Catholic bishops in England and Wales expect that their country's new
jurisdiction for former Anglicans will be formally established in a
Vatican decree by Jan. 15, the same day that three onetime Anglican
bishops will receive their ordination as Catholic priests.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols will ordain John Broadhurst, Andrew
Burnham and Keith Newton to the priesthood in a ceremony at Westminster
Cathedral.
Together with two other departing Anglican bishops, they had
announced on Nov. 8, 2010 that they would be leaving that denomination
to join the Catholic Church, which they did formally on Jan. 1.
The three men will serve as priests in the Ordinariate for England
and Wales, the first structure of its kind to be established under norms
provided by Pope Benedict XVI.
Their ordinations are proceeding quickly
so that they can minister to their congregations continuously, without
the long lapse in time that a separate program of formation would
require.
Edwin Barnes and David Silk, two retired former Anglican bishops, are
also training to become priests in the English and Welsh Ordinariate,
and will most likely be ordained at a later date.
“The establishment of the ordinariate is something new,” commented
Fr. Marcus Stock, General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference
of England and Wales, reflecting Jan. 11 on what he called a novel
development “not just in the life of the Catholic Church in England and
Wales but in the universal Church as well.”
The ordinariate is a jurisdiction within the Roman Catholic Church,
in which former Anglicans will preserve many of their distinct
liturgical and spiritual traditions while adhering fully to Catholic
teaching and authority.
Controversies within the Anglican Communion, including female
ordination and widespread acceptance of homosexuality, prompted some
groups of Anglicans to petition the Holy See for a means of uniting
collectively with the Catholic Church.
In November 2009, the Pope's
Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus” outlined the provisions
of corporate reunion for Anglican groups.
Fr. Stock said it was especially important, during the first phases
of the English and Welsh Ordinariate, “that our welcome is warm and our
support is strong” for its new clergy and faithful. He encouraged
Catholics in the U.K. and around the world to pray for Anglicans who are
seeking to discern their future course, as well as those now preparing
to enter the Catholic Church.
The ordinariates are similar to dioceses, although they can be led by
either a bishop or a priest. However, members of the Ordinariate for
England and Wales will remain under the jurisdiction of its leader
(known as the “ordinary”), even if they reside in another English or
Welsh bishop's canonical territory.
The local ordinary, whether he is a bishop or a priest, will
participate as a member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England
and Wales.
He will also have responsibility for implementing any
pertinent decisions of the conference within his ordinariate, as a
bishop would within his diocese.
The ordinaries will also visit Rome
every five years to confer with the Pope, as diocesan bishops do.
Although a married Anglican bishop may leave that position to become a
Catholic priest, only those Anglicans who are unmarried will be
considered for consecration as bishops if they leave the Anglican
Communion to join an ordinariate.
One of the most distinct features of the ordinariate communities will
be in their liturgical practices.
Although the communities are not
defined primarily by their liturgical usages, in the way that the
Eastern Catholic churches are, the ordinariate parishes will maintain
many of the Anglican liturgical rites after some degree of adaptation
and approval by the Holy See.
Any eligible Catholic throughout the world will be able to attend and
receive the sacraments in these communities, as in any other Roman
Catholic or Eastern Catholic church.
On March 9, 2011 – when Lent begins, with Ash Wednesday – several more
Anglican groups of clergy and faithful will enroll to join the
Ordinariate for England and Wales.
They will most likely enter fully
into the Catholic Church during Holy Week of 2011, pending an agreement
between the head of the ordinariate and local diocesan bishops.
Around the time of Pentecost, a number of additional former Anglican
clergy who have joined the English and Welsh Ordinariate will be
ordained as priests, pending the approval of the Vatican's Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith.
SIC: CNA/UK