The Ordination of Married Men to the Priesthood

Many Catholics in the Western (Latin) Church have been discovering more about the fact that married priests have served in the Eastern Churches since the time of the Apostles and there are now again married priests in the West or Latin Rite from a variety of backgrounds.

Those Eastern Churches which have come into full communion with Rome over the past 500 years have all had married priests along with celibate clergy.  They are fully Catholic. 

The question has arisen: Since there is a long and continuous history of married priesthood in communion with Rome both East and West and there are at the moment many married priests in the Latin Rite (Anglicans and others) who have been dispensed from the rule of celibacy why should this practice not continue?

Here are some thoughts on the ordination of married men that have been shared, in part, on other blogs.

History, Development and Anglicanorum Coetibus

For the ordinariates the rules regarding the ordination of married men to the priesthood are defined constitutionally in Anglicanorum Coetibus (AC) section VI parts 1 and 2 (see below).

The first principle is that the norm of celibacy for priests of the Latin rite (in which Anglican ordinariates exist) remains the rule in the Western Church.

The provision for derogation from the rule in individual cases has been widely applied in the UK ordinariate to married men in the past few months i.e. "for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See."

There appears to be no limit or timeline attached to this. Nor does section VI part 2 (as distinct from part 1) refer exclusively to men currently in Anglican orders but simply "for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis." 

The important question arises: Are married priests as well as married deacons (currently allowed in the Latin Rite generally) part of the continuing Anglican patrimony?

A thoughtful and considerate discussion of this question needs to take place as the ordinariates establish their distinctive culture within the Catholic Church.

With regard to the ongoing process of discerning vocations to the priesthood within the ordinariates, the Complementary Norms published with AC state:

In consideration of Anglican ecclesial tradition and practice, the Ordinary may present to the Holy Father a request for the admission of married men to the presbyterate in the Ordinariate, after a process of discernment based on objective criteria and the needs of the Ordinariate.

The objective criteria referred to in the constitution will spell out the requirements for future candidates more specifically. It would be unlikely that disciplinary criteria would abrogate the intention of  the Apostolic Constitution to allow for the continuing right of each ordinary to petition the Holy Father on the basis of an already established practice of admitting married men to the presbyterate.

Pope Benedict has readily allowed such petitions in dozens of cases already at the recommendation of Mgr. Newton, the UK ordinary.

Precedent is important. The patrimony question remains to be defined in this as in other areas.

ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS

VI. § 1. Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfil the requisites established by canon law and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement In June are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.

§ 2. The Ordinary, in full observance of the discipline of celibate clergy in the Latin Church, as a rule (pro regula) will admit only celibate men to the order of presbyter. He may also petition the Roman Pontiff, as a derogation from can. 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.

Precedent, Celibacy and Sacerdotalis Coelibatus (1967)

If the Holy Spirit prompts and the Church continues to discern, as she does at present, that married men have priestly vocations in the Anglican ordinariates (and other parts of the Catholic Church) and ordinaries continue to apply, the Pope will have good reason and precedent to confirm vocations under the clear provision of AC VI section 2.

Pope Paul’s VI’s 1967 encyclical Sacerdotalis Coelibatus states:

And that the authority of the Church does not hesitate to exercise her power in this matter can be seen from the recent Ecumenical Council, which foresaw the possibility of conferring the holy diaconate on men of mature age who are already married. (83)

Some saw this recognition of diaconal vocations as 'revolutionary' in 1967 but married deacons are now a long established principle in the life of the Latin Church which does not undermine the value of celibacy but rather enhances and complements it. The continuation of the married priesthood in Eastern Catholic and Anglican Catholic Ordinariate communities will do likewise.

To complement the freely chosen state of celibacy the encyclical offers a generous consideration of married vocations in another section of the encyclical:

42.  In virtue of the fundamental norm of the government of the Catholic Church, to which We alluded above, (82) while on the one hand, the law requiring a freely chosen and perpetual celibacy of those who are admitted to Holy Orders remains unchanged, on the other hand, a study may be allowed of the particular circumstances of married sacred ministers of Churches or other Christian communities separated from the Catholic communion, and of the possibility of admitting to priestly functions those who desire to adhere to the fullness of this communion and to continue to exercise the sacred ministry. The circumstances must be such, however, as not to prejudice the existing discipline regarding celibacy.

