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Rome or Canterbury? The Vatican’s new provision for ex-Anglicans
From Mr Tim Hind TIM HIND Synod member for Bath & Wells Plowmans Corner, The Square Westbury-sub-Mendip BA5 1HJ From the Bishop of Wakefield Sir, — The announcement of the Apostolic Constitution for Personal Ordinariates should not be allowed to overshadow the advances that have been made over the past generation in Anglican-Roman Catholic relations, or to distract us from our search for the visible unity of the one Church of Jesus Christ. As the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote, “The common heritage of the achievement of the ARCIC agreed statements, and in the IARCCUM principles for shared work and witness (in Growing Together in Unity and Mission, 2007) remain the solid ground both for our future co-operation as global communions, and our regional and local growth in common faith and witness.” In the global context, the Anglican Centre in Rome has worked to develop friendly and informed relationships between the two communions, facilitating conversations not only between the ecumenically committed, but also with Vatican departments less familiar with other traditions. My own work with the Liturgical Commission involves direct contact with the Roman Catholic Church (and the Methodist Church) through observers, and also through ecumenical scholarships and study of liturgy, which works across all boundaries, national and international. In my own diocese, as in others, relations with our Roman Catholic counterparts are warm and confident, and, indeed, I have been in contact with my Roman Catholic counterpart in this part of Yorkshire, since last week’s announcement, re-offering our continuing commitment. STEPHEN PLATTEN Chairman of the Anglican Centre in Rome Bishop’s Lodge, Woodthorpe Lane Wakefield WF2 6JL From Canon Robert Cotton Sir, — I submitted to the revision committee a proposal for a society model whereby those opposed to women bishops would belong to a society, embedded within the Church, outside diocesan structures, receiving oversight from a “sympathetic” bishop. Clearly the Pope has adopted this pattern quicker than the revision committee could. But this means that the question before Synod in February changes. No longer is there force in the argument that provision has to be made for those unable to accept women bishops; for that has now happened. So the simplest solution becomes a real possibility: a single-clause Measure, with a clear protocol agreed with the Roman Church about how Anglican priests who want to accept the Pope’s gracious offer can do so. Even if the revision committee cannot change direction in response to this quickly enough to amend their report before February, General Synod will know that the terms of this debate have shifted irrevocably. ROBERT COTTON 9 Eastgate Gardens Guildford, Surrey From Mr Peter Brown Sir, — I, for one, rejoice at the prospect of finally seeing the back of the traditionalists. Their going to join the Roman Catholic Church would be the best thing since the ordination of women. The Anglican Church will be all the better for their going. Thanks to their continual sniping and carping, the Anglican Church is being discredited daily. I am sure I am not alone when I say to these folk: “The door is open — please, just go!” PETER BROWN Binfield, Predannack, Mullion Cornwall TR12 7EZ From the Rt Revd Dr Colin Buchanan Sir, — Do I understand the Pope’s surprising offer to Anglicans to mean that those who have treasured Roman practices in an Anglican context will now have the chance to treasure Anglican practices in a Roman context? And is that actually tempting? COLIN BUCHANAN 21 The Drive, Alwoodley Leeds LS17 7QB From the Revd J. D. Wright Sir, — The Pope’s invitation to disaffected Anglican clergy to join the Roman Catholic Church has not been well thought out. As many such clergy already use the Roman rite, I doubt that they would want to use Anglican rites on joining the Roman Catholic Church. Also, I wonder how many of them wish to follow the Pope’s traditional teaching on homosexuality. J. D. WRIGHT St. Cuthman’s Vicarage Whitehawk, Brighton BN2 5HW From Mr Peter Bolton Sir, — So, everyone is happy. That which Catholics have been asking for is to be provided by the Holy Father; those who have fought long and hard for the episcopal ordination of women will get all that they have asked for with no conditions: equal bishops with equal authority. I just can’t help wondering how long those who are left will continue to balance on this three-legged stool that has had one leg kicked away. PETER BOLTON 46 Manor Road Weston-super-Mare BS23 2SU From the Revd Barbara Watson Hammond Sir, — It occurs to me that there have been other times in history when popes have invited or summoned the best of English men to leave all behind and defend the Catholic Faith — in the Crusades. They left behind their womenfolk, who successfully kept everything going — the kingdom, the castles, the farms, and the homesteads, etc. — until the survivors returned, and a new generation of goodly young men grew up to restore the balance in society. Will history repeat itself now for the Church of England? BARBARA WATSON HAMMOND 27 Maisemore Gardens Emsworth, Hants PO10 7JU From Canon Paul Oestreicher Sir, — Whatever the Pope’s intention, I pray that the law of unintended effect may operate. I pray that it