Ordination of married Anglicans

Thanks to Fr Mildew and Damian Thompson for drawing attention to the clarification issued today on the Vatican website. The language of the text makes it difficult to interpret.

What I think it means is:

• that the current practice of ordaining former anglican ministers who are married and who are found eligible for ordination in the Catholic Church will continue;
• celibacy is still to be the norm for laymen being ordained;
• but married men who are currently seminarians can be considered for ordination.

Hopefully the final text will be clearer.

CLARIFICATION BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE, FR. FEDERICO LOMBARDI, S.I., ON SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE CELIBACY ISSUE IN THE ANNOUNCED APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION REGARDING PERSONAL ORDINARIATES FOR ANGLICAN ENTERING INTO FULL COMMUNION WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH , 31.10.2009

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.

See also
Whispers in the Loggia
Kate

Altar Servers Trip to Rome

As mentioned earlier a group of altar servers and some of their parents went on a pilgrimage to Rome Tuesday to Thursday led by Father Stephen Boyle, the diocesan spiritual director of the Guild of St Stephen. The trip is kept at a budget price by spending just two nights but having three full days in Rome by taking the first easyJet flight out from Gatwick to Fiumicino on Tuesday morning and the last flight back on Wednesday night.

Day one consisted of a visit to the Vatican museums including the Sistine Chapel.

The group on the spiral staircase in the Vatican Museums.

This was followed by a visit to the Venerable English College for Mass celebrated by Fr Stephen. We were welcomed at the door by Southwark student Matthew O'Gorman. Following the Mass the rector, Mgr Nicholas Hudson who also is a priest of the Southwark Archdiocese, gave the youngsters a brief tour of the College, decribing the martyrdom of the priests who trained that the College during the reign of Elizabeth I only to return to Britain to face certain death. He recalled how, whenever news reached the College that another former-student priest had been martyred, the seminarians gathered to sing a Te Deum. He also said how a priest being executed would think of his brothers at the English College who would be singing the Te Deum when news of his martyrdom reached them.

Click on picture to see gruesome images of hanging, drawing and quaertering.

Mgr Hudson didn't fail to remind the youngsters that in the previous reign of Mary Tudor, protestants had been killed and that we must pray that Christians never do these things to one another again.

We were very pleased to meet some of our Southwark seminarians at the Venerable English College, including Luke dePoulford who is pictured below with Wonersh seminarian Samuel Davey and Fr Stephen.


Day two took us to St Peter's for the Wednesday audience with the Pope. We were the first of the English language groups to be mentioned.

Servers awaiting the arrival of Pope Benedict.

Following a brief shopping period and a welcome lunch, it was off to St Mary Major's for Mass celebrated by me and guided tour by Fr Stephen.

Following that, an evening visit to the Collosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona. Take-away pizzas, ice creams, milk shakes, smoothies etc. were consumed en route.


An amazing event took place at the Trevi Fountains. One of our party had lost his wallet with money and NHS health card. Although we thought there probably wouldn't be any point in re-tracing steps, assuming the wallet had been taken by a pick pocket, we nevertheless went back and found that the wallet had been handed to the police who were still on duty there. We met the young man who had handed the wallet in, extremely appreciative of his honesty and integrity.

The group at the Trevi fountain.

Day three saw us getting up very early for Mass in St Peter's Basilica celebrated by Fr Stephen on the altar of Blessed John XXIII. I suggested - tongue in cheek - that it would surely be most appropriate to celebrate the Mass using the Missal which Pope John left to the Church in 1962, but that suggestion was not taken up. In the basilica, however, many priests were obviously celebrating Mass in the extraordinary form.


The Mass was followed by a visit to the grottoes of the Popes. The group then went up the cupola for fine views of Rome, followed by a short period of prayer in the by now crowded Blessed Sacrament Chapel and a tour of the basilica.




We then had a visit to the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith courtesy of Mgr Patrick Burke (pictured left below) who took the group to the roof of the building for a close up view of St Peter's.




Then it was off to the catacombs of St Callistus and a slap-up lunch before returning to our hotel to collect luggage and transfer to the airport, and arrival back to London after 11pm. All tired, but having had a great trip.

Anglicanism has become a joke

It is not me who says this but a bishop of the Church of England: the Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham.

Having been away I'm catching up on further developments since the announcement of a Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans wishing to come into full communion with the Catholic Church.

You can find a fuller report at the Daily Telegraph where it is revealed that the Bishop of Chichester, Rt Rev. John Hind might be preparing to join Rome:

"This is a remarkable new step from the Vatican," he said. "At long last there are some choices for Catholics in the Church of England. I'd be happy to be reordained into the Catholic Church."

While the bishop stressed that this would depend on his previous ministry being recognised, he said that the divisions in the Anglican Communion could make it impossible to stay.

"How can the Church exist if bishops are not in full communion with each other," he said.

H/t to Kate.

Important note: recognition of ministry is not the same as recognition of Orders. I gather that, when a convert Anglican clergyman is ordained a Catholic priest, prayers are included giving thanks for the ministry previously exercised.

Cardinal Murphy O'Connor appointed to Congregations of Bishops and Evangelisaion of Peoples

Pope Benedict has appointed Cardinal Murphy O'Connor to the Congregation of Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples. According to the press release from the Catholic Communications Network, he will have an important role in selecting Bishops for the many dioceses around the world.

