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Irish Anglicans aim for union with Rome - UPDATED
I have always been interested in the plight, and victories, of Anglicans/Episcopalians who "swim the Tiber". The late Msgr. Richard Schuler, of St. Agnes Church in St. Paul, MN, was instrumental in helping the first Anglican priests come over to Rome (literally, he took them to meet Card. Seper of the SCDF) and I met some of them during their visits to see him, I have several good lay friends who have become Catholics, I have a few priest friends who were Anglican clergy before coming over, I have great respect for their liturgical and musical tradition, etc.
However, the Anglicans are committing religious suicide and the Catholic Church under Pope Benedict has a Marshall Plan. They are losing their identity and we are recovering ours.
So, I was very interested to read that some Irish Anglicans, Church of Ireland, may be making the move.
My emphases and comments.
Independent.ieUPDATE: 1640 GMT 26 Oct 07
300 Anglicans defect to Rome after row over women priests
By John Cooney Religion Correspondent
Thursday October 25 2007
UP to 300 Irish Anglicans could soon be joining the Roman Catholic Church to the traditional hymn tune ‘Faith of Our Fathers’.
A report in today’s ‘Irish Catholic’ newspaper claims that three Church of Ireland parishes are Romeward-bound, and may soon be received by Pope Benedict into full communion with the Catholic Church.
This change of denominational allegiance is part of a long-standing doctrinal feud over the ordination of women. [I think it’s more than a feud. A "feud" suggests there are good positions on both sides and that the origin of the conflict is becoming more obscure.]
All three parishes broke away from the mainstream Church of Ireland in 1991 after the House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland decided to start ordaining women, a move which they condemned as "a defiance of scripture and tradition."
Two of the parishes are in the North and one is in the Republic.
Newtownards in Co Down, Eskra, outside Omagh, in Co Tyrone, and Stradbally in Co Laois, are members of the so-called traditional rite within the Church of Ireland.
These traditionalist members, who do not have a national profile, were not listed in a separate box about religious identity in the recent census. But they say that they are true Anglicans. [I am guessing this means "Anglo-Catholic".]
In total, they claim to have 400,000 members belonging to the worldwide 78 million Anglican Communion. So their defection to Rome could have a dramatic effect.
Earlier this month, they sent a letter to the Vatican seeking "full, corporate, sacramental union" with the Catholic Church under the authority of the Pope.
While only a few hundred Anglicans in Ireland will be involved in converting to Rome, the move, if approved by the Vatican, will see 400,000 Anglicans worldwide admitted into the Catholic Church.
Last night, Michael Kelly, deputy editor of the ‘Irish Catholic’, said it was extremely rare for entire Anglican communities to seek corporate communion with the Catholic Church. [Here’s part of the problem. The progressivist Catholics won’t want to help these far more liturgically traditional folks into the fold! That was part of the problem in the USA.]
"But individual Anglicans frequently convert to Catholicism," he added.
Only last week Anita Henderson, wife of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, was received into the Catholic Church at a private ceremony in the chapel of Catholic Bishop John Fleming, in Ballina, Co Mayo.
The prospect of three whole parishes shifting their loyalties—and churches—under the papal flag will come as a further shock to the Church of Ireland, which has been enjoying a growth in its membership, mainly of new immigrants but also of former Catholic priests. [HA! More power to e’m!]
A spokesman for the traditional rite based in Northern Ireland confirmed that a decision had been made "not to give interviews at this stage".
However, the spokesman did confirm that the members of the traditional rite of the Church of Ireland fervently hope to be received into "full communion with the See of Rome". The decision to petition Rome was made earlier this month at a plenary meeting of the international body known as the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), their umbrella organisation.
According to a statement: "The bishops and vicars, general unanimously, agreed to the text of a letter to the See of Rome seeking full, corporate, sacramental union.
"The letter was signed solemnly by all the college and entrusted to the primate and two bishops chosen by the college to be presented to the Holy See," the statement added. [Imagine the emotions at that moment of signing….]
A spokesman for the Australian-based Archbishop John Hepworth, primate of the worldwide traditionalist communion, said the letter was cordially received at the congregation for the doctrine of the faith in Rome.
- John Cooney Religion Correspondent
Someone alerted me to a discussion at an Anglican blog germane to this entry. On that blog, Fr. Jay Scott Newman wrote an interesting comment which I reproduce below with my emphases:
20. Fr Jay Scott Newman wrote:
“Both schools are asking themselves what the future of Anglicanism is going to look like. And the return to a biblically faithful, traditional Anglicanism isn’t just about our Bishops coming to agreement. It involves the whole Church—including its organs of theological education.”
