Posted on 10/29/2009 10:34:26 AM PDT by NYer
The delay in publishing the apostolic constitution, which will allow large numbers of Anglicans to be received into the Catholic Church, is due not so much to translation problems as the more weighty issue of priestly celibacy.
According to two reliably informed Italian newspapers, Il Giornale and Il Foglio, canon lawyers are continuing to define what has been a particularly unclear aspect of the new provision: whether married Anglicans could train as seminarians.
Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale reports that over the last few days, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts has been working to clarify this point. He writes that “everything suggests” seminarians in these future Anglo-Catholic communities “will have to be celibate like all their colleagues in the Latin Catholic Church.”
Both papers also report the Holy Father would have preferred the publication of the apostolic constitution to have taken place at the same time as last week’s press conference, mainly to avoid any repeat of the mishandling of his decision to lift the excommunications on four bishops from the Society of St. Pius X earlier this year.
But as Cardinal William Levada had already informed the bishops of England and Wales and the Archbishop of Canterbury of the provision, and the date for their joint press conference in London had already been disclosed, it would have been impossible to keep the matter under wraps, Tornielli writes. The Vatican therefore decided to go ahead with the press conference, even though the precise canonical details of the constitution hadn’t yet been worked out.
Ping!
What I am wondering about is what exactly they mean by celibacy being required?
Does that indicate that all married pastors in the Anglican tradition will not be accepted into the body of the church?
That doesn't seem to make sense since we no that other pastors from the Anglican tradition have been granted a dispensation to be married when they decide to switch faiths, why then are they harping on celibacy now, is due to the fact that this would be such a large chunk of the Anglican faith that it would make it difficult to justify celibacy for the rest of their priests?
Married Catholic Priests: Why are Some Catholic Priests Married?.
My understanding is the the rules for married Anglican clergy will remain the same. This is about whether married Anglicans will be able to enter Catholic seminaries.
Could they go to Eastern-rite seminaries? There, they could have the experience and support of other married clergy. If not, I would still consider modeling their instruction alongside celibate clergy in the same way that has worked for Eastern-rite seminaries for some time.
That makes more sense, thanks.
I ‘d still like to see how they plan on handling a large world wide influx of Priests that are married, should make for some interesting theological discussions within the Catholic church.
I assume that is what’s being worked out.
Currently-married Anglican priests will generally be ordained as Catholic priests, every other requirement being met.
The question is whether any married men not currently ordained in the Anglican communion - like unordained but married seminarians - will be permitted to be ordained after reception into the Catholic Church.
I hope that makes it a little clearer.
sitetest
LOL. Wagglebee beat me to it with a much shorter post.
I do believe that married Anglicans may still not become Bishops. I am looking forward to see if they are required to subscribe to all beliefs and doctrines and Catholic dogma in the Catechism including use of the official Douay version of the Catholic Bible and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I cannot see how any such exemptions would be granted without tearing asunder Catholic teaching.
I don't think this is a major issue, traditional Anglicans have not had the major issues with these issues the way other Protestants have.
The fact still remains that nobody is forcing any Anglicans to join the Church, but if they want to there are guidelines that they must adhere to.
Doesn't this fly in the face of the Eastern Churches in communion with Rome whose clergy (bishops excluded) have the option to marry prior to receiving Holy Orders? or are the Anglicans being treated as "Latins" rather than as a separate (autonomous) Rite?
The personal ordinariates will be structures within the Latin Church.
I wonder whether one day they might become a separate sui juris Church, but that day isn't this day.
sitetest
My understanding is slightly different and comes from both a Western and Eastern Catholic experience, so I hope to address both questions. I believe this is intended to allow those priests already married to continue to serve; however, future seminarians would be required to adopt the celibate rule. This is the tradition in the west.
As for the question of entering eastern seminaries, that would entail applying to Rome for a canonical change of rite. For the most part, and I can only speak on behalf of the Maronite (Eastern) Catholic Church, the policy is to accept married men into seminary but only after a scrupulous examination of the married couple and their children. In the Maronite Church, married priests are not assigned to the diaspora and only serve in Lebanon. My Maronite pastor's grandfather was a married priest but he chose the celibate life. He is also bi-ritual, Maronite and Latin Rite. The Maronite Church respects the traditions of the west in assigning priests. There are other Eastern Catholic Churches that have married priests, even in the west. In all instances, though, the decision to serve as a priest must be made after marriage. Also, married priests may never be elevated to bishop.
You wrote:
“I am looking forward to see if they are required to subscribe to all beliefs and doctrines and Catholic dogma in the Catechism...”
TAC members already do. They all signed the Catechism to attest to that fact.
“...including use of the official Douay version of the Catholic Bible...”
What? The Church doesn’t use it as an official translation anymore. The NAB and RSV are essentially official editions.
“...and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
TAC already believe in it. It’s also in the Anglican Breviary for more than 50 years already so it can’t be a problem for those who take Anglican tradition seriously.
“I cannot see how any such exemptions would be granted without tearing asunder Catholic teaching.”
No such “exemptions” are necessary, nor will they be granted. I doubt many people would even ask for them.
Thanks for the response.
One of my interests is how annulment will be dealt with. How many TAC clergy are on there second marriage? The RC Church has been liberal in granting annulments to the laity, but 1 Timothy 3 will need to be addressed for clergy.
Oddly enough, instead of the laity, it may be a boon to the Anglican clergy that may now take advantage of the wide Roman annulment guidelines.
I thought Bp. Iker’s statement about second marriage laity was really strange and still do, but it got me to thinking about the Anglican clergy. That is: 1. RC laity wedding all done right, divorce and remarriage, big problem. 2. Anglican clergy: Anglican wedding all done right, divorce and remarriage, no problem. It wasn’t a RC wedding, so annulment is just a letter away.
In short, to NYer as well, the delay has a lot more on its plate than celibacy.
Not really. The Mozarabic Rite is a liturgical family permitted in (parts of?) Spain. It may be used by Spanish Latin Rite Catholics who are part of the ordinary hierarchy of the Church. The Mozarabic Rite is a little more analogous to the Anglican Use parishes, which are under the direct jurisdiction of the ordinary of the local territorial diocese.
Anglican Use parishes are just regular Latin Rite parishes that have permission to use an Anglicanized Catholic liturgy, and the priests are former priests of the Anglican Communion, but now priests incardinated in the local territorial diocese who answer to the ordinary of the local territorial diocese.
What the Apostolic Constitution offers is a separate hierarchy apart from, but within the Latin Church. The personal ordinariates will permit the erection of Roman Catholic parishes that are not under the immediate jurisdiction of the ordinary of the local territorial diocese. Rather, these parishes will be under the immediate jurisdiction of the ordinary (can be either a priest or a bishop) of the personal ordinariate. The priests will be incardinated in the personal ordinariate, and will be subject to the ordinary of the ordinariate, not to the bishop of the local territorial diocese.
They will have their own Anglican Catholic liturgy, of course, and will likely more heavily depend on Anglican music.
These ordinariates will also be able establish their own seminaries. They will be able to develop a Catholic theology and formation that incorporate uniquely Anglican attributes (Don't ask me what those might be - I'm told that they exist, but I just don't know enough to tell you what they are.).
Thus, there will be a separate hierarchical structure.
Nonetheless, it will be wholly within the Latin Church.
These structures have been compared to military ordinariates, which function in many ways as non-geographical dioceses.
They are a good distance from the Pastoral Provision that provided for the establishment of Anglican Use parishes within Roman Catholic territorial dioceses, but they aren't quite as far as the sui juris Churches.
I hope that made it a little clearer, and not muddier.
sitetest
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