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".

Bishop Tom Wright with Support from Bishop Cunningham Invites Pope To Durham Cathedral

The invitation, from a partnership of Anglicans and Catholics, follows a visit by a Vatican representative to Durham University in March.

It was made by Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, and is supported by Bishop Seamus Cunningham of the Catholic diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

If accepted, it would be the first Papal visit to north-east England.

Bishop Wright said: "Durham has in recent years become a major global centre for ecumenical work and the close interlinking of cathedral and university means that Durham is well placed to host an event which is simultaneously academic and ecumenically spiritual."

The North East has a rich Christian heritage. Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, in Northumberland was a base for Christian evangelising in the 7th Century.

read it here.

Apostolic Constitution and Conversion: A Call to the Church

There has been a monumental amount of press coverage over the recent decision out of the Vatican to set forth an Apostolic Constitution as a response to Catholic-minded Anglicans. The stories are often very far from one another but a common thread that I found in many of them is the silence about what it means to convert to become a Catholic. And, conversion is necessary I believe. I am a small fish who has been able to jump out of a small pond and into a vast sea where the world of the Catholic Church in all her beauty and frailty is being discovered each and every day. There is more in the Catholic Church than I ever imagined there could be. I've discovered (in the past 5 short months) that her beauty and maturity is beyond what is capable of my human abilities to grasp. She is a stable institution with a bridal maturity that is able to handle even the blips that come her way and has done so since her beginning in the calling of the Twelve. So, in her wisdom, she does know best what is needed in something like this gracious gift to the Anglican world from the Holy Father.

There are a number of voices that are being heard and aired throughout the world on this gift and I admit that my voice is only one among many. I speak as a very new Catholic convert but as one who I believe has had a radical conversion to a Catholic way of thinking in a very short amount of time due to some of the hardest days in my Christian life of struggling to come to terms with what was happening in my head and in my heart. If I were to give any word of encouragement, I think it would be that my former Anglican colleagues around the world must deeply consider what it means to have a complete conversion to a Catholic way of life. I believe a real head and heart conversion is absolutely necessary in order to submit to the Magisterium with a joyful submission.

For instance, it is quite easy for us to say we are submitting when we agree or we are not being asked to make serious sacrifices of our own desires. Submission, I believe, is really tested when what we might or might not have wanted is being asked of us and we respond in a joy-filled desire of obedience. I think people are really fooling themselves to believe that the Catholic Church will bend on her requirements on issues of morality, contraception, divorce and remarriage etc and disappear behind an Anglican party that might wish to grow out of personal opinions. What must be asked of all Anglicans who are considering this step is what Benedict XVI calls all to ask when being called to communion. Perhaps this gives each of us the space to ask 'just what is it that is false about our attitudes?' In my humble opinion, this is probably one of the most important questions that Anglican laity and clergy alike need to be discussing and answering at this time of discernment.

What must Anglicans do in order not to become a 'party' but to become fully integrated as members of the Catholic Church of Jesus Christ? I think the answer lies in a deep conversion of head and heart to the Catholic way of obedience to authority. The Holy Father has nailed this beautifully when he preached these words:

When I advocate a party, it thereby becomes part, whereas the Church of Jesus Christ is never my Church but always his Church. Indeed, the essence of conversion lies precisely in the fact that I cease to pursue a party of my own that safeguards my interests and conforms to my taste but that I put myself in his hands and become his, a member of his Body, the Church.

This Apostolic Constitution seems to me that it will not and cannot be something of an answer to Anglican's taste and expectations without demanding a real submission and conversion no matter what patrimony is accepted. it cannot be viewed as an option because of a lack of love from the CofE or any other part of the Anglican ethos around the world. To become Catholic is not and cannot be to run from something that is uncomfortable but must be a turning towards what is absolutely true and of the Holy Spirit. There is a lot asked of those who would make this decision and it is a very serious call to the obedience of faith.

Individuals must be catechised, formed, and enculturated into a true Catholic ethos and this will undoubtedly require time out from ministry and Eucharistic reception and a full submission to Catholic sacramental confirmation for everyone. Anglican patrimony cannot, it seems, include what Anglicans have done so well by being selective about only what pleases them and form to only those desires. Each of us has this ongoing daily struggle whether we or Anglicans or Catholics, but it is something each of us must come to terms with. This is the heart of the conversion experience that God recently has and is continually putting me through in the open heart surgery that is ongoing within me. I would gladly argue that it is a process that is ongoing in this life. I could almost be certain that all those who are now in a period of discernment are experiencing this stretching of head and heart as well and so be assured of my prayers for all of you.

The Catholic Church will not grow from an ideological choice among many but only on the principle of a Catholic magisterium. Clubs develop from personal choice, not the Church, as the Holy Father has spoken in the past. I think it must be remembered that the courage of the TAC bishops who went to Rome and signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other bishops around the globe who have given their allegiance to its teaching is what the Holy Father seems to be responding to so positively. That response is a good will response to men and women becoming Catholic and only Catholic; not Anglicans in a Catholic Church. For the latter it seems would only create a club mentality that goes against what makes the Catholic Church the true Church of Jesus Christ under the guidance of Saint Peter.

I realise that nothing I am saying is new and is probably obvious to all. Yet, it is something very crucial that can be overlooked in this period of discernment if it is only being thought of in terms of the best possible option among many. Becoming a Catholic was not a decision for a 'cause' that I liked; it was a decision to respond to God's grace-filled initiative to call me home to the Catholic Church and to become a Catholic. It is my prayer that this is the discerning question for all Anglicans at this time as it seems to be what the present Holy Father asks not only of Anglicans but those of us presently in the Catholic Church. Becoming a Catholic en masse will not take away the necessary step of a real conversion to a Catholic way of life for each and every one who decides to take this step of faith. To miss this primary obligation of conversion is to do what the Holy Father said, which is 'to confuse the Church with a party and faith with a party programme.' The Corinthians learned quickly from the Apostle Paul that this must not be if we are to remain and grow more into the Church of our Lord Jesus.

I humbly offer this for thought and charitable discussion.

Why I Believe All Catholic Anglicans Should Accept the Pope's Offer

I'll Let Cardinal Newman explain:

In truth, she not only teaches in spite of those differences, but she has ever taught by means of them. Those very differences of Catholics on further points have themselves implied and brought out their absolute faith in the doctrines which are previous to them. The doctrines of faith are the common basis of the combatants, the ground on which they contend, their ultimate authority, and their arbitrating rule. They are assumed, and introduced, and commented on, and enforced, in every stage of the alternate disputation; and I will venture to say, that, if you wish to get a good view of the unity, consistency, solidity, and reality of Catholic teaching, your best way is to get up the controversy on grace, or on the Immaculate Conception. No one can do so without acquiring a mass of theological knowledge, and sinking in his intellect a foundation of dogmatic truth, which is simply antecedent and common to the rival schools, and which they do but exhibit and elucidate. To suppose that they perplex an inquirer or a convert, is to fancy that litigation destroys the principles and the science of law, or that spelling out words of five syllables makes a child forget his alphabet. On the other hand, place your unfortunate {313} inquirer between Luther and Calvin, if the Holy Eucharist is his subject; or, if he is determining the rule of faith, between Bramhall and Chillingworth, Bull and Hoadley, and what residuum will be left, when you have eliminated their contrarieties?

