It is time to set aside, for the time being, the much-debated question of how many Anglicans will take advantage of the Apostolic Constitution. Let us focus instead on the core words of Bishop Burnham’s message: his flock is “energetically committed to mission and [local] evangelisation”. Future members of the Ordinariate are offering to help revitalise the Christian mission of the Catholic Church in England and several other countries. It is a wonderful prospect, made possible by their faithful witness to the Gospel over many years and the vision of the Holy Father. Ignore the cynics and hand-wringers who see only difficulties in this historic development: we live in exciting times.
The Ordinariate is attractive in many ways, and I think for our Anglo-Catholic pastors it is particularly attractive as it allows married men to continue in the priesthood amid a much more stable ecclesial structure and offers refuge from the incredible strains and persecutionss of the TEC wars.
For laypersons comfortable with Anglo-Catholic services and thought but with some Protestant leanings the emerging picture is much more complex. I think many would like to pretend that their parish is just continuing under new management but the reality may be far from that. The question is will Rome keep one eye shut after marriage.
Consider these probable points…
1) Laypersons will likely have to take catechism classes covering all manner of issues.
2) Divorce situations will need to go before a tribunal, which involves expense as well as emotional considerations involving established re-marriages.
3) Absolution will only be given during auricular confession, with the word “May” being used before the former general absolution in the prayer book
4) Various Holy Days of Obligation are likely to be added.
5) Taking part in Eucharistic services in Episcopal parishes will likely be regarded as a sin. The former freedom Episcopalians had to go between High and Low Church settings will likely be replaced by an official firewall. The ordinariate may separate laety from friends if one is honest in following it.
6) Talking about theological positions such as Justification by Faith or citing religious figures such as Luther or Calvin may not be smiled upon in settings such as Bible Studies.
7) All the councils of the church, divided or undivided, will become the basis on which religious questions rest including interpretation of Scripture.
8) Joining the Ordinariate would remove former TECers from the possibility of working for reform in TEC, however hopeless that may appear.
9) If you read the fine print, Roman Catholics who became Anglicans would not necessarily be allowed to join the Ordinariate parishes unless a family member was an Anglican.
Now let us add to that the common expectation that a former Episcopal Priest who went over to Rome decades ago would be called to head the Ordinariate and the actuality that in the U.S. a Catholic Archbishop Donald Wuerl was in fact called to manage the operation in the U.S. He seems like a gentle and reasonable man but the question is whether the Catholic Church is interested in the Anglican laety as it is or whether one has to tow some kind of party line to be considered, or else cease speaking any personal theologies.
Of course we all know many Roman Catholics who vent all kinds of views, but the people from Anglo-Catholic TEC backgrounds, particularly those who have fought against the hierarchy, tend to be intellectuals with strong Biblical and church views.
I should add one more personal point which is the extreme attractiveness of Pope Benedict’s homilies, which I think reflect his respect and understanding and sympathies for the Bible and for the Lutheran realities in which he grew up in Germany.
I do not pretend to have an answer to all this, I just wanted to put a number of matters on the table to show why this “marriage” may for many be complex unless participants close one eye themselves and pretend they are in their old parish. I am inclined to think that some of the clergy who join the Ordinariate are hoping that they can just conduct services and not have a litmus test about who receives communion, but what actually happens really remains to be seen.
Adam, Profession of Faith and joining in the tradition, the teaching of the Magisteriate and Holy Scripture that subsists in the Roman Catholic Church does not conflict with reason that individuals can express. It governs that reason, however, in a way that constructs and doesn’t distruct as TEC and its democratic system have surely done. Those that want freedom from that kind of church in favor of the Church of Rome aren’t going to have trouble submitting. It is freedom to do so.
Commentator #1 makes some interesting points, but one could put ot more briefly: to enter the communion of that Church that calls itself “the Catholic Church” and which others call “the Roman Catholic Church” one has to accept as true all that it teaches to be true, and as binding all that it insists is binding upon those who are within its communion. And the problem with that is?
Adam 12,
I don’t wish to be unkind, and I don’t have time to point out the many ways in which your post misunderstands the Catholic Church, conversion to Her, or the Ordinariate.
But I actually laughed at to what you attribute the Holy Father’s skilled homiletics. You do know that Catholics have respected, understood, and felt great sympathy for the Bible for nearly 2,000 years, right? And you do know the Holy Father is from Bavaria, which was overwhelmingly Catholic (not Lutheran)?
Oops, sorry for the poor grammar. Rushing around too much this afternoon. ;-D
Adam 12, I don’t have time to go into a detailed response to all your points either, but what it all comes down to is that those who join the Ordinariate will in fact become Catholics, in communion with the Pope. That being the case, yes, it will be wrong for them to take communion in Episcopal churches, absolution will normally be received in auricular confession, etc.
I speak as a former Episcopalian who went through RCIA and was received into the Roman Catholic Church this past Easter, so these matters are probably much clearer to me. If you are making the point that Episcopalians considering the Ordinariate must realize that, even with their same buildings and clergy and with liturgies which sound very familiar, they will still face very real changes and obligations, then I agree with you.
Anyone that goes the Ordinariate route has to understand that they become members of the RC Church; yup, with all the changes and obligations that entails. Fine by me.
I cannot wait!!!!! : )