I read at the National Catholic Register that the newly converted, former Anglican Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, has a couple of goals for his new life as a Catholic, under the provisions of Anglicanorum coetibus.
Remember: Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity!
Nazir-Ali has observations on the implosion of the Church of England and he hopes to be ordained for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
The article ends with this:
“Hopefully, becoming an ordinariate Catholic will enable me to support Christians closer to home who are marginalized and hounded by a liberal totalitarianism that demands total consensus,” he wrote.
Honorable.
Let’s unpack the possibilities.
“Christians closer to home” – e.g., Catholics in the UK
“who are marginalized” – e.g., the single most marginalized group in the Church (i.e., closer to home) are, without question, those who desire traditional expressions of sacred liturgical worship, the Vetus Ordo. START WITH THEM!
“and hounded by a liberal totalitariasm” – e.g., those who desire traditional expressions of sacred liturgical worship, the Vetus Ordo.
“that demands total consensus” – e.g., “Art. 1. The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.” From Francis’ Plessy v. Ferguson legacy document, the cruel Traditionis custodes.
I hope that soon-to-be Father Nazir-Ali will start NOW to learn the Traditional Latin Mass and then be of also not just to his fellows in the Ordinariate, but also for the his most marginalized group in the Church, close to him, hounded by totalitarians who demand total consensus.
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Modernists and Liberals have been dividing the Church and pushing a hateful agenda for decades. Thanks be to God we have a man like this coming to shepherd the faithful!
Father Nazir should assume that the TLM will be abolished and concentrate on saving the Ordinariate. Lord have mercy.
Well, apparently a lot of Anglicans used to learn the TLM, back in the day. I don’t know if Nazir-Ali was one of them.
That said, it’s mostly Muslim persecution of Christians of every stripe, these days. Obviously the MP Amess murder/martyrdom. And then there’s the tiny evangelical lady, Hatun Tash, who has been beaten up, knifed, driven from her apartment by police threatening her landlord and neighbors, followed to restaurants by mobs, and subjected other such Paul-ish perils. (Mostly because she showed Muslims that there are at least 36 differently worded Arabic Quran variants.)
So… obviously there’s a lot to do.
I belong to the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, specifically the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham with Bishop Lopes as my Ordinary.
I don’t want any misunderstanding here, so please carefully read what I am about to post. As a precaution, I suggest someone from the Ordinariate who knows much more than I to truly address this question, i.e., celebrating the TLM in an Ordinariate parish. The following is what I know to the best of my ability, and the opinion is mine alone:
The Ordinariate was established for former Anglicans/Episcopalians/Methodists wanting to be in union with the Holy See while keeping their Anglican or English patrimony.
As much as many, maybe even most Ordinariate Catholics love the TLM, one of the Ordinariates charisms is to preserver the Anglican or English patrimony of the Latin Rite Mass. Ordinariate priests are allowed to celebrate the TLM (I think), but not at Ordinariate parishes. Think of the Ordinariate as an *almost* sui iuris. You wouldn’t expect the TLM to be celebrated at a Eastern Rite parish, the same goes for the Ordinariate.
Most Ordinariate priests don’t celebrate the TLM, maybe all of them don’t. But I’m sure they would celebrate a TLM, but not at their or any other Ordinariate parish. And yes, I have attended a TLM where former Anglican priests (now Catholic priests) have celebrated the TLM at a Latin Rite parish (before the Ordinariates were established).
I don’t believe Michael Nazir-Ali will have much time promoting the TLM, he most likely would defend the celebration of the TLM. He will be effectively working diligently in creating the infrastructure of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, fundraising, establishing parishes, training seminarians, and reaching out to Anglicans who want to join the Ordinariate, but are reluctant to due to emotional attachments to their local parish.
One last item. . .
Having been a member of the Ordinariate well before the Ordinariate was established, as a personal parish under the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, I have attended many Personal-Parish/Ordinariate functions, conferences, masses, celebrations, etc. Interacting with many, many former Anglican priests now Catholic priests. Their knowledge of Latin, I believe is near fluency. I remember when Ludwig Cardinal Müller gave a lecture & concluded with a Pater Noster, to my amazement, all (there were at least 20+ former Anglican-now-Catholic priests) pray in Latin without hesitation.
Can priests of the ordinariate celebrate the 1970 missal, or the 1962? Does that make them part of the Roman rite? If so, are they aware they don’t have a lex orandi apart from the novus ordo?
Many congratulations to Bishop Nazir-Ali, soon to be Catholic priest Fr. Nazir-Ali. May God grant him many years of ministry. Yes, the TLMers and Ordinariate people need to pray for each other and help each other out. They have a similar world view and should work together to establish good liturgy more widely. Let’s remember the words of Martin Niemöller.
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US Ordinariate Parish member, here. Regarding the Traditional Latin Mass and Ordinariate Communities, one of the first questions answered by our first Ordinary, Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson, was to exclude and prevent, by formal decree, the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass in Ordinariate Parishes and Communities.
Ordinariate priests could learn and celebrate the TLM on their own but not in the context of an Ordinariate Community or Parish.
This decree has not been rescinded.
Michael Nazir-Ali got very close to being chosen to be the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2002 when Rowan Williams was selected. Dr Nazir-Ali was one of the final two candidates presented to Prime Minister Tony Blair who made the final choice.
As I understand it, he’s from the Evangelical wing of the Church of England rather the Anglo-Catholic tradition. It’s great news that he has joined the Ordinariate of OLW and will soon be ordained as a Catholic priest. I hope he has many years of ministry ahead of him and I wish him well.
@ Chrisc
I know Ordinariate parishes (here in England) where the NO is celebrated, but I’m not sure whether they would be permitted to use the Tridentine Rite.
Oddly enough, the TLM (in Tudor English translation with bits and pieces from the Book of Common Prayer) used to be the standard in Anglo-Catholic parishes, under the title “the English Missal” or “the Anglican Missal”. Then along came VII and emulation fever and some Anglican parishes just used the new RC rite.