Apostolic Constitution and Some That Don't Get It

Sadly it is early in the morning and I have much to do to get ready for work and am not able to comment extensively right now on the response from the Archbishop of the Anglican Catholic Church that is one of the numerous 'Anglican' bodies in America (too many to count for sure!). But, I can post it here and say my bits in the discussion. Here it is for all the readers to discuss and I will enter it when I can. Full-time chaplaincy work keeps me quite busy during the day and I am not able to keep up with much these days but do pass this around and point people here for a good charitable discussion of +Dr. Mark Haverland's response to the Holy Father. II. Our Response The Note, however, does not mark in any respect an ecumenical advance. The Note assumes the fullest and highest claims for the Petrine Office which emanate from Vatican I and Vatican II. The Note assumes the essential correctness of Pope Leo XIII's condemnation of Anglican Orders and practically implies that for all effective purposes that condemnation has not been reconsidered or superceded in any degree by subsequent events. The Note assumes that Anglican confirmations and ordinations are utterly null and absolutely void. The Note does not imply the union of ecclesial bodies, but rather the conversion of former Anglicans to Roman Catholicism with what amounts to the prior, effective, and complete dissolution of their former ecclesial structures. This conversion by absorption is the case even if some of the leaders of those former structures may eventually gain office in new subdivisions of the Roman Catholic Church. We assume that local or congregational ownership of property will be entirely extinguished in accordance with normal Roman Catholic practice. Insofar as the Note and subsequent Constitution provide for relatively one-sided conversions of former Anglicans with minimal concessions, we fear that the Note and Constitution in fact will harm and retard genuine ecumenical progress. By genuine ecumenical progress we mean, for instance, joint consideration of the Petrine Office of the sort some hoped for after promulgation by John Paul II of his encyclical Ut Unum Sint. While Pope John Paul repeated a description of the modern Petrine Office and noted the need for 'the power and authority without which such an office would be illusory' (94), he also seemed to speak of a joint exploration of the manner in which that office is exercised which might, it seems, help to reconcile classical Anglicans, as well as Orthodox and Oriental Christians, to the Roman Catholic Church. Pope John Paul wrote, "I am convinced that I have a particular responsibility in this regard, above all in acknowledging the ecumenical aspirations of the majority of the Christian Communities and in heeding the request made of me to find a way of exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation. For a whole millennium Christians were united in 'a brotherly fraternal communion of faith and sacramental life ... If disagreements in belief and discipline arose among them, the Roman See acted by common consent as moderator.'" (95) Anglican and Orthodox Christians look for union and full communion without "conversion," submission, and effective absorption and for an exercise of the Petrine Office that is compatible with the actual situation of the Church of the first millennium. The new Constitution will do nothing to forward that goal. The forthcoming Constitution is in effect addressed to those who are already essentially Roman Catholic. We are not. We wish nothing but the best to Roman Catholic converts when they act in good conscience. But persons already convinced of the truth of Roman Catholic teaching in its fulness should become Roman Catholics promptly with or without the Pastoral Provision, with or without a liturgical "Anglican Use," and with or without the new Ordinariates. We see in this Note an offer which is merely prudential and practical in its nature and effect, and we do not see anything to attract persons who are not already essentially Roman Catholic in faith. We believe that classical Anglicanism, as presented clearly in The Affirmation of Saint Louis and in our liturgies and other authoritative formularies, is already faithful to Scripture and the Fathers and is already fully Catholic and Orthodox. Conversion is not necessary and absorption is not appropriate. We believe that our Anglican patrimony is, moreover, by God's grace and Providence, also most appropriate for the English-speaking peoples and probably is essential for the successful evangelization or re-evangelization of the English-speaking lands. We hope eventually for a genuine dialogue concerning the Petrine Office and long for the day when we, with our Orthodox and Oriental Christian friends, may again find in the successor of Saint Peter a patriarch with the primacy of honor and with high authority both as an organ for strengthening the Church's unity and also as an instrument for the articulation of the Church's teaching. We regret that the forthcoming Constitution, while kindly meant, seems set to delay that happy day. ----The Most Reverend Mark Haverland, Ph.D. is Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Anglican Catholic Church

Apostolic Constitution and the Rule of Celibacy: No Change!

