Ex-Anglican communities to become Catholic, Rome confirms

[Chellow]

Telegraph.co.uk
The Catholic Church will expand its provision of “Anglican Use” parishes in the United States in order to allow whole communities of traditionalist Anglicans into the Roman fold, a senior Catholic archbishop has announced. The Most Rev John J Myers, Archbishop of Newark and Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision, told a conference of ex-Anglicans on Friday that "we are working on expanding the mandate of the Pastoral Provision [of Catholic parishes using Anglican-inspired services] to include those clergy and faithful of ‘continuing Anglican communities’.

“We are striving to increase awareness of our apostolate to Anglican Christians who desire to be reconciled with the Holy See. We have experienced the wonder of several Episcopal bishops entering into full communion with the Catholic Church and we continue to receive requests from priests and laity about the Pastoral Provision.”

This is big news, and makes nonsense of the claim that Pope Benedict wants to dissuade Anglo-Catholics from converting. The obvious interpretation of the Archbishop’s words is that the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), a “continuing church” which has hundreds of thousands of members worldwide (though few in the UK), will eventually be given its own Catholic parishes which use a Eucharistic Prayer incorporating Cranmerian language…Read More

 

[stbruno]

Welcome home! I think this is in response to the turmoil going on within their own faith with the ordination of gay and women bishops. Hopefully, they will embrace the Catholic faith and are not doing this as a protest movement.

 

[Digitonomy]

I wonder how soon they plan to extend this to countries outside the US.

 

[josmayr]

It will bring in more married priests. I wonder what impact that will have down the road? I don’t want to go through that debate again.

 

[BennyBoy89]

Praise God! Let’s continue to pray for the rest of the separated brethren in the Anglican world.

And let’s get praying for the evangelicals. We don’t want them to be “Left Behind” either.

Sorry. Lame joke.

 

[KathleenElsie]

Praise God. Welcome home to Holy Mother Church where the welcome is warm and whole hearted.

 

[Holly3278]

Praise God! It is wonderful that they are coming home to Rome! :extrahappy:

 

[Dale_M]

The links in the first post do not work. I wonder if Damian Thompson wasn’t exaggerating in his claims (it wouldn’t be the first time).

Austen Ivereigh offers an interpretation which contradicts Thompson’s claim that the TAC will be given their own Catholic parishes.

According to Thompson, Myers’s speech makes “nonsense of the claim that Pope Benedict wants to dissuade Anglo-Catholics from converting” and claims that it proves that traditionalist Anglicans “will eventually be given [their] s own Catholic parishes which use a Eucharistic Prayer incorporating Cranmerian language.”

But this doesn’t follow. The further expansion of the American ‘Anglican Use’ model – which has been available since the 1970s – tells us very little about whether the Vatican is laying plans for a group conversion of British Anglo-Catholics.

Vatican policy towards North-American Anglicans is quite different, because the US Episcopal Church (TEC) is not – to put it mildly – an instrument of communion in the Anglican Church. Which is why the then Cardinal Ratzinger was happy to send a personal message of support to conservative Anglicans meeting in Dallas in 2003.

In contrast, the Church of England – and this Archbishop of Canterbury especially – are crucial to the future unity of Anglicanism.

americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=336E9178-5056-8928-10E0D610B79CE160

 

[mullenpm]

I don’t understand this sentence:

“we are working on expanding the mandate of the Pastoral Provision [of Catholic parishes using Anglican-inspired services] to include those clergy and faithful of ‘continuing Anglican communities’.”

How can a Catholic parish use Anglican-inspired services?

This sounds like another separation because why would a Catholic want to join such a parish?

Would not the Anglicans be required to take instruction in the Catholic faith?

And I suppose a married Anglican priest (?) could become a RC Deacon - after instruction in our faith.

 

[JKirkLVNV]

I don’t understand this sentence:

“we are working on expanding the mandate of the Pastoral Provision [of Catholic parishes using Anglican-inspired services] to include those clergy and faithful of ‘continuing Anglican communities’.”

How can a Catholic parish use Anglican-inspired services?

This sounds like another separation because why would a Catholic want to join such a parish?

Would not the Anglicans be required to take instruction in the Catholic faith?

And I suppose a married Anglican priest (?) could become a RC Deacon - after instruction in our faith.

Their “mass” and our Mass have the same antecedents, so there service differs very little from ours.

I’d join such a parish if the Anglican use was from the Old Prayer book or Rite One! It’s beautiful.

I’m sure the Anglicans would have a time of instruction.

And the Anglican priest would be ordained a deacon, yes, but then a priest, much as is done in the Eastern Catholic communities.

