the dotted line to join any church. "Maybe this church is big enough for you," the pastor said.  And thank God, he did.  Because if anyone had tackled my various Gnostic heresies head on, I would have left.

I spent ten years or so at Kanata Baptist Church, a parish with a seeker-friendly mission. Upon entering, I had had problems with the notion of three Persons in the Trinity, though none with the Divinity of Jesus.  Through the love and care of this wonderful community, many of my heresies fell away.  It was during my time with them that I realized I could no longer be a cafeteria Christian, picking and choosing what to believe.  I hungered for an Apostolic faith.  But where would I find that in its fulness?

It was then I came across the little Anglican Catholic Church of Canada's then Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ottawa.  It is now the Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as we were received into the Roman Catholic Church by Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast on April 15.

Here I am with some of our parishioners during the Liturgy of the Word (photo by Jake Wright).

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When I left Kanata Baptist Church, I left with the pastor's blessing.  I told him that I hungered for a more liturgical and sacramental form of worship but that I was thankful for all the good teaching and loving fellowship I had experienced there.

Had I not experienced the ten years of gradual growth in the Christian faith, I might have experienced the spiritual bends on encountering the little Ottawa cathedral, but I was ready for its teachings about the male priesthood, about the Sacrifice of the Mass, and yes, its hopes of unity with the Catholic Church.  Had I come in there in 1990, I would have been appalled at the repetitive prayers, the unwillingness to even entertain the notion of women priests.

But I was ready for it.  Hungry for it.

Hearing then Bishop Robert Mercer pray the Mass gave me an intuitive grasp of the Real Presence and being lifted to heaven in the liturgy.  I had such good catechesis there over the last ten years.  Yet had the little cathedral been a stickler about rules and had a closed Communion table, I probably would not have stuck around.

Now we have closed Communion.  All those of us who had marriage irregularities have been vetted by the Archdiocesan marriage tribunal.  All of us have said our General Confession.  It will be interesting to see who our new body attracts and whether we will still be a place — like we used to be — where evangelicals who were prepared to believe in Real Presence would receive Holy Communion and then went on to become members of the Catholic Church because of our teaching.  Would they have left upon being told, sorry, but unless you are in good standing with the Catholic Church you cannnot receive?   Perhaps not.

I'm not arguing for Open Communion mind you, I am just pondering how graciously God has guided me and how gradually, line upon line, precept upon precept, I have been led to the point of desiring to be in full communion with the Catholic Church, thankfully with a good portion of our original parish community and those of groups and fellowships across Canada who entered in Victoria, B.C. on the same day, or will enter April 22, or soon.

So, just as I am still thankful for the Baptist Church, I am thankful for the Traditional Anglican Communion and the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada and the ministry I received there.  I wish those who have remained behind well.  I wish more of them had found they were able to join us.  Maybe some will in the future.

The other day, while helping a journalist-friend, I went back and took a look at the Traditional  Anglican Communion's Portsmouth Petition of 2007.  What an inspiring document it still is.  I am proud of that letter.  I am also proud that two of the former ACCC bishops, Peter Wilkinson and now Fr. Robert Mercer, who accompanied Archbishop John Hepworth to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) with the letter signed by the TAC's college of bishops, have humbly entered the Catholic Church with no conditions.  I am proud that my own former bishop, Carl Reid, has done the same and led his flock into the Catholic Church.  Other ACCC clergy across Canada will do the same and the decision to ask to come in was made with no guarantees any would be ordained as Catholic priests.

Here is a group shot taken after our Rite of Reception by Robert Du Broy, courtesy of the Archdiocese of Ottawa.  (Lots more of his great photos at the Archdiocesan website!)

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I want to thank Archbishop John Hepworth because of how much he inspired me and how much he taught me.  I wish him all the best as he discerns his future and a reconciliation with the Catholic Church he loves and that I trust will take place in time.

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In his sermon April 15,  Archbishop Prendergast said:

I commend the courage and fortitude of our brothers and sisters of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada; your journey has not been easy. I commend your humility and your sacrifice; you have suffered much. I commend your tradition and your zeal; you will bless and strengthen the Roman Catholic Church by your presence.

You are not just favoured guests. This is your home. We love you. I love you. May our public witness of unity draw many from the edges of faith into God’s Kingdom, no longer subject to judgement but to Divine Mercy.

There has been a lot of suffering over the past couple of years, some of it from divisions within our own ranks, some of it from outside forces.  But now is the time to be thankful for gifts received and to look foward to being pioneers in this new venture offered by the Holy Father.  What kindness we have experienced from Catholic bishops across Canada.  What a welcome we received in Ottawa and in Victoria last Sunday.

Just a few days before we were received, a Ukrainian Catholic priest said to me something along these lines: "Stand up for yourselves," he said.  "We have hundreds of years of experience with this.  Always continue to be yourselves."

A friend from the Anglican Church of Canada, part of the Canterbury Communion, said he will be watching to see whether the Ordinariates truly do become a place where we can unpack the treasures of our Anglican patrimony as if we are truly at home.

I think we will.

So now, what is ahead for The Anglo-Catholic?  It began as a blog that gathered in many of the various people interested the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, whether from the Church of England, from the Traditional  Anglican Communion, the Anglican Use community and interested Catholics, especially those who were former Anglicans.

Now we have an Ordinaries and Ordinariates in England and Wales and in the United States with Canada to form a Deanery therein.  We're hoping every day for news from Australia.  The blog has been relatively quiet.  What do we talk about now?

Please do not use this post as an opportunity to re-hash old grievances or disparage any individuals.  Let's all move on.  We are experiencing great joy in Ottawa and in Victoria as will former ACCC parishes in Oshawa and Tynendinaga Mohawk Territory (coming in April 22), and groups in Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal and Sydney.

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