may liberate the best Archbishop of Canterbury world Anglicanism can hope to have from the role of reluctant diplomat. I pray that Rowan Williams might now be set free to lead a Church, Catholic and reformed, in which women and men have equal dignity, and in which our lesbian and gay sisters and brothers are gladly embraced. PAUL OESTREICHER The Chaplaincy University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9RH From Sister Myra Poole SNDdeN Sir, — I am deeply ashamed and personally dissociate myself from the actions of Pope Benedict XVI, supported by the Archbishop of Westminster, the Rt Revd Vincent Nichols, over the proposal of Personal Ordinates for those Anglicans who convert to Rome on the question of women Bishops. I know I speak for many others as well. The papacy has shown scant courtesy to the members of its sister Church, and publicly insulted the Archbishop of Canterbury. The situation of women in the RC Church is dire, but in spite of that we have run Catholic Women’s Ordination for nearly 20 years, and with some considerable success. Many people may not know that Archbishop Nichols was the Church’s representative on the National Board of Catholic Women (NBCW) in the 1990s, and it was he who suggested the title of a booklet published by the NBWC, Do Not Be Afraid, on the position of women in Church and society. If only he had taken this title to heart, as many of us have done, women would now be in a much better position. The details of this proposal have yet to unfold; but I think this action could backfire badly on the reputation of the papacy and the RC Church, especially in England. The idea that this Pope is determined to work towards Christian unity is a myth. This proposal did not come from the Council for Christian Unity in Rome, who, I understand, were not in favour of this action, but from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by Cardinal Levada. The only unity Pope Benedict XVI and his advisers want is the unity with those who are “right-wingers”, to use a political term. If the Pope had to appear on the BBC’s Question Time, he would get an even worse reception than the British National Party leader. The question now for RCs who have a much greater understanding of what Church should and could be is openly to call these present actions of this papacy to account in the light and spirit of Vatican II. With others, I wait to see how this situation will unravel. MYRA POOLE Catholic Women’s Ordination 210 Compass House Smugglers Way, London SW18 From the Revd John Macpherson Sir, — Few of us would wish to deny disaffected C of E clergy the opportunity of joining the Roman Catholic Church, any more than we would seek to stand in the way of soccer players’ accepting a tempting offer to move to another club. Those clergy who go, however, will be expensive to replace. It is surely to be hoped that the Vatican will pay the Church Commissioners a substantial transfer fee to cover the cost of each departure. JOHN MACPHERSON Little Tanglewood, Markyate Herts AL3 8PZ From the Revd Paul Nicolson Sir, — When I was the Team Vicar in Turville, Buckinghamshire, I was approached by a Benedictine monk who supported the ordination of women and was considering marrying for the second time. His first wife died before he became a monk and a priest about 15 years ago. After a considerable interval, he was received into the Church of England by the Bishop of Oxford in St Mary’s, Turville, in the presence of his Roman Catholic and Anglican friends. He came in faith to us with nothing. He was excommunicated by the Church he was leaving. I believe the free transfer between our two Churches either way to be an act of faith in a personal journey, a sign of a unity yet to come; and it should be supported. But for a priest to move one way or the other and to expect the entire structure of pay, accommodation, and place of worship to move with him is in an entirely different category, falling short of a personal act of faith exploring the unknown and carrying no baggage. PAUL NICOLSON Chairman, Zacchaeus 2000 Trust 38 Ebury Street London SW1W 0LU From the Revd Robert Charles Sir, — The latest gesture of the Roman Catholic Church, offering a special facility to disaffected Anglicans, has come at a sensitive time for many of us who have little appetite for some of the proposed changes that threaten the traditional structures of our Church. Traditionalist bishops have said that they are considering the Roman option, a statement that I find alarming and premature. In effect, they are saying that they no longer believe their ministry as Anglican bishops to be Catholic in the sense that that word is understood within the Roman Communion. By accepting the need for ordination by a Roman prelate, they are in effect acknowledging that their Anglican orders are null and void, and that by so doing they are receiving something they did not possess previously. However Rome may attempt to acknowledge their Anglican ministry, the fact is that it will not be recognised as a priestly ministry in the Roman sense. I hope that bishops considering this course of action will immediately cease confirming and ordaining in the Church of England. To continue to do so is tantamount to saying to candidates that they are conferring upon them something they have come to believe to be deficient, while, for their part, they are about to seek the “real thing”. I would find it