Development since Pius XII

The teaching and legislation of Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II (Pastoral Provision for Anglicans) and now Benedict XVI are generous affirmations of what the Holy Spirit has and is calling married men to in ordained ministry.

Married priests have been and continue to be ordained in the Church since the time of St. Peter.  It is difficult, therefore, to make a case that this continuous witness and recent affirmation by five popes can be a threat to the freely chosen gift of celibacy in the East or the West.

As the Church teaches, the gift of celibacy must be freely chosen and it is the more freely chosen by those who are supported by others who have vocations to marriage. There is no mutual exclusivity. There is no threat since both states for priests are affirmed by the Holy Spirit and confirmed by the Holy Father.

As Blessed John Henry Newman has taught us, true development meets the criteria of growth within the tradition. The tradition must and will grow as perfect love casts out fear. Celibacy has nothing to fear from the long and continuous witness of the married priesthood . . . and the Church has every blessing to gain through the continued support offered by those who are married for our brothers called to celibacy and vice versa.

Some Final Thoughts

In 1951 married priests were again formally ordained in the Western (Latin) Church, with papal dispensation, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. This first pastoral provision was aimed at High Church Lutheran clergy in Germany concerned about the union the German Lutheran Church had arranged with the Protestant German Calvinistic Church. As recently as this year, a former Lutheran pastor was ordained: Fr. Harm Klüting.

The remarkable thing about the Pope Paul's 1967 encyclical is that it actually says, with regard to men coming from Anglican and other ecclesial communities not in communion with Rome, that they may: "continue to exercise the sacred ministry."  The words "to continue" constitute a profound affirmation of ministry and a clear statement that the ministry of married men is to continue within ecclesial communities in communion with Rome.

It is clear about the fact that married men have been and continue to be engaged in the sacred ministry along with and as a complement to celibate clergy. This was so in the early centuries of the Western Church and now has been increasingly recognized for well over half a century in the West. 

Vatican II, initiated by Pope John XXIII, opened the door to ecumenical discussion with Anglicans and others leading to the ARCIC talks under Paul VI.  These conversations many credit with leading to the welcoming of Anglicans and the ordination of married Anglican priests for the Anglican Use in the 1980s.

It is also clear, that the encyclical allowed an obviously successful "study" which resulted in the Pastoral Provision of John Paul II. The experience of individual married clergy received, ordained and leading Anglican Use parishes has now brought us to the constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. It is indeed a remarkably clear path.

Why, if the ministry of married priests continues successfully as it is now begun in the ordinariates, would such ministry be said later to be only provisional?

Again, why would approval for ordination of married men be removed from Anglican ordinariates when there is provision for the married priesthood elsewhere in the Catholic Church and when such ministry has never been absent from the life of the Church?

I understand the deep concern for the vocation of celibacy which the whole Church cherishes but not the fearfulness of what the Church has approved with regard to other vocations. We are simply attempting to read the constitution and to understand it in light of actual developments in the Church; surely this is what Newman advocated.

The provision for married priests is not only established but married clergy support those who are called to celibacy and are potentially of great benefit to Latin dioceses. Married ordinariate priests will assist in the great pastoral challenges facing other overworked Latin rite priests because they can assist in Latin parishes as priests of the Western Church. There is, then, every practical reason for the provision and no significant theological, pastoral, traditional or constitutional obstacle.

In addition, and in the experience of many, clergy wives have been a great boon and support to celibate clergy. Some of our closest relationships have been those of mutual support with people called to celibate ministry, both men and women. It is obvious to many that celibates often greatly appreciate the role of clergy wives who are a gift to the Church in their own vocations as pointed out elsewhere on this blog.