6.

It is imprudent in opponents of the Catholic Religion to choose for their attack the very point in which it is strong. As truth is tried by error, virtue by temptation, courage by opposition, so is individuality and life tried by disturbance and disorder; and its trial is its evidence. The long history of Catholicism is but a coordinate proof of its essential unity. I suppose, then, that Protestants must be considered as turning to bay upon their pursuers, when they would retort upon us the argument available against themselves from their religious variations. "The Romanist must admit," it has been urged, "that the state, whether of the Church Catholic or of the Roman Church, at periods before or during the Middle Ages, was such as to bear a very strong resemblance to the picture he draws of our own. I do not speak of corruptions in life and morals merely, or of errors of individuals, however highly exalted, but of the general disorganized and schismatical state of the Church, her practical abandonment of her spiritual pretensions, the tyranny exercised over her by the civil power, and the intimate adherence of the worst passions {314} and of circumstantial irregularities to those acts which are vital portions of her system." [Note 2] Such is the imputation; but yet, to tell the truth, I do not know any passages in her history which supply so awful an evidence of her unity and self-dependence, or so luminous a contrast to Anglicanism or other Protestantism, as these very anomalies in the rule and tenor of her course as I have already observed, and shall presently show by examples.

Msgr William Stetson on the Anglican Apostolic Constitution

My few contacts with Msgr Stetson have always been a delight for me. I really appreciate the interview he gives to Zenit on the recent Apostolic Constitution. I am still overwhelmed with the news of this historical and monumental move by the Holy Father. There have been some interesting things said at the FiFUK meeting this past weekend by Archbishop Hepworth in his speech that I understand warranted a standing ovation from those gathered. One such question was whether or not the Apostolic Constitution would go on allowing for married clergy to be chosen from the laity. This issues has not been made clear because we do not have the document yet. So, here is what Msgr Stetson says about this and why this is specifically for Anglicans. Thanks to James Bradley on Twitter for this link.

ZENIT: The Vatican announcement provided for the possibility of an Anglican ordinariate having seminarians, who are to be prepared alongside Catholic seminarians, "though the ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony." Would this include the possibility of marriage for these Anglican seminarians?

Msgr. Stetson: The specifics have not yet been made known on this question. At the very least I would assume that the seminarians would have to be both married and studying in an Anglican seminary at the time they sought to enter into full communion, and then continue studying for the priesthood in a Catholic seminary. They would have to be dispensed from the norm of celibacy on a case-by-case basis by the Holy See. Future seminarians would have to be celibate.

ZENIT: What other traditions will the Anglicans retain when they enter the Catholic Church by way of the personal ordinariate?

Msgr. Stetson: Small parishes that allow for greater cohesion together. A rich tradition of liturgical expression (language, music, vestments, space, etc.) in English, dating back to the 16th century. This would also include a great tradition of the use of sacred Scripture in preaching, love for the Fathers of the Church and theological expression beyond that of Roman Catholic scholasticism.

ZENIT: Why is the Vatican able to offer this concession only to Anglicans, and not Lutherans, Presbyterians, etc., who would like to enter the Church?

Msgr. Stetson: Anglicans have always enjoyed a special place in Roman Catholic attitudes toward the rupture of Christian unity in the West after the 16th century. The Church of England sought to retain many elements of the Catholic Church while at the same time being Protestant. The Church of England maintained a greater unity within itself and thus could be dealt with as a single entity in conversations with Rome.

Escape or Conversion: Why I Became Catholic With My Family

Having a week off for mid-term break has allowed a nice morning of coffee, breakfast, Office, Rosary and a read around the Internet to see what is being said about the recent news. In my wandering over to Catholic-minded Anglican blogs, I visited St. Barnabas' blog where Father Ed posted his homily from yesterday. Now the poor chap has had enough bad press recently so I want to keep my comments within reason as far as a clarification about those of us who have decided to go at it alone.

There seems to be a gross misunderstanding about someone like myself who left without waiting for a group to travel together. First of all, when I decided it was time to leave nearly six months ago now there was no offer like this from the Holy Father and to be honest I was a committed skeptic that something so grand would ever be offered. I happily admit my lack of faith here. But, does that change anything about my decision? No. Why? Because, my leaving to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church of the west was not to escape from a lack of love and appreciation from the CofE's General Synod. Matter of fact, I often prayed for the end of that presumptuous body that very rarely discussed theology but all the more shaped itself on the modern secular state on how to run the CofE. I was one who never wanted to be seen as 'begging' for a place to be 'safe' in the CofE or to beg for the scraps from the General Synod table. My Catholic faith was running much deeper than that. Something spiritual was going on inside me during my decision-making process that had nothing to do with whether or not my beliefs were respected or loved by the General Synod. Frankly, I came not to care at all what General Synod thought because my allegiance was to something much larger and greater than the CofE or the General Synod and that is to the person Jesus my Lord and Saviour.

Escapist language is language that communicates fear and uncertainty about one's position. At the point of my decision to become a Catholic, though uncertainty filled my daily life for a while, I prayed that fear and an escapist mentality would not be any part of my motivation to conversion. If it was, I would have to question my conversion. That is not how I made my decision to become a Catholic. To be honest, I have to question anyone's wanting to become a Catholic as a last resort. Is it really a conversion to the truthfulness of the primacy of St. Peter and the Magisterium of the Church? I think something deeper goes on in a real conversion to a Catholic way of life that has the ability to move personal desires to the side for the sake of truth. I could have waited longer and put up with internal frustrations. But could I stand behind the altar and before my people and particularly my family with the spirit of Lumen Gentium in my heart?

But, not only did I have a flock where I shared and participated in pastoral care, more importantly, I have a wife and six children who need nourishment in the fulness of truth only found in the Catholic Church and that responsibility weighed heavily upon me more than anything else. The inconsistency of the Anglican church to what I taught at home was confusing to my children. But what reached the core of my heart and integrity that allowed me to face the man in the mirror each and every day was what I read in Lumen Gentium 14. It reads,

14. This Sacred Council wishes to turn its attention firstly to the Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon Sacred Scripture and Tradition, it teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation. Christ, present to us in His Body, which is the Church, is the one Mediator and the unique way of salvation. In explicit terms He Himself affirmed the necessity of faith and baptism(124) and thereby affirmed also the necessity of the Church, for through baptism as through a door men enter the Church. Whosoever, therefore, knowing that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ, would refuse to enter or to remain in it, could not be saved.

