And the topic of this thread is:
Your cooperation and assistance in staying with it is appreciated.
Forgive me if I went off topic-- I would think that Holy Church has made itself quite clear on the issue of anything “anglican” in the sense that Anglican Orders have been and are null and void as Pope Leo XIII declared. While I am in NO POSITION to think that I, a recent convert, can answer for The Church, I know what the Church has said on record in the Encyclical of Apostolica Cureae by Leo.
The Holy Father simply declared what was the case, if you will-- what the Facts were and are and remain to be-- the defect in intent and form remain-- the Apostolic Succession was lost in the English Realm in the Edwardian Ordinal.
In my journey home into the Church-- that is the Catholic Church of the Creed (something I had always “thought” or “hoped” that Anglicanism was including Continuing Church/Traditional Anglicanism)-- it became clear to me that for the sacraments to be True and Valid that the ordinations’ validity and the validity of Holy Orders would be paramount.
My studies (lead I believe by the Holy Spirit who leads us into the Truth) and readings of men such as Newman, Knox, Manning and others made it clear that Pope Leo was and is still correct and right.
That is NOT to say that the members of the TAC or the “continuing Anglican church movement” are somehow condemned. As I alluded in my prior post on this thread, such hubris would be the epitome of pride and sinful judgment on my part and God forbid me to engage in such!
While there are indeed many things about the TAC/CC Movement that seem “catholic” and have “catholic” trappings and window dressings, if you will, they lack the KEY of the Catholic Faith which is acceptance of and submission to the office of the Papacy as the source of Unity AND Authority. The readings of the Fathers (specifically Cyprian, Clement, Ignatius and Ireneaus) seem to be clear to me on this.
As I wrote earlier, I was in the CC movement for some time and I knew bishops and clergy in it. There seems to me to be this desire for all things “catholic” and “English” but unfortunately the English Nationalism that is still held in many corners of the CC that I was in, seems to outweigh any rational desire for unity and especially submission to the Holy Father. I won’t specifically question the sincerity of the TAC or its hierarchy in their desire to come to the Church. Just seems to me there is already a way to do so that is not demanding of one’s own special uniate status or “special rite”.
Therefore, in conclusion I would have to deduce that the “sacraments” in the TAC and the CC in general are not “Sacraments” in the Catholic Understanding (outside from perhaps baptism and marriage)-- but certainly what the TAC/CC calls “eucharist” is not “The Eucharist” nor are Holy Orders in the TAC/CC truly HOLY ORDERS as the Church knows them to be.
Come home would be what I say-- the Father is waiting. Coming home to the Church made me face my “English and Anglican Pride” and the submission I am making to the Church and the Holy Father are what I needed. I would imagine that most other Anglicans who are like I was need the same thing.
In Christ the Lord,