The development of ordinariates including both celibate and married priests is now the practice of the Western Church. These are developing in the spirit of Blessed John H. Newman who opposed liberalism though he himself was charged with being a modernist.

Newman saw clearly, however, that the best defence against revolution was a measured, prayerful and considered development of the Church's doctrine and discipline based upon long established principles and practices. Clearly the Holy Father agrees with Newman, as have his immediate predecessors.

For Whom The Bell Tolls

The following is excerpted from a homily (Meditation 17) offered by the great British poet, the Very Rev’d John Donne, Dean of St. Paul’s, London in which he coins the famous phrase.  He was a man, like many of his generation, given to profound contemplation of his own death having survived serious illness and having lost many loved ones.

In the following he considers the nature of the Catholic Church as a single body made up of all the baptized who are on a journey together.  In his eloquent way, he calls us to prayer for those who go before us in faith.

 The Church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action 
concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member. 


And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; 
and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every 
translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leave again for that library where every book shall lie open to one 
another.

. . . The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that 
minute that this occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God. 
Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings but who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this 
world?

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece 
of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by 
the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as 
well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's 
death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and 
therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for 
thee.

Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing 
of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but 
must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the 
misery of our neighbours. Truly it were an excusable covetousness 
if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath 
enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and 
ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction. If a man 
carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none 
coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he 
travels.

Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not 
current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our 
home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick too, and sick to 
death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this 
consideration of another's danger I take mine own into 
contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my 
God, who is our only security.

John Donne

In St. Paul's a memorial to Donne was erected from an etching of him wrapped in a shroud.  It survived the Great Fire of London.

Nunc Lento Sonitu Dicunt, Morieris (Now this bell, tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.)

A Pentecost Reflection on the Holy Spirit, Newman and Catholic Faith

I heard a woman speak the other day (lets call her Margaret) of those "becoming Catholic" in the British Ordinariate.  Unfortunately, this process is often equated in the popular mind with leaving the Masons to join the Lions' Club or the Moose Lodge.  Granted, most understand that it is a rather more profound commitment but essentially it is still something that as Margaret put it: "a person decides and does".


In truth, coming to Catholic faith does require decisions but it is really more a process initiated by God and our continuing response to the action of God the Holy Spirit including the acceptance of gifts given to us rather than simply an intellectual decision based upon interests or taste.  


Certainly the content of the faith is important and the requirement for catechesis recognizes this.  There is, though, so much more and I always find myself uncomfortable with statements like those from Margaret: "He's defecting to the Romans" or "She's converting to the Catholics" which imply that this is simply a decision made for good or bad reasons depending upon the person making the statement. 


In reality, people often have several conversions at various times in their lives and if these are real they are initiated by God. John Henry Newman counted at least three profound conversions in his journey since his baptism as a child: conversion to living faith in God as a teenager, a powerful personal experience of the Holy Spirit during his trip to Sicily and his near death experience before he and others began the Oxford Movement, and then his ultimate reception into full communion with the See of Peter.  


When, then, did he "become Catholic"?  The simple answer is: at his baptism (Catechism of the Catholic Church, hereafter CCC, sections 1272 - 1274).  But that is not the complete answer either since baptism is the beginning of something that needs to grow. 


Perhaps the better question is: "How was his relationship with the Holy Spirit forming him in Catholic faith and converting him throughout his pilgrimage?"  


By his own admission, Newman had no appreciable change of opinion from the latter stages of his ministry as an Anglican priest and leader of the Catholic renewal of Anglicanism to the time following his reception by Rome as one in full communion with the See of Peter.  As Fr. Phillips has recently quoted from Newman's Apologia Pro Vita Sua on the Anglo-Catholic blog:


"I was not conscious to myself, on my conversion, of any change, intellectual or moral, wrought in my mind. I was not conscious of firmer faith in the fundamental truths of Revelation, or of more self-command; I had not more fervour; but it was like coming into port after a rough sea . . . . I am far of course from denying that every article of the Christian Creed, whether as held by Catholics or by Protestants, is beset with intellectual difficulties; and it is simple fact, that, for myself, I cannot answer those difficulties . . . . but I have never been able to see a connexion between apprehending those difficulties, however keenly, and multiplying them to any extent, and on the other hand doubting the doctrines to which they are attached. Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt . . . ."