It is this last phrase that touched the depths of my heart as I made pilgrimage in Rome on Easter week 2009. I knew in my heart that I had come to believe what the Catholic Church teaches in the CCC. I knelt down at St. Peter's tomb and signed the catechism for myself. I wrote in the front of my Catechism, 'This is the Faith of the Holy Catholic Church, this is my Faith, and I submit myself to its teaching and ask the Holy Spirit to form me and make me into a man, a father, and a member of this Church that resembles the faithfulness of Saint Peter himself after his ongoing conversion.' Signed my name and dated it. It was love for Jesus and the Church that propelled me into her arms, not an idea of escape or a lone ranger mentality of someone who just merely looks after themselves not caring for the sheep. That sort of accusation that has even made its way most recently in my blog comments shows nothing save a deep misunderstanding about the nature of conversion to the Catholic Faith and Church. My prayer was that my going when I did and fully trusting in God's blessing and provision for being faithful to my conscience of where Jesus had led me to believe in His Church would show any who closely watched that the way of discipleship is of great cost but the reward is greater. No escape for me but conversio to the Sacred heart of Jesus and Mary in the bosom of the Church who loves me, my family and most of all the truth of the Christian faith in Scripture and Tradition passed on to the faithful from the See of Peter and his bishops. Thank you God for giving me the grace to follow your call to conversion of heart not the escape from fear!

Father Jeffrey Steenson on the Holy Father's Gift

Picture of me with Father Steenson in Rome April 2009 before my conversion to the Church.
For Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, gathered around St. Peter and his successors, is not unlike the experience of the merchant in Matthew 13:46, who, “when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” It is a demanding venture, requiring sacrifice, but this is the nature of the apostolate, and it is of such fundamental importance that all contingent arguments must ultimately fall away. Benedict XVI’s astonishing generosity in offering a canonical home to Anglicans who desire to be in communion with him is an occasion for great rejoicing, for it will mean that we do not journey alone.

Anglicans do not come to Rome primarily because they are unhappy with their churches. There are options within the Anglican world that are far more accessible to those who object to recent decisions and developments within their own churches. The warnings heard especially in liberal Catholic circles about the dangers of admitting the disaffected Anglicans are to be heeded of course, but most of the anger I have encountered as a Catholic comes from disaffected Catholics who object to the teachings of their own church. The journey to full communion is by nature a purgative process, and the souls who arrive are mostly simply happy to be there.

For me the moment of truth came in early 2007, at a meeting of the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, amidst colleagues whom I had come to love, whose company I truly enjoyed. They felt the time had come for them to assert that the polity of the Episcopal Church was essentially local and democratic and that its wider associations within the Anglican Communion and the Christian world were voluntary and collaborative. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back; I could not reconcile this position with the Catholic understanding of the Church. And as a member of a church family whose origins were Roman, it seemed obvious to me what must be done.

It was not a sudden decision. The goal of Catholic unity has been, more or less, an integral part of Anglican identity since Newman, as the agreed statements of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission plainly show. The conditions for corporate reunion seemed favorable for a brief season in the years immediately following Vatican II. But powerful counter-intuitive movements within Anglicanism had pushed the goal of full communion so far over the horizon that it was no longer realistic to expect that the established ecumenical instruments could heal the schism. And so various groups and individuals approached the Holy See, not with the intention of repudiating Anglicanism, but rather to discover a new path toward unity.

I was a part of one such effort in 1993-1994. In reviewing our submissions to the Holy See from that time, I was astonishing to find so many echoes in the Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) about Personal Ordinariates. For those who are interested in following this story, William Oddie’s The Roman Option (Harper/Colllins, 1997) is essential reading. To add one note to Dr Oddie’s fine study – the request for a canonical structure similar to the military ordinariate was initially proposed by Msgr William Stetson, for many years the secretary to the ecclesiastical delegate for the Pastoral Provision.

It is no simple exercise to define precisely what Pope Paul VI had termed the “worthy patrimony” of the Anglican tradition. We soon realized that it is not accurate to speak of this Anglican identity as primarily liturgical, because the liturgical movement has brought about a real convergence between Anglican and Catholic forms. We wrote: “It must certainly be more than the preservation of the distinctive features of Anglican Church culture (ie, its liturgical, devotional, and musical heritage), as worthy an undertaking as this may be. We desire that our return to union with Peter will enable us to contribute to the healing of the Western Schism, by means of an apostolate uniquely dedicated to Christian unity, as a vehicle through which the Catholic Church may embrace her separated sons and daughters and augment the resources for her work of evangelization.”.

I very much appreciated the CDF’s Note that the preservation of the Anglican patrimony be balanced by the concern that the Anglican pilgrims be integrated into the Catholic Church and not merely live on as a distinct sub-culture. This is important for many reasons, but one comes especially to mind: we Anglicans have some bad habits to unlearn, for Anglican life today is manifestly disordered. The need for our formation is not to be underestimated; Rome was not built in a day, and neither can Catholic priesthood be put on like a coat. I found this to be particularly challenging, requiring an effort to reach out to wise and experienced Catholic priests. I will always be grateful for those who patiently supported, encouraged, and prayed with me, especially the wonderful men of the Irish College and Msgr Francis Kelly of the Casa Santa Maria in Rome.

Those dear friends at the Irish College sometimes teased me about my “five ordinations and a wedding.” Some Anglican clergy, even as they welcome this initiative from the Holy Father, want to reopen the question of the validity of Anglican orders, because they object to the general rule of absolute ordination. I did not find this a difficulty, for I did not think of my ordination in the Catholic Church as a repudiation of the Anglican ministry. Anglican ordinations are what they are. It may be reasonable to criticize Leo XIII's 1896 encyclical on Anglican orders, Apostolicae Curae, for speaking in the harsh idiom of a different age, but it can certainly be read in a positive light. Friends do not eschew plain speaking, and it is likely that this text has been responsible for much of the ecumenical progress already realized, by provoking Anglicans to reflect more deeply on the theology of ministerial priesthood. I treasure the times I was able to pray near the tomb of Pope Leo XIII at St. John Lateran last year. Anglicanism’s chief antihero remains, ironically, a potent spiritual force for Christian unity.

One thing has continued to trouble me in this journey, and that is the remembrance of the people left behind. It was very difficult to step away from treasured pastoral relationships, although church polity and ministerial ethics certainly required a clean and decisive break. Many of them of course are firmly committed Anglicans who have no interest in following this path toward Catholic unity. I wish them every blessing. But I often think of others who hunger and thirst for something more, for whom the Catholic Church is a very intimidating but compelling presence. They must overcome misunderstandings about what the Catholic Church teaches, and fears about what it might mean to live in the Catholic Church. Patient pastoral work can resolve much of this, and I rejoice that the Holy Father has opened this door for them.

The Rev. Jeffrey Steenson, of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande (New Mexico and west Texas) before his reception into the Catholic Church on November 30, 2007. He and his wife Debra now live in Houston, where he teaches patristics at the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary’s Seminary. They have three adult children.

Source

A Prayer Today For All Catholic Anglicans in England and Around the World

O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our most gentle Queen and Mother, look down in mercy upon England, thy Dowry, and upon us all who greatly hope and trust in thee. By thee it was that Jesus, our Saviour and our hope, was given unto the world; and He has given thee to us that we might hope still more. Plead for us, thy children, whom thou didst receive and accept at the foot of the Cross. O Sorrowful Mother, intercede for our separated brethren, that with us in the one true fold, they may be united to the Chief Shepherd, the Vicar of thy Son. Pray us all, dear Mother, that by faith, fruitful in good works, we may all deserve to see and praise God, together with thee in our heavenly home. Amen.

