The forthcoming establishment of an ordinariate for Australian
Anglicans wishing to enter the Catholic Church has ignited hope for
greater peace and unity, says Auxiliary Bishop Peter Elliott of
Melbourne.
Bishop Elliott, the Australian Catholic Bishops
Conference episcopal delegate for the ordinariate, and himself a former
Anglican, told ZENIT that there is a sense of enthusiasm and
anticipation among those who seek to join the ordinariate, as stipulated
in "Anglicanorum Coetibus."
The Australian Ordinariate
Implementation Committee was formed only last month. Next month, a
national gathering will take place for those interested in learning more
about it.
The hope was expressed that the ordinariate will be
established this year.
In this interview with ZENIT, Bishop
Elliott spoke about the challenges and hopes surrounding this
ordinariate, its impact on ecumenism, and how it can encourage all
Catholics to grow in their faith.
ZENIT: Could you tell us more about plans for the establishment of the new ordinariate in Australia?
Bishop Elliott: The plans are moving more slowly than in the United Kingdom. But the situation is more complex.
First there is the challenge of geography -- Australia is the same size as mainland United States.
We
have to bring together groups that are scattered, even isolated. As
episcopal delegate for the bishops' conference, my frequent flyer points
are rising fast!
Then, two somewhat diverse groups have to come
together: Some Anglican clergy and laity in the official Anglican Church
of Australia (ACA) and most members of the Anglican Catholic Church in
Australia (Traditional Anglican Communion: TAC). Both groups share an
Anglo-Catholic heritage, but their history is different.
One of the fruits of the ordinariate will be their coming together in one community.
ZENIT: How will the community of former Anglicans in Japan be included into this ordinariate?
Bishop Elliott: This possibility is only in its earliest stages, so I cannot provide more details.
ZENIT: What has the general environment been like among those who seek to be part of the ordinariate?
Bishop Elliott: There is a sense of enthusiasm and anticipation among these Australian Anglicans.
Over
the past 20 years they have suffered for their Catholic principles,
confronted and torn apart by serious doctrinal and moral issues.
In
this country, no pastoral provision was made for these good people in
the official Church.
They had to accept the new order or fend for
themselves. They are still unfairly labeled as "disaffected Anglicans."
At
the same time, those who set up independent Anglican dioceses and
parishes (TAC) suffered rejection and ridicule, and they have made great
sacrifices to follow their consciences.
In both circles, they are
coming to see that the Holy Father's generous offer means peace and
unity. They are diligently studying the Catechism of the Catholic Church
-- a good example to us all.
ZENIT: Could you say something about
the interreligious relations with the Anglican Church in Australia?
What kind of response have you heard from the Anglicans who have no
desire to become Catholics?
Bishop Elliott: On a broad level, relations between Catholics and Anglicans in Australia are good.
The ordinariate will not harm ecumenism.
Last
year I had the opportunity to address the official dialogue circles of
Anglicans and Catholics. When I explained the ordinariate there was a
friendly and gracious response. An interesting theological conversation
followed, but no negativity.
We need to make distinctions among
Anglicans who have no desire to become Catholics. The evangelicals have
sent messages of good will. They rightly see that all Anglo-Catholics
should return to unity with Rome.
Most liberal Anglicans seem
indifferent, knowing that the ordinariate will be small, at least
initially. One Anglican bishop expressed anger about the papal offer,
but he was promptly contradicted by an evangelical bishop.
Here we
detect the "elephant in the front room" in the world of Anglicanism,
the large numbers of evangelicals, particularly in Sydney and Nigeria,
but also elsewhere. What these committed Bible-believing Christians plan
to do is mysterious. After the ordinariates take shape, these
evangelicals may well determine the future of the Anglican Communion.
ZENIT: What does this mean for you personally as a former Anglican?
Bishop Elliott: I have a much stronger sense of what Blessed John Henry Newman called a "particular providence" in my own life.
My reception into the Church in Oxford back in 1968 makes more sense than ever.
My task now is to help Anglicans of the Catholic tradition to take the same path to unity and peace in Christ.
But
my episcopal motto is "Parare vias eius" -- To Prepare His Ways. Those
words from the Benedictus now have a deeper, more focused meaning for
me.
There is a touch of human sorrow too -- if only my dear
parents, Reverend Leslie Llewelyn Elliott and June Elliott, had lived to
see these days. Yet I know that now they are praying for the
ordinariates. There are no suburbs in Heaven.
SIC: Zenit/INT'L