VI. §1 Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill the requisites established by canon law13 and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments14 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. 4215 and in the Statement In June16 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.

Apostolic Constitution is OUT

Go here! On October 20, 2009, Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced a new provision responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church. The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus which is published today introduces a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow the above mentioned groups to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. At the same time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is publishing a set of Complementary Norms which will guide the implementation of this provision. This Apostolic Constitution opens a new avenue for the promotion of Christian unity while, at the same time, granting legitimate diversity in the expression of our common faith. It represents not an initiative on the part of the Holy See, but a generous response from the Holy Father to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups. The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church. The possibility envisioned by the Apostolic Constitution for some married clergy within the Personal Ordinariates does not signify any change in the Church’s discipline of clerical celibacy. According to the Second Vatican Council, priestly celibacy is a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and radiantly proclaims the reign of God (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1579).

Old Pre Gregorian Roman Chant

The Thirteenth Day Film

Pope Benedict XVI: Church, Priesthood, And Sacrament

If Church usage calls ordination to the ministry of priesthood a "sacrament", the following is meant: This man is in no way performing functions for which he is highly qualified by his own natural ability nor is he doing the things that please him most and that are most profitable. On the contrary, the one who receives the sacrament is sent to give what he cannot give of his own strength; he is sent to act in the person of another, to be his living instrument. For this reason no human being can declare himself a priest; for this reason, too. no community can promote a person to this ministry by its own decree. Only from the sacrament, which belongs to God, can priesthood be received. Mission can only be received from the one who sends, from Christ in His sacrament, through which a person becomes the voice and the hands of Christ in the world. This gift of himself, this renunciation and forgetfulness of self does not however destroy the man; rather, it leads to true human maturity because it assimilates him to the Trinitarian mystery and it brings to life the image according to which we were created. Since we were created in the image of the Trinity, he who loses himself will find himself. But here we have got somewhat ahead of ourselves. In the meantime we have acquired a number of conclusions of great importance. According to the? Gospels, Christ Himself handed on the essential structure of His mission to the apostles, to whom He grants His power and whom He associates with His power. This association with the Lord, by which a man receives the power to do what he cannot do alone is called a sacrament. The new mission created in the choosing of 12 men has a sacramental nature. This structure flows, therefore, from the centre of the biblical message. It is obvious that this ministry created by Christ is altogether new and is in no way derived from the Old Testament, but arises from Jesus Christ with new power. The sacramental ministry of the Church expresses the novelty of Jesus Christ and His presence in all phases of history.... Such a way of living is opposed to our natural inclination, but little by little it becomes clear that only he who is capable of forgetting himself is truly free. One who works for Christ learns by experience that one sows and another reaps (cf. Jn 4:56). He has no need to look for success and thus have to rely on himself. Since he is working for the Lord, he leaves the outcome to the Lord and in joyfulness of spirit he places his concerns in the hands of the Lord. When we seek our own success, the priesthood begins to appear as a burden which surpasses our strength, and burdens too heavy for our shoulders to bear are the inevitable result. But Christ carries us in faith, and from our union with Christ an invincible joy arises which proceeds from the victory of Christ, who conquers the world (Jn 16:55) and is with us to the very end of time (Mt 28:20). From an intimate union with Christ there automatically arises also a participation in His love for human beings, in His will to save them and to bring them help. He who knows Christ from within wishes to communicate to others the joy of the redemption which has opened up for him in the Lord: pastoral labour flows from this communion of love and even in difficult situations is always nourished by this motivation and becomes life-fulfilling. He who loves wishes to know. A true love of Christ, therefore, expresses itself also in the will to know Him and everything that pertains to Him. Since the love of Christ necessarily becomes love of human beings, education to the ministry of Christ includes also education to the natural human virtues. Since to love Him means to know Him, it follows that a will that is eager to study carefully and diligently is a sign of a solid vocation. Because Christ is never alone, but comes to gather human beings into His body, a love for the Church must necessarily accompany a love for Christ. Christ has willed to come to us in the community of His Church. In a person's zealous love for the Church, his relationship with the Lord Himself is revealed as intimate and strong. I would like to conclude with the words of Pope St Gregory the Great in which he shows from Old Testament images the essential connection between the interior life and ministry: "What else are the rivers of holy men which water the dry ground of the carnal heart? But... they dry up quickly, unless by the intention of the heart they keep diligently returning to the place from which they came. If they do not return inwardly to the heart, and bind themselves in love for their Creator with the bonds of holy desires, the tongue goes dry. But they do always return inside through love, and what they pour forth in public as they work and speak, they draw in secret from the fountain of love. They learn through love what they proclaim through teaching" (Hom. in Ez. lib I, hom V, 16 PL 76, 828 B). The Nature of Priesthood