This was the comment offered by the Reverend Martha Giltinan, Trinity’s Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology. That an ordained woman and seminary professor can talk about the return to a biblically faithful, traditional Anglicanism without any irony is an index of how far gone the Anglican communion is from any form of Christianity which is biblically faithful and traditional. Friends, this is the camel’s nose under the tent, and until and unless it is driven back out into the desert, every manner of tempest will sweep in through that gap. To put it most simply: if a woman can be a presbyter, there is no coherent argument left against two men marrying each other. And given that even Nashotah House, the once proud flagship of American Anglo-Catholicism, has accepted this profoundly unbiblical and untraditional distortion of the Church’s sacramental life, there remains no hope (that I can see) of Anglicanism in the States being restored to biblical and traditional Christianity.
Fr. Newman: Rem acu tetigisti! This is very well said.
Very nice piece and thanks for it. I still remember the boss telling the story of that Croatian Cardinal and the Anglicans.
Comment by JPSonnen — 26 October 2007 @ 9:55 amYet another tidbit- I’m not sure if this is the same group? But quite interesting that they are asking to continue with a married priesthood. Perhaps they would agree to what we have in the Eastern rites? The numbers of membership they claim are significant..
Traditionally Christian Anglicans Ask to Join Catholic Church En Masse
Homosexuality the flash point
By Hilary White
PORTSMOUTH, UK, October 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The splits in the Worldwide Anglican Communion over the church’s secularising trends and growing enthusiasm for homosexuality has led some to seek reunion with the Catholic Church after nearly 500 years apart.
The bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC)are reported to have met in Plenary Session in Portsmouth, England, in the first week of October 2007 and “unanimously agreed” to send a letter to the Pope seeking full, corporate, sacramental union” with the Catholic Church. The group has agreed not to give interviews until the Vatican has responded to their request.
The TAC boasts of some 400,000 members worldwide with at least 100 parishes in the US. It has been estimated that the TAC could have as many as 500 parishes supporting its goals in the UK.
TAC has been seeking for some years to establish some agreement with Rome that would see the entire body into the Catholic Church. In 2005, shortly after the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the head of the TAC, Archbishop John Hepworth of Adelaide, Australia, said, “We are looking at a church which would retain an Anglican liturgy, Anglican spirituality and a married clergy.” The TAC has retained a positive relationship with Pope Benedict since, as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, he was head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In related news, a group of traditionally minded members of the Church of England has warned Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, that they would continue to resist the slide of the church towards secularisation. The group, called Reform, said that dozens of Anglican parishes in Britain will start ordaining their own clergy in defiance of their bishops who are overwhelmingly in favour of normalising homosexuality in the church.
Reform, a network within the evangelical wing of the Church of England is setting up structures to allow it to operate as a resistance movement within the Church. The Rev. Rod Thomas, Reform’s chairman, cited his church’s “increasingly pro-gay” agenda when he told members they must be prepared for “courageous action” in defiance of established systems. The Church of England is the officially established religion in Britain and as such, its head since the 16th century has been appointed by the Crown. A small number of its bishops still retain their seats in the House of Lords, a position that is widely opposed among the British public.
David Virtue, a conservative Anglican in the US who maintains an Anglican news service, wrote that the developments come at a time when the Church of England has made itself “largely irrelevant to British life”.
“A mere 2 million (out of 60 million) consider the church part of their life.” This is roughly the equal of the number of Muslims living and practising their religion in Britain.
Virtue wrote, “The C of E is a pale reflection of a once proud and vigorous church…New laws being implemented are increasingly and stridently anti-Christian and intolerant of any talk about the dangers of sodomy both medically and spiritually.”
Comment by yvonne — 26 October 2007 @ 10:24 amI whole-heartedly endorse your description of the “Marshall plan” of the Benedictine Papacy. That’s an excellent way of putting it; and of the recovery of identity as its primary practical achievement. To be succinct, it’s about the letter of James and all that; looking in the mirror and seeing the reflection, then walking away and presently forgetting what manner of Catholic we were. We have lost our reflections. In fact, I might write an article paraphrasing C.S. Lewis called “Till we have reflections.” The progression of events and actions which have so far charactarized this papacy have set the stage for that recovery. With a round of solid appointments, the tools for continuing its enforcement may be put into place. But you’re right, Fr., at the moment the Anglicans have the platitudes; WE have the plan.