Were doctrinal affirmations necessary? Undoubtedly. Had Newman arrived at his decision after much thought and deliberation?  Well, even amongst his enemies he was considered one of the greatest intellects of the 19th century so naturally he had given deep thought to all matters doctrinal but never said that he had no questions. 


Even so, it was at a deep level that he discerned the work of the Holy Spirit forming him in Catholic faith throughout his life.  It was not at a magical moment that he suddenly "became Catholic".  Indeed there was a moment when he entered into full communion with the See of Peter and so affirmed the essential unity which all who share Catholic faith must seek.  


Yet, the Church of the West, made up of those in full communion with Rome, does not deny that the Eastern Churches which are not in full communion with the Pope still share the Catholic faith, have valid priests and other ministers and valid sacraments.  Are they in full communion? No. Are they Catholic?  Well, they hold the Catholic faith almost entirely according to CCC, section 838.


In a similar way, Anglicans are validly baptized if they follow the prescribed rites of their churches and so share in a basic level of communion with the Catholic Church as also recognized in the CCC, section 836 - 837.  Do Anglicans share the content of the Catholic faith?  Many share a very large portion of the content of the faith.  Many are being moved by the Holy Spirit to fuller and fuller acceptance of this content. Are they then in or out of the Catholic Church?  


In line with John Henry Newman's thought we might say that this is a question we cannot answer with a simple yes or no.  Of course people like simplistic categories: "He is Catholic. She is not." In terms of the relationship of the soul with the Holy Spirit it is not quite so simple.  It is the trajectory of our lives in our responses to the continuing work of the Holy Spirit that leads us ever more deeply into the faith which is the bond of unity with others and with the Holy Father, but most importantly with the Heart of God.


Newman had as his motto: "Heart speaks to heart".  By this he meant that the "Heart" (capital letter) of God i.e. the Holy Spirit, speaks to our hearts.  This is the initiative of God which is another way of speaking of what is known as "prevenient grace" i.e. God's loving action to draw us into communion before we have even made a conscious decision (CCC sec. 1996 - 2005). The grace that goes before us is an unmerited gift calling us into unity with God and so with one another and inevitably into fuller and fuller Catholic faith and practice.  In this sense, the only ones who are fully Catholics are the saints in Heaven.  


The rest of us, the baptized, are simply incomplete Catholic pilgrims. We might be very surprised to know who practices the Catholic faith most fully on earth; perhaps some of those who are the least likely in our minds.  Equally, we might be surprised which professing Christians are least Catholic in the sense of living the fulness of the faith and, as St Paul says, "filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church"  (1 Colossians 1:24).  


As Blessed John Newman indicates, ultimately this journey in faith is a mystery and one about which we should not speculate upon as it relates to other people and to their unique journeys into the fullness of faith and communion.  The main thing is that since we are baptized into the Catholic Church we want to continue growing in faith as we continue to receive the revelation of God given to us in the sacred scriptures and interpreted in the magisterial teaching of the Church.


We pray then for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to build ordinariates to welcome all on the journey of Catholic faith. As our patron Blessed J.H. Newman put it in his Pentecost sermon "The Visible Temple" (Parochial and Plain Sermons):


Wherever there is faith and love this temple is . . . . 'builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.'
O may He in His mercy grant that our outward show does not outstrip our inward progress; that whatever gift, rare or beautiful, we introduce here, may be but a figure of inward beauty and unseen sanctity ornamenting our hearts.  Hearts are the true shrine within which Christ must dwell.

THE ALTAR

THE ALTAR

George Herbert

A broken ALTAR, Lord, thy servant rears,
Made of a heart, and cemented with tears:
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workman's tool hath touched the same.
A HEART alone
Is such a stone,
As nothing but
Thy pow'r doth cut.
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy name.
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.