impossible to allow such a bishop to confirm people I had prepared for confirmation. ROBERT CHARLES The Vicarage Budleigh Salterton, Devon EX9 6AA From the Revd Patrick Davies Sir, — The Apostolic Constitution is a very creative and generous move. And, while it is hard to know what this means until we see the details, it does offer, for some of us, some hope. For many, including me, leaving the Church of England is something we never wanted or looked for, and pray we don’t have to. It does feel, however, that we are being increasingly marginalised within the Church of England. It seems that any provision that will allow us to remain in the Church of our birth is offered grudgingly. I respect those who, although supporters of women’s episcopacy, have striven to find a solution to this problem. But, as it was stated, a structural problem requires a structural solution, and no one has grasped that nettle yet. We Anglican Catholics who live and work and love the Church of England are left feeling isolated and uncertain; for, no matter how often we have asked to remain, to be offered structures that will allow us to thrive with dignity within our own Church, these have been ignored. Despite having achieved their goal of allowing female ordination to the episcopate, this was not enough for liberals. The attitude from the likes of WATCH, Affirming Catholicism, and Inclusive Church has only underlined the lack of love for those subscribing to an orthodox faith. Many lay people and priests feel they are an unwanted minority facing a bleak future on the outer fringes of the Church in which we were baptised and which taught us the faith that we hold dear. Isn’t it possible that even now, at this late hour, our own Church can show the same degree of love, imagination, and flexibility as the Pope has shown? I beg that the General Synod and the House of Bishops will offer a structural provision to allow us to remain in the Church of our birth and heritage. PATRICK DAVIES St Crispin’s Rectory, 2 Hart Road Fallowfield, Manchester M14 7LE From Mr Robin Saunders Sir, — In matters of religion, as St Bernard of Clairvaux put it, it is better to persuade than impose. The Church of England long ago lost the power to impose, and, whatever one may think of the Pope’s invitation to Anglicans, if it reveals that the C of E can no longer persuade many of its existing members that its message is worth while, then this will raise serious doubts about its capacity to evangelise the increasingly secular majority outside its current membership. The claim to be the Church for the whole nation will be shown to be a hollow one unless it moves fast to prevent such a loss and to restore the historic compromise, albeit in what may well be a radically new form. ROBIN SAUNDERS 29 Bedingfield Way, Lyminge Folkestone, Kent CT18 8JH From the Revd A. Pyke Sir, — The great Christian traditions could be likened to the tectonic plates that cover the earth’s surface. Periodically, the stresses along the fault lines build up sufficiently to trigger an earthquake resulting in a new alignment of the plates. This process is costly and painful to us, but necessary for a dynamic earth that is capable of renewing itself over time. The papal offer is, perhaps, one of those seismic moments. Anyone who is able to meet the conditions set out by the Holy Father by subscribing to the Roman doctrines that have historically divided us belongs there in the Roman rather than in the Anglican Church. Our respective spiritual journeys are taking us in opposite directions, and it will be to our mutual advantage if the stresses can be relieved. The manner of our separation is crucially important to both our futures. God will not bless either bitterness or triumphalism. I would like to see a service of valediction take place in which we can give thanks for the journey we have taken together up to this point, and commend each other to the grace of God in a spirit of love and generosity. If we are each being led by the Holy Spirit in this journey of faith, then our fellowship need not be broken, and we can look to God for his blessing as we move forward in obedience to his will as we understand it. Is it too much to hope that something like this could happen? ALAN PYKE 29 Stuart Court, High Street Leics LE8 0LR From the Revd Clive Kirk Sir, — Perhaps the Archbishop of Canterbury should issue an open invitation to all our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters, including priests and religious, who are unhappy about a lack of recognition for women, a celibate clergy, the position of other minority groups, and contraception to join the Anglican Communion and retain their rights in a similar fashion to the promises from Benedict XVI to those going in the other direction. Rome would gain by the loss of its “difficult” ones and we would retain a Catholic wing, perhaps even a stronger one. CLIVE KIRK The Rectory, Ockham Lane Ockham, Surrey GU23 6NP From the Revd Paul Ockford Sir, — As a retired Anglo-Catholic priest with 39 years’ experience, I have witnessed the Holy Spirit at work in many denominations. In pastors, both men and women, and in the laity. As God prospers and supports his work across the spectrum of Christianity, it seems that the further machinations of mere mortals in Rome are increasingly immaterial. PAUL OCKFORD 78 Wold Road, Pocklington York YO42 2QG |
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