Father Nick DeKeyser Comes Home to Rome After 30 Plus Years of Anglican Priesthood

Father Nick is a very dear friend of mine and please give him the wonderful welcome home that so many of you gave to me and my family. Below is the story. AFTER three decades dedicated to Anglicanism, a parish priest is leaving to join the Roman Catholic Church. Father Nick De Keyser, 60, who has been rector of All Saints Church in Stock for more than six years, said: "Most of the parish is pretty stunned by the news. "There have been no critical comments." This comes at a time when controversy surrounds the Pope's offer for clergy from the Church of England to join the Catholic Church, while retaining some Anglican practices. However, he said the Pope's recent invitation to priests from the Church of England was not a factor in his decision. "It's a very generous and gracious offer from the Pope but my decision was made long before this," he said. "I've grown up in an Evangelical Church of England and I feel I've gone full spectrum. "It became clear to me that Roman Catholicism was where God was leading me and I've returned to the undivided church and the rock from which we were hewn." Speaking about whether he shared the dissatisfaction of many Anglican priests about women being introduced into the Church of England, he said: "It might have been a slight factor but I am going to the Roman Catholic Church for positive reasons as I feel this is where God is calling me. "A lot of priests are very concerned about the way Anglican Communion has been going over the past few years."Father Nick, who is married with two sons, will officially resign from ministry in the Church of England on December 18 and will be received into the Catholic Church the following day. He said: "It's been a great privilege to be the parish priest here and a privilege to be involved in people's lives in different ways." Honorary assistant priest, Father Ron Goodwin, said: "Most people are sorry to see him go. "We are happy for him to have found his right place within the Christian community." Read it all here at Stock:

Path to Rome: Free Offer From Fr. Dwight Longenecker

I wanted to link a post from Fr. Longenecker's blog concerning a free offer for Anglican clergy he is having on his book Path to Rome. Go by and give him your information if you wish to take him up on his kind offer. Father Longenecker was also an Anglican convert priest in England who worked for the Saint Barnabas Society for a while and who is now in America serving as a Catholic priest in Greenville, South Carolina. He has an excellent blog that is followed by many...Go and visit Standing on My Head if you do not already visit him.

'Heads I Win, Tails You Lose!'