Here’s a link to an Anglican Use parish in San Antonio, Texas, a very dynamic and orthodox one. It’s pastor is a married priest. I believe one of the Masses there is the EF.

atonementonline.com/index.php

 

[Grace_Angel]

Praise God! It is wonderful that they are coming home to Rome! :extrahappy:

I think its wonderful too. However, what happens to the married priests.? Will this be the beginning of the end of the Latin rite priesthood? the priesthood according to Melchizedek and according to the type of Jesus Christ? Because if its OK to accept former Anglican priests as now RC priests, then the Latin Rite priests can rightly object to the celibacy of their rite.
I am not so sure about things, I am feeling anxiety of some type.
GraceAngel.

 

[NicPais83]

Having a non-married priesthood is up to Rome to decide. I don’t believe that accepting married priests from Anglicanism, re-ordaining them, and permitting them to use the Book of Divine Worship should be too much of a problem, as it’s already been done in the past. I don’t believe, however, that the married priesthood would continue past this first generation of Anglican-Use priests. Afterall, this is sort of a special case, and I think that Rome is showing great charity in understanding the situation that these Anglican-Use societies are coming from.

 

[josmayr]

You are right, it won’t last past the first generation. I am refering to the malcontents that are just waiting for an opening to say “See they are married and they are doing just fine”. The good thing is that the ordination of women won’t crop up from this.
It does prove one thing though, WE DO NOT have to compromise what is right and the TRUTH will prevail. It might take 50 years or a couple a hundred, but it will prevail.

Pax Christi

 

[BennyBoy89]

It does prove one thing though, WE DO NOT have to compromise what is right and the TRUTH will prevail. It might take 50 years or a couple a hundred, but it will prevail.

Pax Christi

Amen.

 

[irenaeus1]

Their “mass” and our Mass have the same antecedents, so there service differs very little from ours.

I’d join such a parish if the Anglican use was from the Old Prayer book or Rite One! It’s beautiful.

I’m sure the Anglicans would have a time of instruction.

And the Anglican priest would be ordained a deacon, yes, but then a priest, much as is done in the Eastern Catholic communities.

Here’s a link to an Anglican Use parish in San Antonio, Texas, a very dynamic and orthodox one. It’s pastor is a married priest. I believe one of the Masses there is the EF.

atonementonline.com/index.php

I have attended their Solemn Mass using Rite I, and it is absolutely beautiful, reverent, awe-inspiring, etc. Also, they have a Mass on Sunday evenings where they pray the Novus Ordo Mass in Latin… and the priest faces ad orientum. Again, absolutely beautiful, reverent, awe-inspiring, etc.

 

[Grace_Angel]

Having a non-married priesthood is up to Rome to decide. I don’t believe that accepting married priests from Anglicanism, re-ordaining them, and permitting them to use the Book of Divine Worship should be too much of a problem, as it’s already been done in the past. I don’t believe, however, that the married priesthood would continue past this first generation of Anglican-Use priests. Afterall, this is sort of a special case, and I think that Rome is showing great charity in understanding the situation that these Anglican-Use societies are coming from.

Sorry Nic I dont quite agree with you. I think these actions will be groundwork for change in Priesthood. I hope you are right and I am wrong because I want a priesthood according to Jesus Christ.
Grace Angel.

 

[jesuitinnam]

Sorry Nic I dont quite agree with you. I think these actions will be groundwork for change in Priesthood. I hope you are right and I am wrong because I want a priesthood according to Jesus Christ.
Grace Angel.

Hi Grace Angel

It’s been working pretty well since 1992 - during the first wave of conversions. The number Episcopal priests who are ordained as Roman Catholic priests, is negligible if you take them as a percentage of all priests in the RC Church. Furthermore, these priests are not allowed to remaary, should the become widowers. it’s a once off provision, to allow those already ordained as Episcopal priests to become Catholic priests. No one can be married after ordination however.

 

[Digitonomy]

I hope you are right and I am wrong because I want a priesthood according to Jesus Christ.Grace Angel.

Are you suggesting that married Catholic priests, in both the Latin and Eastern Churches, are not members of the priesthood according to Jesus Christ? Or that the married Apostles were not members of the priesthood according to Jesus?:ehh:

 

[Grace_Angel]

Are you suggesting that married Catholic priests, in both the Latin and Eastern Churches, are not members of the priesthood according to Jesus Christ? Or that the married Apostles were not members of the priesthood according to Jesus?:ehh:

Digitonomy, can you tell me, was Jesus Christ married?
GraceAngel.

 

[bpbasilphx]

I think these actions will be groundwork for change in Priesthood. Sorry Nic I dont quite agree with you. I think these actions will be groundwork for change in Priesthood. I hope you are right and I am wrong because I want a priesthood according to Jesus Christ.

**Most of the Eastern Churches in union with Rome–as well as all the Orthodox and Non-Chalcedonian Churches–have married priests as the usual practice and do just fine.

Or do you mean to imply that this is not a “priesthood according to Jesus Christ?”

The “change in the Priesthood” came when Rome began enforcing clerical celibacy in the West.**