I thought the same thing until I read this article by Jimmy Akin:As a former anglo-catholic, I think it’s marvelous!
As far as meat - we are required to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent and Ash Wednesday, and we are required to make a penitential act on the other Fridays of the year (acts of charity, etc although it is recommended we abstain from meat)… Some, like myself, choose to do both when they think of it and abstain from meat to make sure we do practice a penitential act.
2 very different questions.Just curious about what some of you think about the attempt to unite the Anglicans with the Church may be?
Also are we required to abstain from meats every Friday?
Thanks,
Tommy
Are you speaking about a particular attempt? Although I have never been to an Anglican use parish for mass, I think the existence of the parishes is a good thing. And the possibility that married Anglican priests who become Catholic may have the opportunity to become Catholic priests is also something I see as a blessing.Just curious about what some of you think about the attempt to unite the Anglicans with the Church may be?
October 20, 2009
Fr. Rutler discusses Vatican’s Anglican provision
By Fr. George Rutler *
Editor’s Note: Fr. George Rutler, a convert from Anglicanism, was asked by CNA what his reaction is to the Vatican’s new Anglican provision. Fr. Rutler’s reply follows.
It is a dramatic slap-down of liberal Anglicanism and a total repudiation of the ordination of women, homosexual marriage and the general neglect of doctrine in Anglicanism. Indeed, it is a final rejection of Anglicanism. It basically interprets Anglicanism as a spiritual patrimony based on ethnic tradition rather than substantial doctrine and makes clear that it is not a historic “church” but rather an "ecclesial community” that strayed and now is invited to return to communion with the Pope as Successor of Peter.
The Vatican was careful to schedule simultaneously with the Vatican announcement, a press conference of the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster and the deeply humiliated Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury to enable the Anglicans to save some face by saying that this recognizes the spiritual patrimony of Anglicanism and that ecumenical dialogue goes ahead. That is like George Washington at Yorktown saying that he recognizes the cultural contributions of Britain and hopes diplomatic relations flourish. The Apostolic Constitution is not a retraction of ecumenical desires, but rather is the fulfillment of ecumenical aspirations, albeit not the way most Anglican leaders had envisioned it.
***The press, uninformed and always tabloid in matters of religion, will zoom in on the permission for married priests. They will miss the most important point: that this reiterates the Catholic Church’s insistence that Anglican Holy Orders are invalid, and perforce so is their Eucharist. These married Anglican priests have to be fully and validly ordained by a Catholic bishop. ***Following Orthodox custom, they are allowed to marry only before ordination and not after. And no married man may become a bishop. (Thus, any Anglican bishop joining one of these “ordinariates” would no longer be recognized as a bishop. Under special provision, Anglican bishops would have some right to pastoral authority, but would not be bishops.)
It remains to be seen how many Anglicans (Episcopalians in the USA) will be received into the Catholic Church under these provisions, but it is a final nail in the coffin of the rapidly disintegrating Anglicanism at least in the West * and will radically challenge Anglicans in other parts of the world. Perhaps most importantly, it sets a precedent for reunion with Orthodox churches whose Holy Orders the Catholic Church already recognizes as valid. I should not be surprised if the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury eventually is received into the Catholic Church, at least when he retires and gets a patent of nobility and a pension.
- Fr. George Rutler is pastor of The Church of Our Saviour in New York City and is a convert to Catholicism from the Anglican Communion.*
The part I’ve highlighted in bold was exactly what I’ve been wondering about, because I haven’t heard anyone else mention it in the press. And I wondered why; seems pretty key here.
I hope that these newly ordained priests are coming into the Church for the right reasons and that they aren’t just running away from the problems of their former church. But given the current circumstances it gives one pause to wonder about the motivation.
In the United States, the UCCB has obtained an indult with regard to the Friday fast. But the norm in other parts of the world is to observe the fast. I don’t know if the Anglicans observe the Fri. fast.Also are we required to abstain from meats every Friday?