I was reading from Newman's Works this morning and came across a passage from 'Anglican Difficulties' that I found quite relevant to Anglicans today. It is no secret that many are unsure about how they will respond to the Holy Father's offer and it is my humble view that they would do well to think about Newman's words below. Undoubtedly most have read them before but they are worthy of reading numerous times again. The Church is at a crucial point in history where the hopes of reunification and the voice of Christ's Priestly Prayer are being spoken each day. To me, this offer really is a Newman miracle! I would think that the Season of Advent would be an opportune time to teach congregations why reunion with Holy Mother Church is a necessary step to bringing God's Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The Reformation, as far as I see it, has run its course and the Counter Reformation that has been underway since Trent has taken the past 400 years to come to the recent decision from the Holy Father. It seems to me that now is the time for a positive response when the Apostolic Constitution is made public and I do not see the point in waiting to see what is put on offer by a General Synod. That answer appears to be similar to a hope of being able to stand in the middle of the pitch waiting for the referee to toss the coin in the air and calling 'heads I win, tails you lose'. The words from Newman clearly perform the heart surgery that is needed by each one of us who have either made the decision to return to Holy Mother Church or are in the throws of that very difficult and often painful decision now. The reality of the weight of this decision is not to be underestimated. But, I would pray that those many wonderful priests in the Anglican church along with their people would enter this period of time with a completely open heart to answer this invitation with a positive response filled with grace and gratitude as somewhat of a taste of the 'the Great Wedding Feast' to come. Many who are now unsure have been quite clear that they have doubted the safety of their present position and now I would pray that a favourable response is forthcoming from all. I trust that all readers will read Newman's words in the present framework with regards to the decision that is now being called upon to be made. Newman speaks from the heart then and prophetically to open hearts now, calling upon all to consider what they may lose if they say 'No thank you!' to the Holy Father. There is but one set of persons, indeed, who inspire the Catholic with special anxiety, as much so as the open sinner, who is not peculiar to any Communion, Catholic or schismatic, and who does not come into the present question. There is one set of persons in whom every Catholic must feel intense interest, about whom he must feel the gravest apprehensions; viz., those who have some rays of light vouchsafed to them as to their heresy or as to their schism, and who seem to be closing their eyes upon it; or those who have actually gained a clear view of the nothingness of their own Communion, and the reality and divinity of the Catholic Church, yet delay to act upon their knowledge. You, my dear brethren, if such are here present, are in a very different state from those around you. You are called by the inscrutable grace of God to the possession of a great benefit, and to refuse the benefit is to lose the grace. You cannot be as others: they pursue their own way, they walk over this wide earth, and see nothing wonderful or glorious in the sun, moon, and stars of the spiritual heavens; or they have an intellectual sense of their beauty, but no feeling of duty or of love towards them; or they wish to love them, but think they ought not, lest they should get a distaste for that mire and foulness which is their present portion. They have not yet had the call to inquire, and to seek, and to pray for further guidance, infused into their hearts {359} by the gracious Spirit of God; and they will be judged according to what is given them, not by what is not. But on you the thought has dawned, that possibly Catholicism may be true; you have doubted the safety of your present position, and the present pardon of your sins, and the completeness of your present faith. You, by means of that very system in which you find yourselves, have been led to doubt that system. If the Mosaic law, given from above, was a schoolmaster to lead souls to Christ, much more is it true that an heretical creed, when properly understood, warns us against itself, and frightens us from it, and is forced against its will to open for us with its own hands its prison gates, and to show us the way to a better country. So has it been with you. You set out in simplicity and earnestness intending to serve it, and your very serving taught you to serve another. You began to use its prayers and act upon its rules, and they did but witness against it, and made you love it, not more but less, and carried off your affections to one whom you had not loved. The more you gazed upon your own communion the more unlike it you grew; the more you tried to be good Anglicans, the more you found yourselves drawn in heart and spirit to the Catholic Church. It was the destiny of the false prophetess that she could not keep the little ones who devoted themselves to her; and the more simply they gave up their private judgment to her, the more sure they were of being thrown off by her, against their will, into the current of attraction which led straight to the true Mother of their souls. So month has gone on after month, and year after year; and you have again and again vowed obedience to your own Church, and you have protested against those who left her, and you have thought you found in them what you liked not, and you have prophesied evil about them and good about yourselves; and your plans seemed prospering and your influence extending, and great things were to be; and yet, strange to say, at the end of the time you have found yourselves steadily advanced in the direction which you feared, and never were nearer to the promised land than you are now.