Comment by jJohn Polhamus — 26 October 2007 @ 10:29 amThe OP is pretty jaw-dropping considering the Church of Ireland’s reputation for being the Low in Low Church. Historically, Anglo-Catholicism was nearly verboten in Ireland. Does anyone know anything about who these people are and their m.o.? I’m happy to read this, but I am very surprised by it.
Comment by Patrick Rothwell — 26 October 2007 @ 10:37 amWhen I lived in Arlington, TX, it was sometimes convenient to attend mass at St. Mary the Virgin parish, a formerly Anglican parish which had switched to the Catholic Diocese of Ft. Worth complete with congregation, pastor, and even real estate. They used the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite, which took a bit of adaptation on my part to get used to, but they had the best parish bulletin I ever saw, filled as it was with the pastor’s articles on various points of theology and apologetics.
I agree with you, Father (if this was the point of your “Ha!” remark), that the quality of converts we get from the Anglicans, and the quality of converts we lose to the Anglicans, are both in our favor.
I believe it was Diogenes at Catholic World News who pointed out that Anglicans tend to convert to Catholicism because their church isn’t what it used to be, while Catholics tend to convert to Anglicanism because their church still is what it’s always been.
I would be very interested, Father, to see you write in more detail about the Holy Father’s “Marshall Plan” which you so often refer to. What are the elements, and what are the goals, as you see them?
Comment by Paul, Just This Guy, You Know? — 26 October 2007 @ 10:44 amI wonder what will be done with all the married Anglican clergy?
1. Will Anglican ministers become fully-ordained Catholic priests? If so, and more and more Anglican/Epsicopalian married clergy become priests, then how would the Roman Church justify her traditional views on married priests?
2. Will Anglican ministers, instead, be ordained as deacons? This path appears to me to be more in line with Roman tradition, correct? If this route is taken, would it be an insult to an Anglican minister to be seemingly “downgraded” (in his mind?) to deacon? (No offence by me to deacons!!)
3. Will the Anglican Use become its own separate rite in the tradition of the Byzantine Rite (or is it that way already)? As I understand it, marriage is allowed in the Byzentine Church: married men may become ordained but may not remarry if they become a widower; single men who are ordained as a Byzantine priest may not marry after ordination—is that correct? This begs the question of how to handle divorce amongst married Anglican Use priests.
Comment by Guy Power — 26 October 2007 @ 10:50 amIt must be borne in mind that the Traditional Anglican Communion is probably not so large in numbers as it claims. Also, its Primate, John Hepworth, is a renegade Catholic priest, putting him in a rather unique situation.
Comment by Joshua — 26 October 2007 @ 11:03 amI can confirm the facts in this report – I had a long conversation two days ago with one of the signatories to this letter. I gather it had been unclear before the meeting how many TAC bishops would sign up to it, but in the event it was unanimous.
It should be pointed out that the TAC, though thoroughly adhering to an Anglican liturgical and spiritual patrimony, is not part of the Anglican Communion, i.e. is not in communion with the See of Canterbury, and therefore these parishes are not Anglican in the ordinary sense of the word, and certainly not Church of Ireland (other than historically). Though the TAC is pretty marginal in Britain and Ireland, I believe it is a fair bit stronger in other Anglophone parts of the world.
One obvious problem is that they have married bishops. I wonder if Rome would consider allowing this, obviously for a single sacramental generation only, or would they need to function just as priests? If the latter, that might effectively “decapitate” the whole of the body which is seeking corporate union. That would be most regrettable, as this has the potential to have far-reaching consequences (exceeding the rather limited scope of the TAC itself), in that Anglo-Catholics from mainstream Anglicanism might be presented with a bridge which they too could cross. A bit ironic, that Catholic-minded Anglicans might be brought into communion with Rome hanging on to the coat-tails of a rather lesser body like the TAC; but then John got to the tomb before Peter – so those who are swiftest of foot may get there first regardless of precedence and seniority.
Comment by fr william — 26 October 2007 @ 11:21 amI’ve heard the bit about the primate being a renegade priest before. But is that really a problem, So the prodigal son returns home and brings ttens of thousands of his friends. Sounds good to me.
As far as the rest goes, assuming this all works out, the most I can see is an expansion of the Pastoral Provision of JPII, perhaps raising it up to an Apostolic Administration or personal Prelature, but not