Finding Good Blogs

I have not been spending a lot of time reading other blogs of late due to a new busy schedule and other pressing items. I have discovered another blog of a priest just north of me in Newcastle that I am adding to my links. Glad to know you are around Father Brown writing on Forest Murmurs!

The Best Speeches of the FiF Assembly

I think that without any doubt whatsoever that the most fantastic speeches and response to the Holy Father at the Assembly of FiF in London came from Fr. Christopher Kinch, James Bradley
Daniel Lloyd, and Fr Philip Corbett. These men all display the grace and gratitude and are future young leaders in the Church Catholic that will take on the new evangelisation encouraged by Pope John Paul II and showing its abundant fruit in the generosity of our Holy Father. We live in exciting times and I pray, please God, England will be Catholic once again! Thank you to the four of you for delivering the proper response to the Holy Father!! Well done and hurry home!

FiF and the Apparent Inability (of some) to See the Truth

On June 7, 2009 I resigned as a priest in the Church of England. On July 18, 2009 I was received into full communion in the Catholic Church. I have been asked numerous times if I am sorry that I left when I did as a result of the news this week from the Vatican on what Pope Benedict XVI is graciously offering Anglicans. The answer is a theological profound no way. I am a Catholic now and I have never been more happy about my personal decision to depart when I did. I could do no other as it was an issue that impacted the salvation of my soul as one who was theologically convinced of Catholic theology and what it meant to be a Catholic in communio with the Holy Father and the universal Catholic Church.

This decision was all the more confirmed after listening to my former affiliation FiF UK's discussion at their general meeting tonight. I was at the meeting this past February and it was at that meeting where I decided that what I understood to be Catholic was not what I was hearing from many. This present meeting is even more clear than the one in February that all the talk of being Catholic 'seems' to be not much more than what the individual wants to believe is Catholic. To be perfectly honest, it almost feels like a bluff has been called and some are standing there asking why they entered the game of praying for unity now. Sitting and listening to those speeches made me sad and realise that for many in the C of E, the issue that alone makes them 'feel' Catholic is being against the ordination of women or so it seems. Let me state clearly that I did not leave the C of E over women's ordination or homosexuality though in regards to both of these issues I hold the Catholic orthodox line. I became Catholic because being Catholic was true, the primacy of Peter and his infallibility is true and the lack of the Magisterium in Anglicanism leaves the priest with nothing other than his (or now her) own opinion. I am afraid that this sort of approach has nothing to do with true Catholicism. This approach has nothing to do with the theological idea of communio in the writings of the Holy Father either.

Sitting here in my study and sipping on some Ruby Port, I am finding the addresses to be very difficult to listen to. I honestly wonder how it is that I belonged to a movement that gives appearances of not really wanting real reunion with Rome when it has finally been offered with some real substance. What I hope becomes clear to those at this Assembly is that the Holy Father is NOT putting forth some document to be revised by a revision committee or determined by a popularity of a majority as something akin to a general synod. Sorry folks, that is not the Catholic way. It's not about lace and birettas; it's about authority and truth. There is all sorts of talk about Eucharist and ecclesiology and an ecclesial solution to their problems but this language is becoming all the more nothing save fancy rhetoric. It is really time to take a closer look at what is the substance of being Catholic. I was absolutely shocked and grateful for the generosity and love our Holy Father is offering the Anglican worldwide communion and then only to hear the voices of people claiming to be Catholic at this meeting and longing to remain Anglicans and CofE blows the mind.

To me, there is a strong disconnect with regards to the issue of Eucharistic ecclesiology and episcopal office. There is a seemingly real misunderstanding about the structures of a universal Church with regards to Eucharistic theology. There seems to be a lack of acknowledgment concerning the mission of a bishop as a Eucharistic point of unity and much more. I am afraid that what has not yet really happened to many is a true conversion to a Catholic way. I mean that in the best sense of the definition of Catholic. Because it is a real conversion of heart to make one give up everything and follow Jesus' call to unity. Sacrifice is involved and one has to be willing to sacrifice all if we are to have the substance of the Christian life. There is nothing to be salvaged in my opinion about Anglicanism as an 'ism'. The Reformation is one of the greatest tragedies in ecclesial history. Why the assembly is not falling down on its knees and thanking God for answering their prayers in this Newman moment is really mind-boggling.

Many might ask me why I care. The answer is, because our Holy Father and pastor just extended a hand of welcome for reunion and reconciliation beyond what any could imagine and they have to think about it...I hope the Vatican isn't listening to that assembly.

What I feel is most problematic is that so many claim to have been praying for the very thing that the Holy Father has given and even more and now what is in reality a lovely piece of fish seems to be treated as if it were only a stone. Sadly, this all seems a bit ungrateful to me.

Clarification: This post is not addressing the wonderful speeches made by the PEV's as I believe they have done all they can to promote and seek unity. Many others in that assembly have as well. What I feel like this morning is not much different from last night after hearing other speakers. I have a high emotional involvement in unity with the dissertation I am about to finish and this new move by the Holy Father will need writing into my final chapter I am about to finish. Please God, may their meetings today bring about a warm embrace of what the Holy Father is offering worldwide!I will happily offer my Daily Office for everyone at that meeting today...May God's Spirit of unity and love be on us all!

Archbishop Nichols Response in the Catholic Herald

The Open and Loving heart of the Holy Father

Read it here
The announcement of this Apostolic Constitution has come as a surprise. So, too, has the generosity of its measures. It is important to understand its context as well as its content.

The Apostolic Constitution is the response of Pope Benedict to the approaches which have been made to the Holy See by groups of Anglicans, in different parts of the world, asking for full visible communion within the Catholic Church. It is, then, a response, not an initiative, by the Holy See. It is a response designed to establish a provision which will be equitable and uniform in whatever part of the world it may be taken up.

It has a particular purpose: to permit those who wish to live their faith in full visible union with the See of Peter to do so while also preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. So this is a response to those who have declared that they share the common Catholic faith and accept the Pope's ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. In the words of Cardinal Levada: "For them, the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion." As Archbishop Rowan Williams and I said in our joint statement: "The announcement of this Apostolic Constitution brings to an end a period of uncertainty for such groups who have nurtured hopes of new ways of embracing unity with the Catholic Church."

Much work now opens up, not only for those who hold such faith and will have to consider carefully the formal response of the Holy See, but also for the Catholic community. In approaching this work, some important perspectives have to be kept in mind.

First, this response does not alter our determined and continuing dedication to the pathway of mutual commitment and cooperation between the Church of England and the Catholic Church in this country. The foundations of all the joint work in ARCIC and the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission make clear the path we follow together. An Anglo-Catholic tradition will continue to be a part of the Church of England, nurtured by those who cherish this tradition while not ready to accept the current jurisdiction of the Holy See.

