Indeed, as is the case with the current Catholic Bishop of East Anglia.Generally there would be no limit on any male being ordained a deacon.
Any unmarried male convert could conceivably become a priest and possibly later bishop
And I also liked Fr. @edward_george1’s term to the effect of “unhampered by a seminary education” on those “correcting” him on theology.but who very boldly proclaimed their “knowledge.”
Don Ruggero, will you be posting anywhere else once this forum is closed? I’d love to communicate with you privately.I caught sight of this post which is along the lines of my work, once upon a time.
By the way, I am not sure where you are from or where you undertook your seminary formation, but, as you may know, the Baptist Union of Great Britain trains many of its ministers at Oxford, mostly on the BTh or MTh course, although some candidates may be studying on other courses such as the BA in theology and religion. Other BUGB colleges offer degrees from Manchester, Durham, and Cardiff, as well as some research degrees validated by Aberdeen.One is in formation in ministry. Obviously it is not the same but the training an Anglican priest can receive, especially in the United Kingdom but also in the United States will, classically, reflect the major elements of seminary formation of Catholics. Those priested following studies at Oxford or Cambridge can be very well prepared academically in the essential elements indeed.
But the Pastoral Provision still exists and I would counsel you to reach out to them. I am retired now but I can tell you the following:
There are currently Catholic priests, ordained under the Pastoral Provision, who were not Anglican. That was statistically rare. They were Lutherans and also Presbyterians and Methodists. There was more that was required for non-Anglicans in terms of remedying lacunae in academic and other formation…which makes for a longer path to ordination by a Catholic Bishop.
The key is, invoking the Pastoral Provision and then seeking a Bishop who would be amenable to helping you. It is important to stress that it will in part be contingent on what part of the Evangelical tradition you abide in. Where you are willing to live is also an important factor.
It is a years long process, which would involve not only you but also the receiving diocese having to help you with some sort of non-ordained employment (teaching, family life minister, etc.) through the process and while the dossier is assembled and submitted to Rome – ultimately each candidates dossier comes to Rome and before the Holy Father, for he is the only one who can issue the necessary rescript.
But I say all of this because you really need to discern this with the officials of the Pastoral Provision so that you may have full information and, if you choose, enter this process with your eyes wide open.
Life as a Roman Catholic is very different from life in the Reformed Communities for those who take up ordained ministry. The relationship of the ordained to the Bishop of the diocese is very different from relationships of the clergy of other communities.
I remember from my days of involvement with this initiative – I am a Catholic priest who is retired on account of age – there were many lovely successes, some less so…but also there were cases that did not work out, to put it delicately. This was very difficult for those men, who could not go back to where they had come from – the bridge was burnt – but could not find what they hoped to have in the Roman Church. Those cases I remember especially and poignantly. Priesthood in the Roman Church is a very unique undertaking.
@Don_Ruggero, I am singling out this post, not to address the topic but to show you and all who read this, why I sincerely admired and appreciated any replies you gave to me here on CAF.
Take a look at the second to last paragraph where you talk about how difficult it may be to go back because personal bridges have been burnt. You never give any hint that to go back would be a mistake or make any judgement on that action. This so exemplifies the love that shines thru your words. I am 100% sure that you are convinced the CC is where all Christians should be but (I perceive and choose to believe) that the genuine love you have for others does not compel you to belittle those from Communities of the Reform by saying things like what we so often see on this forum.
Thank you for being a beacon of love, encouragement and goodwill.
Oh my goodness. I do not know what to say.@Don_Ruggero, I am singling out this post, not to address the topic but to show you and all who read this, why I sincerely admired and appreciated any replies you gave to me here on CAF.
Take a look at the second to last paragraph where you talk about how difficult it may be to go back because personal bridges have been burnt. You never give any hint that to go back would be a mistake or make any judgement on that action. This so exemplifies the love that shines thru your words. I am 100% sure that you are convinced the CC is where all Christians should be but (I perceive and choose to believe) that the genuine love you have for others does not compel you to belittle those from Communities of the Reform by saying things like what we so often see on this forum.
Thank you for being a beacon of love, encouragement and goodwill.
I would not express it that way, personally. It is where I, personally, found all the elements that I believe Christ intended his Church to have, in a faith life I have lived in full communion with the successor of Peter, with whom I have been one mind and one heart in lived discipleship. But I have the greatest esteem and respect and admiration for those of other Churches and Ecclesial Communities which were vibrant and filled with the Holy Spirit…where disciples of the Lord Jesus lived, to the best of their ability, their love and commitment to God and to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.I am 100% sure that you are convinced the CC is where all Christians should be
Good Heavens no! I was horrified by the attitudes of all too many posters here whose attitudes were diametrically opposed to the Pope of TODAY. They wanted to quote documents that no longer guide or inform the Church of Rome’s actions and mind TODAY. These lay Catholics were diametrically opposing the words of the Council which declared, forcefully, that the ecumenical movement was a divine imperative for the Church. Nothing less. I found attitudes of individuals here that were utterly faithless to the initiatives of the Holy See today on ecumenism. That was shameful…to be so uninformed and ignorant of what is the mind of the Church TODAY. There were many that brought here the attitudes and expressions of the nineteenth century which have been abandoned!(I perceive and choose to believe) that the genuine love you have for others does not compel you to belittle those from Communities of the Reform by saying things like what we so often see on this forum.
This is a key ecumenical task in which we have to help one another: developing a deeper and livelier faith. It is not strategy that saves us and saves Christianity, but faith – thought out and lived afresh; through such faith, Christ enters this world of ours, and with him, the living God. As the martyrs of the Nazi era brought us together and prompted that great initial ecumenical opening, so today, faith that is lived from deep within amid a secularized world is the most powerful ecumenical force that brings us together, guiding us towards unity in the one Lord. And we pray to him, asking that we may learn to live the faith anew, and that in this way we may then become one.
…The ecumenical movement is striving to overcome these obstacles. But even in spite of them it remains true that all who have been justified by faith in Baptism are members of Christ’s body, and have a right to be called Christian, and so are correctly accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church.
Moreover, some and even very many of the significant elements and endowments which together go to build up and give life to the Church itself, can exist outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church: the written word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, and visible elements too. All of these, which come from Christ and lead back to Christ, belong by right to the one Church of Christ.
The brethren divided from us also use many liturgical actions of the Christian religion. These most certainly can truly engender a life of grace in ways that vary according to the condition of each Church or Community. These liturgical actions must be regarded as capable of giving access to the community of salvation.
It follows that the separated Churches and Communities as such, though we believe them to be deficient in some respects, have been by no means deprived of significance and importance in the mystery of salvation. For the Spirit of Christ has not refrained from using them as means of salvation which derive their efficacy from the very fullness of grace and truth entrusted to the Church.
Fr @Don_Ruggero, may I kindly ask, are you stating that you personally knew Augustin Cardinal Bea, SJ? If so, then you must be blessed, even to this day, to have known this eminent council father, who, from the little I know, was one of the greatest exegetes of his era, and whose theological knowledge and skills greatly affected the direction of the last Ecumenical Council.You have profoundly touched me by your words. The real tributes belong to my mentor, Augustine Cardinal Bea. I was just a candle that was lighted from that great torch of the Council. His name is not remembered by ordinary Catholics in the pew…but he is and will always be a giant in Church History for actual historians of the ecumenical movement.