The rumours of an impending reunion of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) with the Roman Catholic Church are unfounded, the primate of TAC reports.In an interview published on Feb 25 in The Messenger Journal, TAC Archbishop John Hepworth said that no formal reply had been made by the Vatican in response to its request for corporate reunion.
On Jan 28, The Record, a weekly Roman Catholic newspaper in Australia, reported that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) had recommended that TAC be “accorded a personal prelature akin to Opus Dei” by Easter.
It reported that the CDF decided not to create a “uniate” Anglican rite, but create an ecclesial entity outside the Roman Catholic diocesan system with its own clergy and membership. A member of the CDF has disputed the claim, telling an American Catholic newspaper he was unaware of any decision on the matter.
TAC has “taken the advice of those with whom we have been meeting, and not sought any particular structure,” Archbishop Hepworth said, and it understands that “no existing canonical structure might prove appropriate.” However he hoped the Vatican would be “open to new forms of community within the Church.”
“When there is a reply,” from the Vatican, the archbishop said, it would be presented to “a full meeting of our College of Bishops, and to formal meetings of each of the general synods.”
A ‘continuing’ Anglican church not in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, TAC has approximately 300,000 members spread across the globe.
While most of its clergy hold only a licence from TAC, some hold dual licences and serve as clergy in both the Anglican Communion and TAC.
Australian TAC Bishop David Chislett of Brisbane told The Church of England Newspaper that while he is a TAC bishop, he holds a licence from the Anglican Church of Australia’s Diocese of The Murray. “I have concelebrated down there (mitred) with the bishop a few times, and I have represented him twice at parish functions in his Diocese,” Bishop Chislett said.
“I have a ministry on both sides of the ‘dotted line’ separating orthodox Anglican Catholics ‘just inside’ and ‘just outside’ the Anglican Church of Australia, a ministry that is affirmed by many of my evangelical friends,” he said.
“Those other TAC bishops and clergy with ‘dual citizenship’,” he said were “pleased to have that diverse ministry.” However, the ‘dual citizenship’ would “need to be reviewed if and when the Holy See responds” to TAC’s request for corporate reunion.
“But I suspect that they will be working with some of our English FiF friends over the same issues,” Bishop Chislett observed.
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(Source: RI)