Cor ad cor loquitur

J. H. Newman

NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Offered in particular for the naming of an Ordinary for Canada and the United States to sensitively shepherd all those who truly seek unity in Christ as they are received into the full communion of the Catholic Church from many backgrounds and situations.

In the Name of the Father, + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Each day, the Novena begins with this prayer:
O HOLY SPIRIT, our Lord and our God, we adore thee and humbly acknowledge here in thy sacred presence that we are nothing, and can do nothing, without thy operation within us. Come, great Paraclete, thou Father of the poor, thou Comforter of the blest, fulfill the promise of our Saviour, who would not leave us orphans, and enter our minds and hearts as thou didst descend on the day of Pentecost upon the Holy Mother of Jesus and upon His first disciples. Grant that we may have a part in those gifts which thou didst so graciously bestow upon them.

Take from our hearts all that is not pleasing to thee and make of them a worthy dwelling-place for Jesus. Illumine our minds, that we may see and understand the things that are for our eternal welfare. Inflame our hearts with the pure love of the Father, that, cleansed from attachments to all unworthy objects, our lives may be hidden with Jesus in God. Strengthen our wills, that they may be conformed to the will of our Creator and guided by thy holy inspirations. Aid us to practice the heavenly virtues of humility, poverty, and obedience which are taught to us in the earthly life of Jesus.

Descend upon us, O mighty Spirit, that, inspired and encouraged by thee, we may faithfully fulfill the duties of our various states in life, carry our particular crosses with patience and courage, and accomplish the Father's will for us more perfectly. Make us, day by day, more holy and give to us that heavenly peace which the world cannot give.

O Holy Spirit, thou Giver of every good and perfect gift, grant to us our special intentions of this novena of prayer. May the Father's will be done in us and through us; and mayest thou, O mighty Spirit of the living God, be praised and glorified for ever and ever. Amen.

Here is said or sung the Veni Creator Spiritus:
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
and lighten with celestial fire,
thou the anointing Spirit art,
who dost thy sevenfold gifts impart.

Thy blesséd unction from above,
is comfort, life, and fire of love,
enable with perpetual light
the dullness of our blinded sight.

Anoint and cheer our soiled face
with the abundance of thy grace.
Keep far our foes, give peace at home;
where thou art Guide, no ill can come.

Teach us to know the Father, Son,
and thee, of both, to be but One;
that through the ages all along,
this may be our endless song:

Praise to thy eternal merit,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

OUR FATHER, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy Name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Here is said the Proper Prayer for the Day:
FIRST DAY
Come, O Holy Ghost, the Lord and Lifegiver; take up thy dwelling within our souls, and make of them thy sacred home. Make us live by grace as adopted children of God. Pervade all the energies of our souls, and create in us fountains of living water, springing up unto eternal life.

SECOND DAY
Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to our souls the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, and power, and beauty. Teach us to love them above and beyond all the passing joys and satisfactions of earth. Show us the way by which we may be able to attain to them, and possess them, and hold them hereafter, our own forever.

THIRD DAY
Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten our minds, that we may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation, and may merit at last to see the eternal light in thy light; and in the light of glory to have the clear vision of thee and the Father and the Son.

FOURTH DAY
Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide us in all our ways, that we may always do thy holy will. Incline our hearts to that which is good, turn them away from all that is evil, and direct us by the path of thy commandments to the goal of eternal life.

FIFTH DAY
Come, O Spirit of Fortitude, and give courage to our souls. Make our hearts strong in all trials and in all distress, pouring forth abundantly into them the gifts of strength, that we may be able to resist the attacks of the devil.

SIXTH DAY
Come, O Spirit of Knowledge, and make us to understand and despise the emptiness and nothingness of the world. Give us grace to use the world only for thy glory and the salvation of thy creatures. May we always be faithful in putting thy rewards before every earthly gift.

SEVENTH DAY
Come, O Spirit of Piety, possess our hearts, and incline them to a true faith in thee, to a holy love of thee, our God. Give us thy grace, that we may seek thee and find thee, our best and our truest joy.