Cardinal Defends Pope's Offer to Anglicans

Catholic Herald Reports Speaking for the first time in public about the decree last week, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor gave an ecumenical lecture at Worth Abbey, where he stressed that Pope Benedict's response was not a "reflection or comment on the Anglican Communion as a whole or of our ongoing ecumenical relationship with them". The cardinal explained that the new structure proposed in the Apostolic Constitution had been put forward in the 1990s after the Church of England General Synod decided that it was possible to ordain women to the priesthood. At the time, Cardinal Basil Hume, Bishop Alan Clark of East Anglia, then Bishop Vincent Nichols and Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor were responsible for the talks with Forward in Faith. Pope Benedict, who was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the time, was also involved in the talks. In his speech Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said that "for the Anglicans who wished to come into full communion with the Church a provision such as the Personal Ordinariates might have been very helpful at the time". But he said the structure was rejected for two reasons. He said: "The first is that in 1993-94 we bishops were dealing solely with clergy of the Church of England, and any such response as is now given by the Holy See would naturally have had to be offered to the whole of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion. It did not seem within our remit to engage in such a response. "The other reason, however, was even more important. If the Holy See had offered such Personal Ordinariates then, and in particular here in England, it might well have been seen as an un-ecumenical approach by the Holy See, as if wanting to put out the net as far as one could." But he said that the establishment of Ordinariates was not unecumenical today. During his talk the cardinal also stressed that ecumenical dialogue was not "dead in the water". After more than 40 years of official Anglican-Catholic dialogue, he said, "some of the classic disputes at the root of our painful divisions have today been basically resolved through a new consensus of fundamental doctrine". Meanwhile the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Fatih denied rumours that the Apostolic Constitution regarding the Anglican provision has been delayed because of a heated debate over priestly celibacy. Cardinal William Levada denied reports by Andrea Tornielli, a leading Vatican observer, that the document was delayed because Curial officials were still debating whether a personal ordinariate could put forward married seminarians for ordination -_a move which some observers believe could loosen the western Church's celibacy rules. He said: "Had I been asked I would happily have clarified any doubt about my remarks at the press conference. There is no substance to such speculation. No one at the Vatican has mentioned any such issue to me. The delay is purely technical in the sense of ensuring consistency in canonical language and references." According to Cardinal Levada, the rules for celibacy within the Anglican provision were outlined in draft versions of the Apostolic Constitution prepared before the announcement in October. Married men in Anglican orders could be ordained as priests but only celibate men would be put forward for the priesthood within an ordinariate as a rule. But the cardinal did not rule out the admission of married men on a case-by-case basis. He said: "This article is to be understood as consistent with the current practice of the Church, in which married former Anglican ministers may be admitted to priestly ministry in the Church on a case-by-case basis."

The Real Problem and the Real Blessings of Catholicism

Issues of authority are not only issues facing Protestants who look at the Catholic Church as an institution consisting of dogmatic over-certainty. Catholics in the modern world can have the same problems with authority and can be described as one man said to me today as 'leftist fascist.' G.K. Chesterton can tell the story for us quite well. The normal line may be heard as follows: all sorts of things can be believed against the Church's teaching based upon modern man's mind and his new ability not to be 'constrained' as Jesus was by his own culture. But, Chesterton reminds us that The modern mind will accept nothing on authority, but will accept anything on no authority. Say that the Bible or the Pope says so and it will be dismissed without further examination. But preface your remark with “I think I heard somewhere,” or, try but fail to remember the name of some professor who might have said “such-and-such,” and it will be immediately accepted as an unshakable fact. Simply add your 'Catholic' issue to the above quotation and there you will find the truthfulness of Chesterton's words. This is because there is an overly cautious attitude towards anyone who would ever embrace Catholicism as absolutely true. But, says Chesterton, Truth is stranger than fiction because we create fiction to suit our fancy. The truth of the matter is that we do not question Catholic truth because we are showing the world our true humility, rather we are actually exposing our pridefulness. Chesterton continues to tell the story saying, To the humble man, and to the humble man alone, the sun is really a sun; to the humble man, and to the humble man alone, the sea is really a sea. And so, when I am given strange looks for upholding Catholic authority and Church teaching, I become quite proud of my faith. Chesterton finally reminds us why Catholicism is the antiquated religion of Jesus and he encourages us to have a proud humility of our faith. So far as a man may be proud of a religion rooted in humility, I am very proud of my religion; I am especially proud of those parts of it that are most commonly called superstition. I am proud of being fettered by antiquated dogmas and enslaved by dead creeds (as my journalistic friends repeat with so much pertinacity), for I know very well that it is the heretical creeds that are dead, and that it is only the reasonable dogma that lives long enough to be called antiquated. And so, when it comes to the rebellious rejection of matters of the faith, Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance. So, being a traditional Catholic is not being a bigot as some would imagine because, It is not bigotry to be certain we are right; but it is bigotry to be unable to imagine how we might possibly have gone wrong. Where the real difference lies is the heart of the problem that began with the first sin and how subsequently others cause differing opinions about what is excusable. But we might do well to ponder that Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable. And so the real problem always come back to the issue of authority.