In his new role, Cardinal Cormac will be directly involved in the appointment of Bishops for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, as well for countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania.

The press release says that these appointments illustrate the enormous esteem in which the Holy Father holds the Cardinal.

In a mark of extraordinary esteem, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor to two important Vatican congregations that select bishops for most dioceses of the Latin-rite Catholic Church worldwide.

and

It is highly unusual for the pope to appoint a retired bishop or cardinal to such positions for the first time. That Pope Benedict has decided to name Cardinal Cormac to these two important posts is an indicator of the great respect and high esteem which he enjoys with both the pope and senior Vatican officials.

and

Pope Benedict has given him a role of great importance which will have an impact on the future of the Universal Church in many lands. It also takes him deep inside the corridors of power in the Vatican.

The Cardinal will hold these posts until he reaches his 80th birthday on 24th August 2012, unless the Holy Father's esteem is such that he asks him to remain in office.

Child Abuse: Bash the Catholic Church but respect 'religious sensitivies' of other religious groups

This from Zenit.

New York Busy With "National Pastime"
Archbishop Dolan Laments Anti-Catholicism on His Blog
NEW YORK, OCT. 29, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Baseball is not America's only pastime, according to the archbishop of New York. Anti-Catholicism is another, and it's as prevalent as ever.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan reflected on anti-Catholicism in a post on his blog today, offering his readers an article that was rejected by the New York Times.

He contended that it "is not hyperbole to call prejudice against the Catholic Church a national pastime."

"Scholars such as Arthur Schlesinger Sr. referred to it as 'the deepest bias in the history of the American people.' [...] 'The anti-semitism of the left,' is how Paul Viereck reads it, and Professor Philip Jenkins sub-titles his book on the topic 'the last acceptable prejudice,'" the archbishop noted.

Making the news

He then cited four articles appearing in just over two weeks in the New York Times.

The archbishop wrote: "On Oct. 14, in the pages of the New York Times, reporter Paul Vitello exposed the sad extent of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. According to the article, there were 40 cases of such abuse in this tiny community last year alone.

"Yet the Times did not demand what it has called for incessantly when addressing the same kind of abuse by a tiny minority of priests: release of names of abusers, rollback of statute of limitations, external investigations, release of all records, and total transparency. Instead, an attorney is quoted urging law enforcement officials to recognize 'religious sensitivities,' and no criticism was offered of the DA’s office for allowing Orthodox rabbis to settle these cases 'internally.'

"Given the Catholic Church’s own recent horrible experience, I am hardly in any position to criticize our Orthodox Jewish neighbors, and have no wish to do so ... but I can criticize this kind of 'selective outrage.'"

"On Oct. 16," the archbishop continued, "Laurie Goodstein of the Times offered a front page, above-the-fold story on the sad episode of a Franciscan priest who had fathered a child. Even taking into account that the relationship with the mother was consensual and between two adults, and that the Franciscans have attempted to deal justly with the errant priest’s responsibilities to his son, this action is still sinful, scandalous and indefensible.

"However, one still has to wonder why a quarter-century old story of a sin by a priest is now suddenly more pressing and newsworthy than the war in Afghanistan, health care, and starvation-genocide in Sudan. No other cleric from religions other than Catholic ever seems to merit such attention."

Widespread

Archbishop Dolan clarified that anti-Catholicism is hardly limited to the pages of the New York Times.

"Unfortunately, abundant examples can be found in many different venues," he said.

The prelate went on to note inaccurate comments made by a Congressman regarding the Church's stance on health care reform, and a bill in the New York state legislature that will cost Catholic schools thousands of dollars.

"The Catholic Church is not above criticism. We Catholics do a fair amount of it ourselves. We welcome and expect it," Archbishop Dolan said. "All we ask is that such critique be fair, rational, and accurate, what we would expect for anybody. The suspicion and bias against the Church is a national pastime that should be 'rained out' for good." "I guess my own background in American history should caution me not to hold my breath," the prelate added. "Then again," he quipped, "yesterday was the Feast of St. Jude, the patron saint of impossible causes."

Full text of Archbishop Dolan's article.

Off to Rome tomorrow

with altar servers from various parishes of the diocese. Trip organised by my brother Father Stephen. It'll be a quick one: first flight out of Gatwick tomorrow, last flight back on Thursday. Your prayers for a good trip and the spiritual benefit of all concerned would be appreciated. Thanks!

Former Anglicans and Celibacy - good response on the Sunday programme

Unsurprisingly the Pope's latest provision for Catholic-minded Anglicans was featured on this morning's Sunday Programme. One of Roger Bolton's interviewees was Mgr Andrew Faley, assistant general secretary of the Bishop's Conference of England and Wales. Bolton tried to catch Mgr Faley out on the celibacy issue, but failed completely. Here's what was said (more or less):

Bolton: "You don’t have a choice as priest within the Roman Catholic Church"
Faley: "I did have choice. I made that choice when I was ordained."
Bolton: "Yes, when you were ordained. After you are ordained you no longer have a choice. Those who are coming over from the Church of England will continue to have a choice."
Faley: "They won’t still continue to have a choice because committed as they are within their vows of marriage to live that particular vocation to its fullness they have already made their choice and within that context the Church is recognising the richness of their ministry and that’s part of the invitation that the Holy Father has offered..."

I thought that was an excellent response.

You can listen here for a week. The above snippet occurs about 31 minutes into the programme.