Bishop Daren Williams, leader of the Diocese of the West of the traditionalist Anglican Church in America, has called an extraordinary synod for July 1 at All Saint’s Anglican Church in Fountain Valley, the diocese’s cathedral parish, “to gather for prayer and discussion regarding the opportunity for the Diocese of the West to enter into communion with the Roman Catholic Church under the structure of a Personal Anglican Ordinariate.”On Nov. 11, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, “providing for personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church.”
“In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately,” says the opening paragraph of the apostolic constitution.
“The Apostolic See has responded favorably to such petitions. Indeed, the successor of Peter, mandated by the Lord Jesus to guarantee the unity of the episcopate and to preside over and safeguard the universal communion of all the Churches, could not fail to make available the means necessary to bring this holy desire to realization.”
The provisions of the apostolic constitution make it possible for disaffected Anglicans around the world to come into full communion with Rome, while at the same time preserving their liturgical and cultural traditions.
The Diocese of the West of the Anglican Church in America covers the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
In California, there are seven churches belonging to the Anglican Church in America and under the leadership of Bishop Williams: St. Peter’s in Auburn, St. Stephen’s in Fillmore, All Saints in Fountain Valley, St. Augustine of Canterbury in Hollister, St. Columba’s in Lancaster, St, Mark’s in Loomis, and St. Mary of the Angeles in Los Angeles.
Bishop Williams’ call for an extraordinary synod summons “Clergy in good standing, canonically resident herein” and “Lay Delegates of the congregations in union with this Diocese” to meet and discuss whether all or some of them wish to enter into full communion with Rome.
On March 3, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America of the Traditional Anglican Communion formally requested implementation of Anglicanorum Coetibus in the United States.
The synod called by Bishop Williams is the next step in a process that will be repeated in other dioceses of the Traditional Anglican Communion as they and their constituent parishes decide whether they want to become a part of a U.S. ordinariate established by the apostolic constitution placing them in full communion with Rome.
“Our first desire Is to follow our Lord's will for His Church,” says the Diocese of the West’s website.
“We are seeking full sacramental unity with the Roman Catholic Church, not absorption. We wish to safeguard the unique gifts and charisms we have developed during our 450-year separation, so that they can enrich the whole church. Expressed in different ways by our members, the potential loss of these gifts is our single biggest concern... Our determination to preserve those things which characterize us, and a clearly-stated similar intent expressed in the Apostolic Constitution, as well as in many Vatican statements issued during the last 50 years, make us confident that ‘united, but not absorbed’ will be the guiding principle of our relationship.”
The Traditional Anglican Communion has about half a million members in 44 different countries, but is not part of the Anglican Communion headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Traditional Anglican Communion functions under the leadership of its primate, Archbishop John Hepworth of Australia.
In an Oct. 20, 2009 statement issued from Rome, while in discussions with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith just before Anglicanorum Coetibus was formally issued by the pope, Archbishop Hepworth noted, “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,” said the archbishop.
“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.”
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