Anglo-Catholics and Tightly Constricted Testicles

I was quite pleased to read the sermon preached at Pusey House this past weekend by The Revd Canon Dr Robin Ward Principal of St Stephen's House Oxford. Dr Ward is one of the fine voices in the Anglo-Catholic tradition who knows the inevitable for those who find themselves within an ever-growing and developing Catholic understanding of communio. The occasion of the sermon is Pusey House's 125th anniversary since its founding. You can read about the house in other places on line. It is a place that I continue to have a great affection for as a result of Father Jonathan Baker's labours for the Catholic Movement from within its walls and beyond. I would have loved to have been there for this opening line of the sermon: The sinews of Behemoth’s testicles are tightly constricted (Job 40.17). What was going to possibly follow that line!!! I must admit that I really struggled with the sort of picture I would place on here to go along with the title that came from Canon Ward's sermon but I'll happily spare the readers any object lessons. Instead, just a nice relaxed photo of Canon Ward at the event! What was wonderful about the sermon to me was Father Ward's ability to put into words the reality facing those Catholic-minded Anglicans who do not balk at the idea of an infallibility of the Pope. In his concluding remarks, he makes clear what is absolutely necessary for all those who see the end result of cafeteria catholicism which is simply getting dressed up with nowhere to go. Here is Father Ward: Which leads me inexorably back to Behemoth’s testicles. Pope S. Gregory the Great in his great commentary on the book of Job known to us as the Moralia, took this verse as a type of the perplexed conscience – the constriction of the sinews being the sign of the entangled nature of the moral choices which confront us. You do not need me to tell you that Catholic Anglicans are in a place of acute perplexity at this time. Our mission, the mission of this House and of all those who have served the Movement since its inception, is founded on a confidence that we have an authentic ecclesial mandate grounded in Scripture and Tradition, and sacramental assurance in the ministrations which arise from that mandate. We must be frank when we admit that the great majority of the Churches who name themselves catholic in faith, order and practice have always seen this in us as more a matter of assertion than fact. But for us it has not seemed to be a house built on sand. S. Gregory tells us that if we are hemmed in and held captive, then the best rule is to jump off where the wall is lowest – the shortest fall makes for the softest landing. If we are not to be entirely strangled by our perplexity we are going to have to learn to jump, because the basis on which we have carried out our mission in recent years – the doctrine of a Church of England with two integrities - is coming to an end. Blessed Pius IX told Dr Pusey that he was like a bell summoning people to church but never entering it himself; might we not hope for a better future in a larger room for Pusey House? Read the entire sermon here.