We also need to appreciate what this moment makes clear about the mind of Pope Benedict XVI. I believe this is another illustration of his desire to achieve reconciliation with those who are estranged from the Catholic Church and who show a willingness to be reconciled. This desire is clearly one of the priorities of his pontificate. As he has written: "In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; to that God whose face we recognise in a love, which presses 'to the end' (cf John 13.1) - in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen ... So if the arduous task of working for faith, hope and love in the world is presently (and in various ways, always) the Church's real priority, then part of this is also made up of acts of reconciliation, small and not so small." (Letter to Bishops, March 10 2009). Reconciliation, then, is a part of the proclamation of the Gospel.

Pope Benedict, we have to remember, is also ready to allow the breadth of the expressions of Catholic life to find their place in the Church. In that same letter he wrote: "But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas?"

The Holy Father clearly believes that legitimate diversity does not threaten the unity of the Church, a unity which is essentially of faith, expressed in visible communion and in the witness of life lived in conformity to the call of the Gospel. While this Apostolic Constitution establishes a single framework for the universal Church, clearly much detail will have to be established locally. Alongside the Constitution there will have to be agreements about the way forward and the practical steps by which Personal Ordinariates, if and when they are established, will be an integral part of the Catholic community, working in close unity with the dioceses of England and Wales. These matters are now to be considered both locally and in close consultation with the Holy See.

This is an extraordinary moment. It is a challenge and an opportunity on many fronts. I salute the courage and generosity of Pope Benedict who has again shown an open and loving heart, just as one would expect of a Holy Father.

CDF Document on the Holy Father's Personal Ordinariates

NOTE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH ABOUT PERSONAL ORDINARIATES FOR ANGLICANS ENTERING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

With the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution, the Catholic Church is 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.

In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy.

The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution provides a reasonable and even necessary response to a world-wide phenomenon, by offering a single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application. It provides for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy. Historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Constitution therefore stipulates that the Ordinary can be either a priest or an unmarried bishop. The seminarians in the Ordinariate are to be prepared alongside other Catholic seminarians, though the Ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony. In this way, the Apostolic Constitution seeks to balance on the one hand the concern to preserve the worthy Anglican liturgical and spiritual patrimony and, on the other hand, the concern that these groups and their clergy will be integrated into the Catholic Church.

Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which has prepared this provision, said: "We have been trying to meet the requests for full communion that have come to us from Anglicans in different parts of the world in recent years in a uniform and equitable way. With this proposal the Church wants to respond to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups for full and visible unity with the Bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter."

These Personal Ordinariates will be formed, as needed, in consultation with local Conferences of Bishops, and their structure will be similar in some ways to that of the Military Ordinariates which have been established in most countries to provide pastoral care for the members of the armed forces and their dependents throughout the world. "Those Anglicans who have approached the Holy See have made clear their desire for full, visible unity in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. At the same time, they have told us of the importance of their Anglican traditions of spirituality and worship for their faith journey," Cardinal Levada said.
The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. "The initiative has come from a number of different groups of Anglicans," Cardinal Levada went on to say: "They have declared that they share the common Catholic faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and accept the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. For them, the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion."

According to Levada: "It is the hope of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that the Anglican clergy and faithful who desire union with the Catholic Church will find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith. Insofar as these traditions express in a distinctive way the faith that is held in common, they are a gift to be shared in the wider Church. The unity of the Church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows. Moreover, the many diverse traditions present in the Catholic Church today are all rooted in the principle articulated by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: ‘There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (4:5). Our communion is therefore strengthened by such legitimate diversity, and so we are happy that these men and women bring with them their particular contributions to our common life of faith."

Background information
Since the sixteenth century, when King Henry VIII declared the Church in England independent of Papal Authority, the Church of England has created its own doctrinal confessions, liturgical books, and pastoral practices, often incorporating ideas from the Reformation on the European continent. The expansion of the British Empire, together with Anglican missionary work, eventually gave rise to a world-wide Anglican Communion.

Throughout the more than 450 years of its history the question of the reunification of Anglicans and Catholics has never been far from mind. In the mid-nineteenth century the Oxford Movement (in England) saw a rekindling of interest in the Catholic aspects of Anglicanism. In the early twentieth century Cardinal Mercier of Belgium entered into well publicized conversations with Anglicans to explore the possibility of union with the Catholic Church under the banner of an Anglicanism "reunited but not absorbed".

At the Second Vatican Council hope for union was further nourished when the Decree on Ecumenism (n. 13), referring to communions separated from the Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation, stated that: "Among those in which Catholic traditions and institutions in part continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place."

Since the Council, Anglican-Roman Catholic relations have created a much improved climate of mutual understanding and cooperation. The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) produced a series of doctrinal statements over the years in the hope of creating the basis for full and visible unity. For many in both communions, the ARCIC statements provided a vehicle in which a common expression of faith could be recognized. It is in this framework that this new provision should be seen.

In the years since the Council, some Anglicans have abandoned the tradition of conferring Holy Orders only on men by calling women to the priesthood and the episcopacy. More recently, some segments of the Anglican Communion have departed from the common biblical teaching on human sexuality—already clearly stated in the ARCIC document "Life in Christ"—by the ordination of openly homosexual clergy and the blessing of homosexual partnerships. At the same time, as the Anglican Communion faces these new and difficult challenges, the Catholic Church remains fully committed to continuing ecumenical engagement with the Anglican Communion, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

In the meantime, many individual Anglicans have entered into full communion with the Catholic Church. Sometimes there have been groups of Anglicans who have entered while preserving some "corporate" structure. Examples of this include, the Anglican diocese of Amritsar in India, and some individual parishes in the United States which maintained an Anglican identity when entering the Catholic Church under a "pastoral provision" adopted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope John Paul II in 1982. In these cases, the Catholic Church has frequently dispensed from the requirement of celibacy to allow those married Anglican clergy who desire to continue ministerial service as Catholic priests to be ordained in the Catholic Church.

In the light of these developments, the Personal Ordinariates established by the Apostolic Constitution can be seen as another step toward the realization the aspiration for full, visible union in the Church of Christ, one of the principal goals of the ecumenical movement.

The Pope Offers a Gift to Angilcans; +Vincent Nichols and +Rowan Williams Joint Statement

CCN Press Release
Date Published:20/10/2009
Vatican Congregation
for the Doctrine of the
Faith releases note about Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church

Joint Statement by The Archbishop of Westminster and The Archbishop of Canterbury
Joint Statement by The Archbishop of Westminster and The Archbishop of Canterbury

Today's announcement of the Apostolic Constitution is a response by Pope Benedict XVI to a number of requests over the past few years to the Holy See from groups of Anglicans who wish to enter into full visible communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and are willing to declare that they share a common Catholic faith and accept the Petrine ministry as willed by Christ for his Church.

Pope Benedict XVI has approved, within the Apostolic Constitution, a canonical structure that provides for Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony.

The announcement of this Apostolic Constitution brings to an end a period of uncertainty for such groups who have nurtured hopes of new ways of embracing unity with the Catholic Church. It will now be up to those who have made requests to the Holy See to respond to the Apostolic Constitution.