Thanks,
Tommy
It remains to be seen how many Anglicans (Episcopalians in the USA) will be received into the Catholic Church under these provisions, but it is a final nail in the coffin of the rapidly disintegrating Anglicanism at least in the West * and will radically challenge Anglicans in other parts of the world. Perhaps most importantly, it sets a precedent for reunion with Orthodox churches whose Holy Orders the Catholic Church already recognizes as valid. I should not be surprised if the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury eventually is received into the Catholic Church, at least when he retires and gets a patent of nobility and a pension.*
I think that some Anglo Catholic congregations in the US, UK, and other Western countries will join the RCC. However the real strength of the Anglican Communion is outside North America/Europe especially Africa. There the church is still growing and is conservative, not given to the issues that have divided the western churches so I do not expect them to feel a need to change.
Don’t understand the comment about Orthodox - don’t we already have Eastern Rite churches in the RCC and I assume there is already a mechanism for them to be accepted into the RCC?
Jon
(Former Anglo Catholic before crossing Tiber in 1999)
i agree with filoque - it is something that we should rejoice over. there are issues to work out, but i do feel there are priests and congregations who will accept this offer by the Pope.Any time an individual or group enters into communion with the Holy See it is a time to rejoice.
There are many problems that do need to be addressed. Married clergy in itself is not a problem, many other Protestant ministers have converted and after a period of education and spiritual formation/discernment been ordained even though they are married. However each case has to be investigated individually. I know one Traditional Anglican priest who is very public that he and his wife intended to use Birth Control and prevent the possiblities of conception. Some have either divorced and remarried, or married divorced women. Hopefully any who convert and seek to be ordained, are doing so based on a true vocation. That however we have to leave to competent authorities in the Church, and the Holy Spirit. We can however support this by our prayers, and learning the Faith from reputable Catholic sources, and not spurious sources.
Another problem (which it seems our Holy Father is well aware of) is the Liturgy. Not all Anglicans use the same liturgy. Some use a Mass that is very close to the EF, but in the local language. Others use a Missal close to the OF. There are those that use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, and still others who use a modern version of the Book of Common Prayer. In England I think a few even use the 1662 book from time to time. Oxford University I think even has a 1662 Common Prayer in Latin from time to time. Other countries like Canada and South Africa have their own prayer books.
Some who use the Anglican Missal, or American Missal, only allow male servers, but sometimes use women to read the readings (except for the Gospel) Others like the Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion use a OF like rite and use female servers where they are tolerated.
Many Anglicans refer to the various Anglican groups that exist today as Alphabet Soup, since there are so many little groups not aligned with Cantebury. One very odd one claims to be traditional, and refuses to ordain women, however they do have a few women “priests” who were part of the newly established church before they banned the practice.
Now I’m no expert on the various Anglican groups, and I do hope that many if not most come freely into the Catholic Church and find it to be a true spiritual home. But I don’t see it happening overnight.
Thanks for the information Ignatius. It prompted me to find their liturature:In the United States, the UCCB has obtained an indult with regard to the Friday fast. But the norm in other parts of the world is to observe the fast. I don’t know if the Anglicans observe the Fri. fast.
Amen!Any time an individual or group enters into communion with the Holy See it is a time to rejoice.
Well, not the whole of the rest of the world. Friday abstinence, as opposed to Friday penance, isn’t the norm in the UK either. (Presumably by ‘fast’ you did not mean fast as usually understood, but ‘abstinence from meat’?)In the United States, the UCCB has obtained an indult with regard to the Friday fast. But the norm in other parts of the world is to observe the fast. I don’t know if the Anglicans observe the Fri. fast.
It’s not an indult. Conferences of Bishops have competency in this regard per Canon 1253.In the United States, the UCCB has obtained an indult with regard to the Friday fast. But the norm in other parts of the world is to observe the fast. I don’t know if the Anglicans observe the Fri. fast.
I think that the beliefs that you mention above are the reason that the Anglican “Church” is splitting. At least, I hope so.Are you speaking about a particular attempt? Although I have never been to an Anglican use parish for mass, I think the existence of the parishes is a good thing. And the possibility that married Anglican priests who become Catholic may have the opportunity to become Catholic priests is also something I see as a blessing.
Of course the Anglican denomination as a whole is moving farther from reunion with Rome, especially by its acceptance of homosexual sexual behavior and ‘marriage’ and the ordination of women.