The Parting of Friends: Anglo-Catholics and Anglo-Papists

I have actually been writing on the issue that has recently been mentioned by Father Hunwicke SSC over at his blog. I reproduce his remarks here for your reading. I too listened to the morning programme on BBC 4 (listen about 30 minutes in) and found Fr. Killwick's remarks confusing being that one of the purposes of FiFUK's existence is reunion with the Holy See. Here is Fr. Hunwicke, On the wireless on Sunday morning, an interview with Fr Killwick, chairman of the Catholic Group on General Synod. Unlike his recent predecessors in that position, he was rejecting the Roman Option because it would involve accepting unacceptable doctrines such as Papal Infallibillity and the 'Marian Dogmas'. At the Westminster F in F meeting, the Bishop of Fort Worth made similar remarks. This was a common standpoint a couple of generations ago: 'Non-Papal Catholicism'. Conceptually, of course, it was exploded by Dom Gregory Dix's masterly demonstration back in the 1930s that 'the Papal doctrines' are inherent to the Catholic Faith and not just 'Romanising additions'. And ARCIC has, after all, provided ways of understanding Papal Primacy and Infallibility which keep the meaning while putting them into more cuddly language. I don't see how anyone can look at the actual texts of Vatican I without realising (as Newman did when he, a very apprehensive man, saw what the Council decrees actually said; and heaved a great sigh of relief as he realised that the Ultramontanes had lost the battle of the small print) that unless you want to find them problematic, you can find easily ways of glossing them acceptably. The plain fact is that Killwick's sort of churchmanship was for long an alibi that some Catholic-minded Anglicans clung to to save them from the complexities and possible inconveniences of accepting the Petrine Ministry. Bishop John Broadhurst spoke for many at Westminster when he quite frankly and honestly admitted that, a decade or so ago, that was his position; but that now he had come to understand things. For very many, it is the C of E which has taught them that Catholicism without the Magisterium is not just conceptually flawed but, in the real world, just plain impractical. (Not for me. More than fifty years ago I formally joined a Papalist organisation, the Catholic League, which required that postulants sign their adherence to the decrees of Vatican I and Trent.) There will be those now who follow Fr Killwick in clinging to this ancient alibi. It will be more because they want to find problems with Vatican I than because can't accept it. They will always be our friends, and we shall never forget the fun we had together.

All Soul's Day

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen. O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful: grant to the souls of Thy servants and handmaidens the remission of all their sins: that through pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired: Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen. O gentle Heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on them. Be not severe in Your judgments, but let some drops of Your Precious Blood fall upon the devouring flames. And, Merciful Saviour, send Your angels to conduct them to a place of refreshment, light and peace. Amen.

Vatican Clarifies Celibacy Issue with Apostolic Constitution for Anglicans

(31 Oct 09 - RV) Vatican Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi has issued the following clarification of the announced Apostolic Constitution regarding personal ordinariates for Anglican entering into full communion with the Catholic Church: "There has been widespread speculation, based on supposedly knowledgeable remarks by an Italian correspondent Andrea Tornielli, that the delay in publication of the Apostolic Constitution regarding Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, announced on October 20, 2009, by Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is due to more than “technical” reasons. According to this speculation, there is a serious substantial issue at the basis of the delay, namely, disagreement about whether celibacy will be the norm for the future clergy of the Provision. Cardinal Levada offered the following comments on this speculation: “Had I been asked I would happily have clarified any doubt about my remarks at the press conference. There is no substance to such speculation. No one at the Vatican has mentioned any such issue to me. The delay is purely technical in the sense of ensuring consistency in canonical language and references. The translation issues are secondary; the decision not to delay publication in order to wait for the ‘official’ Latin text to be published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis was made some time ago. The drafts prepared by the working group, and submitted for study and approval through the usual process followed by the Congregation, have all included the following statement, currently Article VI of the Constitution: §1 Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill 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. This article is to be understood as consistent with the current practice of the Church, in which married former Anglican ministers may be admitted to priestly ministry in the Catholic Church on a case by case basis. With regard to future seminarians, it was considered purely speculative whether there might be some cases in which a dispensation from the celibacy rule might be petitioned. For this reason, objective criteria about any such possibilities (e.g. married seminarians already in preparation) are to be developed jointly by the Personal Ordinariate and the Episcopal Conference, and submitted for approval of the Holy See.” Cardinal Levada said he anticipates the technical work on the Constitution and Norms will be completed by the end of the first week of November".