The Apostolic Constitution is further recognition of the substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality between the Catholic Church and the Anglican tradition. Without the dialogues of the past forty years, this recognition would not have been possible, nor would hopes for full visible unity have been nurtured. In this sense, this Apostolic Constitution is one consequence of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

The on-going official dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion provides the basis for our continuing cooperation. The Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith releases note about Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church 1 of 2 Mission (IARCCUM) agreements make clear the path we will follow together.

With God's grace and prayer we are determined that our on-going mutual commitment and consultation on these and other matters should continue to be strengthened. Locally, in the spirit of IARCCUM, we look forward to building on the pattern of shared meetings between the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales and the Church of England?s House of Bishops with a focus on our common mission. Joint days of reflection and prayer were begun in Leeds in 2006 and continued in Lambeth in 2008, and further meetings are in preparation. This close cooperation will continue as we grow together in unity and mission, in witness to the Gospel in our country, and in the Church at large.

+ Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury
+ Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
London
20 October 2009
Read/download
Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith releases note about Personal Ordinariates for
Anglicans entering the Catholic Church
2 of 2

Apostolic Constitution to Angilcans

“In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.”


More NEWS LATER!!!!

HT Damian Thompson

Catholic and Anglican Press Conference Today

Thanks to Father Tim Finigan and his keen eye on the news coming out of Rome today at 10 am BST. Father Finigan reports the news that Rome has said

We inform accredited journalists that tomorrow, Tuesday 20 October 2009, at 11am, in the John Paul II Hall of the Press Office of the Holy See, a briefing will be held on a theme pertaining to the relationship with the Anglicans, at which His Eminence Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and His Excellency Mgr Joseph Augustine Di Noia OP, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments will take part.

And Damien Thompson has on his blog this morning that at the same time there will be a press conference with Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Rowan Williams,

You are invited to a press conference with Archbishop Vincent Nichols (Archbishop of Westminster) and Archbishop Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury) on Tuesday 20 October at 1000. The press conference will take place at 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX

I have no other comment other than this is interesting and gives one the opportunity to pray for the reunion of Christians to the Catholic Church wherever they presently hang their hats. I pray for something generous all around for all involved. Please God make us one as you and your Son are one!

Music and Liturgy: Sacred or Performance?

Whether it is Bach or Mozart that we hear in church, we have a sense in either case of what Gloria Dei, the glory of God, means. The mystery of infinite beauty is there and enables us to ex­perience the presence of God more truly and vividly than in many sermons. But there are already signs of danger to come. Subjective experience and passion are still held in check by the order of the musical universe, reflecting as it does the order of the divine creation itself. But there is already the threat of invasion by the virtuoso mentality, the vanity of technique, which is no longer the servant of the whole but wants to push itself to the fore. During the nineteenth century, the century of self-emancipating subjectivity, this led in many places to the obscuring of the sacred by the operatic. The dangers that had forced the Council of Trent to intervene were back again. In similar fashion, Pope Pius X tried to remove the operatic element from the liturgy and declared Gregorian chant and the great polyphony of the age of the Catholic Reformation (of which Palestrina was the outstanding representative) to be the standard for liturgical music. A clear distinction was made between liturgical music and religious music in general, just as visual art in the liturgy has to conform to different standards from those employed in religious art in general. Art in the liturgy has a very specific responsibility, and precisely as such does it serve as a wellspring of culture, which in the final analysis owes its existence to cult. [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), pp. 148]

Not every kind of music can have a place in Christian worship. It has its standards, and that standard is the Lo­gos. If we want to know whom we are dealing with, the Holy Spirit or the unholy spirit, we have to remember that it is the Holy Spirit who moves us to say, “Jesus is Lord” (~Cor 12:3). The Holy Spirit leads us to the Logos, and he leads us to a music that serves the Logos as a sign of the sursum corda, the lifting up of the human heart. Does it integrate man by drawing him to what is above, or does it cause his disintegration into formless intoxication or mere sensuality? That is the criterion for a music in harmony with logos, a form of that logike latreia (reasonable, logos-worthy worship)… [The Spirit of the Liturgy, (SF, CA: Ignatius, 2000), p. 151]

Jesus Present Before Me: The Beauty of the Eucharist

As a result of a very generous person who reads my blog and has recently shopped in my Amazon Wishlist, I am sitting here tonight sipping on a nice Chilean white wine and reading Jesus Present Before Me: Meditations for Eucharist Adoration, by Father Peter John Cameron, O.P. What an excellent book this is and I am very grateful for the gift.

One of the things that I often reflect on is the beauty of the Eucharist and particularly how we capture the beauty of it when it is celebrated in Mass. Liturgy and ritual has a lot to do with getting a glimpse of this concept of beauty found in Eucharistic celebration that is to take us beyond the appearances and to the Something of love found in beauty. It is for this reason that I would like to see a bit more regaining of the theological/liturgical notion of worshipping in the beauty of holiness. 'One thing that I ask,' says the psalmist, 'to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the Lord's beauty.' Father Cameron's meditation on this point of beauty in the Eucharist is very moving and worthy of the time to type it all.

It is crucial for us that the Eucharist be "beautiful." Why? Because, as the Catechism teaches, it is the human person's 'openness to truth and beauty...his longings for the infinite and for happiness,' that prompt the human being to question himself about God's existence.

Our fascination with beauty leads us to God. Beauty makes us believers. The playwright Jean Anouilh commented that beauty is one of the rare things that does not lead to doubt about God.

At the same time, our need for beauty shows us the greatness of ourselves--that we are made for something "more." For beauty is a kind of sign that refers beyond itself to something else, and we are designed to detect that. As Monsignor Luigi Giussani, founder of the Communion and Liberation, has observed only the relationship "beyond," with "something more," makes the adventure of life possible. Our will to penetrate the beyond gives us the energy to seize the here and now. The beautiful is what gives us that will, that energy. In fact, Giussani continues, the only thing that moves us to say yes to something new that comes into our life is beauty. Only beauty has the power to suppress all our preconceptions, our cynicism, our negativity. Beauty draws out our heart, preventing is from decaying into nothingness.

For beauty possesses a winning attraction. What attracts us is something attractive is not the thing itself but the "Something inside something." That is why, in looking at what seems to be a nondescript wafer of bread, we refuse to stop at "appearances." We see the Beyond of the Eucharist...and it is pure Beauty. Saint Bonaventure tell us that in Jesus we contemplate beauty and splendor at their source.

The truest beauty, says Pope Benedict XVI, is the love of God--that is the Something within the something of the sacrifice of the Eucharist. The effects of receiving Holy Communion confirm the ability of the Eucharist's beauty to transfigure our lives. Saint Proclus of Constantinople said that Christ appeared in the world bringing beauty out of disarray, giving it luster and joy.

The Eucharist continues to beautify the disarray of our lives, giving it unimaginable luster and joy. And that is why we rejoice in the words of Pope John Paul II who said that beauty makes one feel the beginning of fulfillment. It seems to whisper to us: "You will not be unhappy; the desire of your heart will be fulfilled."

Prayer: Lord Jesus, the experience of beauty convinces me that I am loved by Someone who is as great as beauty is irresistible. Let me surrender myself completely to the attraction I find in you.