EIGHTH DAY
Come, O Spirit of holy Fear, penetrate our inmost hearts, that we may set thee, our Lord and God, before our faces forever; and shun all things that can offend thee, so that we may be made worthy to appear before the pure eyes of thy divine Majesty in the heaven of heavens.

NINTH DAY
Come, O Holy Comforter, and grant us a desire for holy things. Produce in our souls the fruits of virtue, so that, being filled with all sweetness and joy in the pursuit of good, we may attain unto eternal blessedness.

The following prayer concludes the Novena each day:
O GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit: grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgement in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

May 14 Statement of Archbishop Collins

The following is a statement by Archbishop Collins again clarifying the process for the implementation of an Ordinariate in Canada.  This statement again outlines the process and helps those sincerely looking to move forward.

Statement of Archbishop Thomas Collins

on the implementation of Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada

         With regard to the public discussion concerning the process for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada, I would like to make the following statement:

         Canada is a vast country, and widely scattered across it are small groups of Anglicans who have expressed an interest in entering full communion with the Catholic Church through the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus.  As Delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution, I have asked certain priests in different regions of Canada to serve as "mentor priests", to work with these small groups of Anglicans in their geographical area. These mentor priests have been asked as their first task to visit the communities, to get to know them, to respond to any questions, and to get a sense of the number of people who are interested.

         Certainly, the experience of pastoral relationships and ecclesial structures such as those of the ACCC must be honoured with respect and gratitude. But the ACCC is not the only grouping of Anglicans in Canada.  A fruitful implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus requires that all groups of former Anglicans be equal within the new ecclesial structure, and each individual Anglican considering entering full communion with the Catholic Church through Anglicanorum Coetibus be fully informed and freely decide whether or not to proceed.

         I realize that there are complicated corporate and legal issues relating to property which must be resolved if ACCC parishes seek to be part of an ordinariate in Canada.  But those challenges can surely be overcome. The key reality is that Anglicanorum Coetibus offers a fresh beginning, a sign of hope, for any group of Anglicans who freely decide to be received into the Catholic Church, accepting the faith articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and forming within the Catholic Church communities in which some elements of the distinctive Anglican patrimony flourish and enrich the whole Church.

       For more information on the process of implementing Anglicanorum Coetibus in Canada, please refer to the article on that subject which has been on the website of the Archdiocese of Toronto for several months (www: archtoronto.org).                                                                 


May 14, 2011

May Gatherings

With the first wave of almost 1000 received into the Ordinariate in the UK in the past month and a host of ordinations across the pond this past week, Canadians and Americans are gathering across the continent to prepare for the establishment of Anglican Ordinariates in North America.

The first meeting of the Toronto Ordinariate group (yet to be officially named) took place appropriately enough at the Newman Centre of the University of Toronto.  If there was a theme that developed in the discussions preceding Evensong it was one of thankfulness for the gift of unity which the Holy Father has offered.

Fr. Michael, the director of the Newman Centre, warmly welcomed Anglicans and others in the beautiful Victorian mansion which hosts Catholic students and seekers at the U of T next to what he describes as the very English-style Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas which will host Evensong on Sunday afternoons for the group in formation.

Anglicans, along with former Anglicans who have long been in full communion with Rome joined with people of various backgrounds including Mennonite, Pentecostal and others as they began to explore the meaning of Anglicanorum Coetibus as their charter on the road to the unity which our Lord commands us to work towards.

So, a good beginning for the charter group in Toronto which joins with parishes in Calgary, Ottawa, Victoria, Halifax and many other small communities around the country on the pilgrimage to full communion with the Holy See.  It will be a challenging and exciting journey on which we expect to meet many tests but a journey which is being made with the prayers of that great company which no one can number.

The first challenge is to gather letters from each family and individual making an intention to journey with the group.  These will be given to Archbishop Collins by the end of May as he prepares his report.  This is being done in the hope that during the course of the coming year, individuals within the various groups will be received into full communion as the first wave in North America.

The pioneers are on the move this month of Mary.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us; 
Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us.