Posted on 10/22/2009 6:55:23 AM PDT by NYer
The villages of the ancient parishes of Broughton, Marton and Thornton nestle in a corner of North Yorkshire that is perilously close to the Lancashire border. And even closer to Rome.
For the rector, the Rev Canon Nicholas Turner, editor of the traditionalist magazine New Directions, the Pope’s decree was the fulfilment of a long-held dream. But he must now decide whether to be reordained as a Roman Catholic priest. And if he does, what will happen to the churches and his parishioners?
To visit the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Thornton is to enter a Norman building that gives every appearance of being Catholic already. There is a statue of the Madonna and Child. There are candles and incense. Father Nicholas celebrates Mass, occasionally in Latin, hears confession and grants absolution.
The three parishes in the united benefice voted in the 1990s for resolutions granting them distance from the Bradford Diocese. Now the three parochial church councils may face a further vote: whether to join their priest and defect en masse to Rome, albeit a version of Roman Catholicism that would allow them to maintain much of their Anglican identity.
If it came to that, though, a hurdle would remain. Their three churches would still belong to the Church of England; unless a deal were reached, where would the new Catholics worship? In Father Nicholas’s ideal world, one church would pass into the control of the Anglican Catholics while the other two remained with the Church of England.
His world is not ideal, however, because his wife, Canon Ann Turner, is the local deacon and the Roman Catholic Church does not accept female deacons. Some tough decisions lie ahead.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
The same is especially true with the Ukrainian Catholic Church that went underground for all that time. From time to time EWTN shows documentary filmfootage of that period. You see these catholics running from their churches grasping icons, sacramentals, etc. while the wrecking ball is already swinging towards the steeples. Many priests were martyred for their faith while others were forced to convert to the Orthodox church. Today, the Ukrainian Church is blossoming, in Russia. The seminaries are packed to overflowing with many on waiting lists. The survivors of that horrific period, recount the most amazing stories of how they would hide a priest in their home until dark when they could celebrate Mass on whatever table they could find. The film is not available for purchase, though.
You are absolutely correct. I have a feeling that, at least in America, Catholics who are fed-up with modernism will be far more inclined to consider the Anglican Use Rite than they would with one of the Eastern Rites.
While not wishing to minimize the really heart-wrenching decisions any potential converts from Canterbury to Rome would have to make, I must say this:
My friend, a married man whose wife and (at the time) five (later six!) children were involved with him in his momentous decision, was one of the first Episcopal priests to become a Roman Catholic back in 1981 or early 1982 . . . he made the move BEFORE the Pastoral Provision had been announced, when such a conversion almost certainly meant life and employment as a layman . . .
NOTHING could hold him back, so ABSOLUTE was the conviction that THIS must be done and MUST be done NOW: that it was God’s will.
Since then, several other friends and acquaintances have “Poped” - they say, “Once you know that God wills this, EVERYTHING ELSE - the question of Orders, Marian dogmas, buildings and locations - EVERYTHING ELSE matters not at all.”
I have no doubt that it will be so also for many of these Anglican clergy now.
Absolutely true.
And if you had read my comment in context, you would have seen that I was responding to the question, “why haven’t they converted before?”
God bless him! I have watched enough episodes of The Journey Home to appreciate just how difficult it was to make that decision. Here in the ("progressive") diocese of Albany, the ("conservative") Anglican bishop swam the Tiber 2 years ago and never looked back. No doubt we will be reading some very exciting stories of incoming Anglicans, over the next few months.
Pastoral Provision was announced in July of 1980.
Much to do about nothing?
You bet it much to do with eteranl life — and that’s not “nothing”; everlasting life IS important.
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