To hear Catholics balk at Eucharistic adoration as something no longer necessary for the Church is really missing this point about Beauty himself in the Blessed Sacrament. Looking beyond the appearances into the beauty of God's heart is something irresistible when we see how God's attraction for us causes him to surrender himself and his love completely for us.

Ever Felt Like This When Trying to Talk to Those More Challenging Folk?

The Church: The Living Community

Time has been busy of late and I have not been able to write much or read for that matter. But now things are beginning to get into a new rhythm. But, I thought the below quotation from the Holy Father to be excellent.

The reality that is the Church transcends any literary formulation of it. Of course, what she believes and lives can be, and is, contained in books. But it is not totally assimilated by these books. On the contrary, the books fulfill their function as books only when they point to the community in which the word is to be found. This living community cannot be replaced or surpassed by historical exegesis; it is inherently superior to any book. By its very nature, the word of faith presupposes the community that lives it, that is bound to it and that adheres to it in its very power to bind mankind. Just as revelation transcends the limits of pure scientism of historical reason. In this sense, it can be said that the inner nature of faith justifies the Church's claim to be the primary interpreter of the word and that this claim cannot be abdicated in favor of enlightened reason without rendering questionable the very structure of faith as a possibility for mankind. Community of faith is the situs of understanding. It cannot be replaced by the science of history.

This is why exegesis on its own does not serve the Living Community.

Francis Clark SJ and the Heart of Eucharistic Sacrifice

To speak of the Eucharist as the memorial of Christ's death can mean either that it is a reminder to the godly communicant, a sign to recall to his remembrance the passion of Christ and the benefits it won for him; or that it is an objective anamnesis, a memorial rite performed to proclaim outwardly and show forth Christ's sacrificial death. The Eucharistic memorial merely in the first sense is wholly a 'manward' action; in the second it may become 'Godward'.

Francis Clark SJ writes the above statement that really does show the difference between a Catholic and Protestant understanding of the Eucharistic memorial. One finds this clear explanation in the words of Peter Lombard which will be quoted below. The question that needs answering is how can something not objectively present be effectually transformative in others if the presence is not real and the sacrifice is not real? In other words, can the reality of Christ's presence be communicated from a symbol where that presence does not objectively dwell? It is the denial of an objective presence of Christ in the elements that did not allow for many of the Reformers to see the point of Eucharistic sacrifice. But Peter Lombard describes for us how this sacrifice is to be properly understood. As you read the quotation, please note that he uses words like recalling and corresponds, which some present-day Reformed men pretend are 'reformational' words and key sign posts that one cannot be speaking about an objective presence or a real sacrifice. Here is Lombard,

In Christ the saving victim was offered once. Then what of ourselves ? Do we not offer every day? Although we do offer daily, that is done for the recalling of his death, and the victim is one, not many. But how can that be—one and not many? Because Christ was immolated once. For this sacrifice is what corresponds to that sacrifice of his: the same reality, remaining always the same, is offered and so this is the same sacrifice. Otherwise, would you say that because the sacrifice is offered in many places, therefore there are many Christ’s? No, but there is one Christ in all those places, fully present here and fully present there. And just as what is offered in all places is one and the same body, so there is one and the same sacrifice. Christ offered a victim and we offer the selfsame now; but what we do is a recalling of his sacrifice. Nor is the sacrifice repeated by reason of its weakness (since it is what perfects mankind), but by reason of our own, because we sin daily.

Now, for those of you who followed a bit of the debate on my views of Andrewes' theological position on Eucharistic sacrifice and presence, I personally, can hardly see ANY difference between Lombard and what I have discovered in my research. But that is another point. What is important is that the concept of sacrifice not be narrowly defined to only mean a change in the victim or something altogether new and different from the one sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. That is not the Catholic understanding of Eucharistic sacrifice no matter how many times Calvin and his children say that it is.

Father Dwight Longenecker on Married Catholic Clergy

From time to time I am asked to justify or explain the fact that I am a married man with four children, and also a Catholic priest. There are strong feelings in the 'celibate priests' debate on both sides, and people expect me to have all the answers. I hate to disillusion those who wish to recruit me for either side of the debate. My own views are a mixture of common sense and loyalty to the traditions and teachings of Mother Church.

First let us dispose of some red herrings. Some favor celibacy of priests for utilitarian reasons. The most common argument one hears for celibacy is that 'the celibate man has more time for God and for his flock'. A married man cannot really serve the Lord with the total dedication that is required. Well, yes and no. Of course, this is one of the arguments put forward by the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 7.32-33. However, in saying this, common sense also prevails.

Does marriage mean that I do not have time for the parish or my priestly work? No. My wife and children are very supportive. I have a job as a school chaplain (not a parish priest) that is very suitable to the married state. Am I busy? Yes, do I sometimes have to work hours that put pressure on the family? Yes, but then so do many other men in other professions, and their hours and time away are much worse than mine. I think of truck drivers, fire fighters, soldiers and sailors and doctors on call. Many jobs take the man away from home. Many travel for days and weeks at at time. People cope. Furthermore, I'm afraid I can think of a good number of celibate men who are not available at all times for all the people everywhere. For some celibacy leads them to a life of selfishness, self absorbtion and isolation. Celibacy does not automatically produce the Cure d'Ars.

Another red herring: the church cannot (or can) afford married priests. Or course some churches cannot afford married men with families, but many can afford married priests. There are plenty of chaplaincy posts available that provide an adequate salary. Any decent medium sized parish can easily support a married man and his family. Catholics should get over the idea that their priests work for $5,000.00 a year. If a married man were to get the benefits in kind that most parish priests receive (house, insurance, expenses, food allowance, utilities etc) plus a rewarding job for life, many men (from a purely practical view) would jump at the chance. However, the married man and his wife and family must be prepared to live the life of faith filled poverty if need be, and many married men and their wives are prepared to do just that in order to serve the church. The support of the married clergy is simply a practical problem to be solved, and it is just as easily solved as finding a salary for any lay person as we do in our parishes, our schools, our diocesan offices etc.

There is a complication which many who are in favor of married priests do not think of: While it may be possible to support married men with families, if they are living according to church teaching and are young and fertile this might mean many children. It is possible to afford married clergy and they can find the time to be priests too, but what if they have a dozen children? I believe it is still possible, but the larger the family, the more the questions of affordability and division of vocation and time availability become an issue.

A third red herring: Celibacy is mandatory because sex is dirty. This is alien to Catholic teaching. Marriage is sacred and so is the marriage bed. Yes, you can find some witnesses from the early church who teach that the marriage act defiles the priest, but just because it is primitive doesn't mean it is correct. Support for both married and celibate clergy is found in the primitive tradition. The primitive tradition is considered in the light of the whole teaching of the church on marriage and sexuality.

A fourth red herring: married priests make better pastors because they have a wife and children. They understand the stresses and strains of marriage and parenting and so they understand most people's situation better. This assumes that the man is a good husband and father. I can assure you from my experience as a Protestant that this is by no means the case. When clergy marriages hit the rocks they hit hard. There are all sorts of difficulties and levels of complexity that most marriages never have to face. Just as there are celibate priests who fail to live up to their vow, there are married clergy who have disastrous marriages and are terrible fathers. Likewise, there are many celibate men who understand marriage and family life perfectly well. Remember, they were brought up in a family. They're not stupid, and as C.S.Lewis said, "The referee can see the game better than the players." A wise celibate priest can offer advice and direction to married couples and families.

