Friday, July 12, 2013

Ordinariate

There were rumours that Pope Francis was not favourable to the project of the Anglican ordinariate on the basis of a remark he is said to have made when archbishop of Buenos Aires. Bishop Venables, Anglican bishop of Argentina reported:

He [Bergoglio] called me to have breakfast with him one morning and told me very clearly that the Ordinariate was quite unnecessary and that the Church needs us as Anglicans.

Now the Pope has turned his attention to the Ordinariate and made a change in their constitution so that people who have been baptised as Catholics but not been confirmed or made their first Communion can become members of the Anglican ordinariate. I dont know what to make of this. If he ordinariate is about preserving the valuable parts of the Anglican patrimony in the life of the Catholic Church how is this served by incorporating lapsed Catholics? On the other hand it is good to see the ordinariate being affirmed in their role and being entrusted with this mission to the lapsed.

I suppose we just have to wait to see how it pans out. I understand from our ordinariate parish at Gainford, near Darlington, that a number of the `normal` parishioners attend the ordinariate Mass. I know I would if I were them. Now he has turned his attention to the Anglican ordinariate will it be long before Pope Francis turns his attention to the Ecclesia Dei societies and what surprises might he have up his sleeve?

11 comments:

The Welkin said...

May I just point out, Father, that St Osmund's at Gainford is not an 'ordinariate parish', it remains a parish of the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle and Father Greives is a priest in residence and not the parish priest. Just to be pedantic and accurate!

Fr Michael Brown said...

Thanks Father. I understand this may be a sensitive matter but I did say it was the ordinariate parish AT Gainford not OF Gainford and I did refer to `normal` parishioners. I hope the regular parish are generous in welcoming the ordinariate into their midst and make them feel welcome.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Is the problemin referring to the ordinaraite group as a parish? Would they not be considered a a parish within the ordinariate and Fr Grieves enjoy the rights of a pp for his own people? Does he need delegation to marry ordinariate people? Interesting question but from what I understand without looking it up as an ordinariate group they are not dependent on the diocese for delegation.

Et Expecto said...

As I understand it, no formal parishes have yet been established within the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. For the time being, they are being described as groups. I think that the degree to which most Ordinariate groups are bound up with diocesan parishes would make this a little difficult.

Fr Michael Brown said...

This appears to be the relevant text.
VIII. § 1. The Ordinary, according to the norm of law, after having heard the opinion of the Diocesan Bishop of the place, may erect, with the consent of the Holy See, personal parishes for the faithful who belong to the Ordinariate.

§ 2. Pastors of the Ordinariate enjoy all the rights and are held to all the obligations established in the Code of Canon Law and, in cases established by the Complementary Norms, such rights and obligations are to be exercised in mutual pastoral assistance together with the pastors of the local Diocese where the personal parish of the Ordinariate has been established.

So no parishes have been established yet? I wonder why not?

Fr James Bradley said...

No parishes have been established because it would require a level of stability which no group currently meets (i.e. church, presbytery, self-funding, etc). We'll get there, but it will take time. Some groups have identified as self-funding, but this is strictly only true if the church and house are in the ownership of the Ordinariate - otherwise they are funded by the diocesan parish in which the group resides. Brick by brick.

On the other point in your post: if a person who has not completed the full cycle of initiation lapses, and is brought back to faith through the work of the Ordinariate, then that presumes some level of contact with the liturgical, spiritual, and pastoral traditions enshrined in the Apostolic Constitution and part of the life of the Ordinariate. Thus, for a 'cradle Catholic' in those circumstances, the Anglican patrimony of the Ordinariate will have been formational, just as for a former Anglican. It seems far to recognise that by allowing them to enrol into the jurisdiction.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Thanks for the clarification Father.

Fr Michael Brown said...

So what is he canonical status of ordniariate priests who look after an ordinariate group? Are they then chaplains according to canon 564?

Scott said...

I can see how this change in regulations might work in my family's situation. We belong to the Ordinariate in Canada. Our liturgy is very traditional. My 21 year old daughter is much less accepting of the typical celebration of the N O mass than I am. She has many friends who were baptised just because Granny wanted it. She could try to evangelize them by inviting them to Ordinariate masses and events. Because it is a very counter cultural thing for young people to become Catholics, they seem to want a liturgy that stands apart from the secular realm. Our mass fits the bill.

Fr Michael Brown said...

Robert wrote (but I accidentally deleted the comment but recovered it here):

One Anglican bishop in the Ordinariate has used the analogy of two shards left from the break of the RC church at the reformation: the Anglo-Catholic tradition in its various guises in history and the recusant tradition. According to Aidan Nichols, these have been brought together in the Ordinariate. Pope Benedict was quite Anglican in his approach. When I read him and his mentor, de Lubac- I think" this is what I have always believed. An English Christianity is no superior to any other, but it is still a valid expression! Some of us , perhaps, have been members of the Ordinariate long before it was established.

Robert said...

Thank you, Father. The Ordinariate also reflects what Pope Benedict aimed for in Liturgy- the reform of the Reform. Go to Warwick St, or the mass of the Oxford Ordinariate, and you will see what I mean.