Posted on 10/20/2009 7:53:46 AM PDT by Traianus
» 10/20/2009 16:11
VATICAN
Pope approves special rules and structures to welcome Anglican clergy, including married priests
Married clergymen and bishops will be ordained by the Catholic Church but will not be able to become ordinaries, this according to the forthcoming Apostolic Constitution approved by Benedict XVI. The purpose is to allow Anglicans to retain their traditions and liturgy, whilst professing fidelity to Rome.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Benedict XVI has decided to create a structure for Anglican clergy and groups who want to join the Catholic Church. The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution will provide for “Personal Ordinariates”, thus allowing “for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy.”
The ordination of Anglican priests in the Catholic Church is nothing new. In 1982, John Paul II had approved provisions whereby married Anglican clerics who wanted to become Catholic priests could perform their ministerial service.
Benedict XVI has decided to provide a framework for such a situation, this according to a Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church.
Personal Ordinariates “will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. 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 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.”
Ultimately, the papal document “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.”
This, according to the Note, is due to events that occurred since the Second Vatican Council, most notably the decision by some Anglican communions to ordain women and “openly homosexual clergy” and bless “homosexual partnerships.”
Following such experiences, in addition to decisions by individuals, “Sometimes there have been groups of Anglicans who have entered while preserving some ‘corporate’ structure. Examples of this include, the Anglican diocese of Amritsar in India, and some individual parishes in the United States which maintained an Anglican identity when entering the Catholic Church under a ‘pastoral provision’ adopted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope John Paul II in 1982.”
“We have been trying to meet the requests for full communion that have come to us from Anglicans in different parts of the world in recent years in a uniform and equitable way,” said Card William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“They have declared that they share the common Catholic faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and accept the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. For them, the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion,” he added.
The provision of this new structure, the Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said by way of conclusion, “is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.”
There already are hundreds of married former Episcoplaian priests in the RC church in the US.
A cousin was married by one, in the Church, and he brought his wife and kids to the reception. Fr. Frank and Sister Sophia even won the Lindy dance contest!
Actually, another article seemed to indicate that these groups would be permitted to continue to ordain married men (to the priesthood, not the episcopate), including those who had never been ordained as Anglican clergy. If true, this is a change from the current situation (but is similar to the discipline of the Byzantine Catholics).
You are wrong and you have mis-read this pronouncement. Eastern (Byzantine) Rite priests have always been free to marry as long as they take their wives before ordination. They cannot remarry if their spuse dies. The same has been true about Episcopalian preists for at least 15 years -- maybe longer. They can bring their wives with them and still hold the office of priest. No remarriage if the wife dies and no marriage at all after ordination. There are former Episcopal priests serving as Catholic Priest in parishes all over America.
Let's not worry about this 'change' because it is not really a change. Just an expansion as a previous poster stated.
One world religion, now forming up to the left.
” the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church”
Only by the peculiar interpretation of the Catholic theologians.
“Doesn’t this shift in policy seem more inspired by the demands of ‘man’ rather than the commandments of ‘God’?”
Your point is well taken. This institution will do anything to gain power. What God wants can be twisted and bent into their plans.
I love responses like yours. You seek to educate, not berate; and I apprecaite that. Thus, we are seeign a deviation in the discipine, not a change in a fundamental belief. Change in something as fundamental as Christianity bothers me; as I see it as a ‘slippery slope’; and once we accept this, there will always be a more controversial change coming along - that would have been rejected outright, if there wasn’t a gradual movement to begin with.
We have seen changes in traditional ‘Christian’ churches that would have been considered impossible just 10 years ago. I see this as ‘apostacy’; and that bothers me - the change of the church from the teachings of Jesus is inevitable; sudden changes seems to move things towards an event I hope I never hope to see in my lifetime. I would really rather not be around for the ‘End of Days’; if it’s all the same to you. It just doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun.
“The priesthood, like marriage, is a vocation.”
It’s not a Christian vocation. There are no grounds for it in the New Testament.
agreed. The one thing that brought me back to the Catholic church (former baptist here) was the absolute unwillingness to change ANY dogma,and I do mean any, in the last 2,000 years. They stand by the teachings of the church, whether popular or unpopular (remember the 60’s and the whole birth control issue? The catholic church ended up being the only one who stood against it in the end- mighty unpopular, but their teaching on the unitive and procreative nature of sex within marriage is a dogma as Jesus was explicit on these topics) same with abortion in all circumstances.
While many “catholics in name only- CINO’S” try to pick and choose, the teaching of the church remains constant.
I did not read anything about that. I'm thinking that they will merely follow precedent in that single men can be ordained, but never marry. Married priests can be ordained after required Catholic study, but never re-marry after their spouses die. And, as far as I know that is the policy in the Byzantine Rites. The candidate must marry before ordination or forego marriage afterwards.
That said, it has been more than 50 years since my Catholic convert classes.
I think the big difference here is the invitation from the Pope. Prior to this, an Anglican would have to go through a period of soul searching and application to have his case considered, although many have done so. Today, Benedict XVI is throwing open the doors to the Anglican faithful who are unhappy with the direction their church is moving. I think that it is wonderful!
Like it or lump it, it is what it is.
And we would all welcome you with open arms. (Personally, I would grieve to not have Alia with the package! Miss her a lot!)Continued prayers...
Why do you come to a thread like this and pick fights? Does it give you some kind of pleasure to rain on someone else's parade?
I miss her too! But I thank God for the belief that she can now intercede for me. Thank you for your prayers, AFTR. God bless you abundantly.
**Blushing**
Wrong. The office is called "elder" (Greek, presbyter) in Scripture. Any dictionary will explain to you that presbyter is where the English word "priest" comes from.
Nope. Former Episcopalian, current Roman Catholic here. No change in Catholic doctrine is involved (the state of marriage or non-marriage is a discipline, not a doctrine, and, as such, can be changed by the Pope at any time). And the "Anglican rite" has been modified to remove any elements that contradict Catholic doctrine.
That's also true, but the current discipline with ex-Anglicans (e.g., with the Pastoral provision) is that the only married men who can be ordained are former Anglican clergymen.
To summarize:
So ... what does "Thou art Rock, and upon this Rock I shall build my Church" mean?
Non-Catholic theologians jump through ludicrous hoops with this, insisting that Christ points at Peter for the first half of the statement, and then at Himself for the rest.
The natural, simple explanation is that Christ means that Peter will be the Rock upon which His Church is built. The peculiar interpretations of what is a very simple and powerful declaration all come from non-Catholic sources.
Anyway: this thread should be a celebration of the return of our sundered brethren. Welcome back guys!
The change is in extending part or all of that discipline to the Anglican communities considering reunion with Rome.
And there were certainly married priests in the West in the first millennium. Most of them were supposed to live continently with their wives.
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