A fifth red herring: Marriage will solve the priest child abuse problem. This assumes that all celibates are frustrated sexually and are secret perverts while married men are all well adjusted, sexually mature and satisfied men. It doesn't take an Einstein to figure this one out. Again, common sense prevails. Some celibate men are sexually immature, perverted and twisted. So are some married men. Likewise, many celibate men are confident, content and fulfilled within their vow just as many married men are. Celibacy actually pre-empts a whole range of nightmarish problems for the clergy: divorce and re-marriage, homosexual unions, support of divorced clergy wives and children, mixed marriages etc.

So what is my position and why? Simply this: I support the present discipline of the church. It is a discipline not a dogma. It could be changed tomorrow. It could be changed in any number of ways: the Eastern discipline could be adopted. Married older men could be invited to apply for ordination. Men who were laicized to be married could be invited back into active ministry. I can see practical advantages to both positions, but whatever happens it is not for me to say. Therefore, I support the present discipline of the church.

Read it all here.

Peter and a Eucharistic Ecclesiology

I am terribly tired at the moment as the new job has many new demands on my mind and time as I think about how best to serve the school community where I am now working as a chaplain for the next year. I feel bad about not having much time to write here lately but I will try to do better in the very near future.

There have been a number of deeper reflections over the past five and half months as I have made my journey out of Anglican priesthood to full communion with the Catholic Church. One of the issues that I have been thinking about due to my deeper understanding of real communio is how we look at the Church eucharistically. What do I mean by that? First of all, I believe it is the basic understanding that the apostle is not the bishop of a community but rather a missionary for the whole Church. Now that statement begs all sorts of issues for my Reformed Protestant friends and Anglo-Catholic ones as well. I am afraid that an ecclesial understanding of apostle cuts to the core of the problem of ecclesial communities building false assurances of catholicity based upon the 'ownership' of their own leaders. The Holy Father spells this out quite lucidly in his book Called To Communion. Give these words some thoughts!

He [the apostle] expresses in his person the universal Church; he is her representative, and no local Church can claim him for herself alone. Paul carried out this function of unity by means of his letters and a network of messengers. These letters are an exercise of his catholic ministry of unity, which can be accounted for only by the apostle's authority in the Church universal. If one considers the lists of salutations in the epistles, one can further observe how mobile ancient society was; we meet Paul's friends now here, now there. For them being Christian meant belonging to a developing divine convocation that was one and the same wherever they found it....The Church cannot become a static juxtaposition of essentially self-sufficient local Churches. The Church must remain 'apostolic', that is to say, the dynamism of unity must also mold her structure. The epithet 'successor of the apostles' removes the bishop beyond the purely local and makes it his responsibility to ensure that the two dimensions of communio--the vertical and the horizontal--remain undivided.

Catholic Authority: A Living Voice and the Holy Spirit

Being Catholic is much more than merely liking Catholic things like liturgy, sacraments, sacramentals, vestments etc. What is required to be Catholic is to have the living voice of authority and the gift of the Spirit in the Magisterium of the Church where differences can be decided. I know of only one Church where that has, is, and will happen--the Catholic Church. In order to have communio that is Catholic we must have union with the Church where this fundamental authority resides. The cafeteria approach to Catholicism may be the most fun to eat as one picks and chooses but it is not always the most nutritious as my mother used to tell me. She frequently reminded me as a young boy that you can't live off of pudding and jelly. Here is Father Barron.

Matthew Raising Money for Pilgrimage to Rome

My son Matthew is working to raise support for a pilgrimage to Rome with his school St. Leonard's RC Comprehensive in Durham. This pilgrimage is to take place from 13 February 2010 - 19 February 2010. This pilgrimage is for sixth form students. Matthew has gained a very keen interest in philosophy and ethics and on his A-level exam in ethics received a really well-deserved A paper. He thinks something in the area of philosophy and ethics will be his avenue of study in university. He is also reading Sociology, Psychology and English Lit. Matthew will be looking to wash cars and do odd jobs when he has the time between his studies to help raise money for his pilgrimage. I thought I would put a blog piece here for friends and family who would like to help Matthew make this trip possible.

The cost of the pilgrimage is £520.00 (which is about $820.00 by today's currency trading). This cost is for the room and half board. If you would like to donate you can do so to my paypal account and put in the subject line for Rome and Matthew will acknowledge all gifts of support. If there is a surplus, I will make sure to make an announcement to stop sending that he has raised the money to go. Do pray for Matthew as he is a special young man who has a vibrant faith and is a virtuous young man.

New Archbishop of Birmingham Official Now

Bishop Longley was named the ninth Archbishop of Birmingham today. He succeeds the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols (2000-2009).

On learning of the Papal announcement, the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols said: “I welcome the news of the appointment of Bishop Bernard Longley as Archbishop of Birmingham. I am confident that he will be warmly welcomed, right across the Archdiocese: in Stoke on Trent, Stafford, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Birmingham, Worcester and Oxford. The clergy, religious and laity of the Archdiocese will appreciate the qualities he brings: his gentleness and sensitivity; his firmness and intelligence; his profound and joyful faith; his willingness to listen.

“I am sure, too, that Bishop Bernard will grow to love this fine Archdiocese, just as I did.“

The Diocesan Administrator for the Birmingham Archdiocese, Bishop William Kenney, CP, said: “I am delighted to hear that Bishop Bernard Longley is to become the new Archbishop of Birmingham. I am sure that the Auxiliary Bishops, Priests, Deacons and the Lay people of the Archdiocese will make him feel very welcome in the Midlands. We look forward to Bishop Bernard becoming a follower in the footsteps of Bishop Ullathorne, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham and to his taking a lead in the preparations for the Beatification of Cardinal Newman.“

Bishop Longley was ordained as a priest and later as a bishop by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor. About the appointment, the Cardinal said: "I had the privilege of ordaining Bishop Bernard as a priest in 1981 and later as a bishop in 2003. Bishop Bernard has been an exceptionally good priest and bishop, exhibiting at all times those Christian qualities of kindness and compassion in his ministry. The priests and people of the Archdiocese of Birmingham should rejoice and be glad in welcoming their new Archbishop who will, I know, prove a most generous and caring shepherd.”

After receiving news of his appointment, Bishop Bernard Longley said: “I feel immensely honoured and very humbled that the Holy Father has appointed me to succeed Archbishop Vincent Nichols as Archbishop of Birmingham. I look forward to serving the Priests and Deacons, the Religious and all the People of the Archdiocese and to working alongside my brother Bishops there. I also look forward to knowing and appreciating the life of the Diocese and the many ways in which it reaches out with the love and truth of Christ, in its parish and school communities and through ecumenical and inter-religious friendships. I am grateful to Bishop William Kenney for his faithful service as Diocesan Administrator over recent months and for the welcome that he has already shown to me.

Read it all here.