Replies

There has been a long and often close relationship between
the Anglican and Catholic Churches. In many important areas
there remains a mutual recognition of the validity of key
doctrines, liturgies, and practices. And the Catholic
Church continues to hold and propagate the faith and moral
teachings as handed down by the Apostles.

In 1980 the Holy See, in response to requests from priests
and laity of the Episcopal Church who were seeking full
communion with the Catholic Church, created a Pastoral
Provision to provide them with special pastoral attention.

Three key areas were addresed in this document:
1 - Establishment of parishes for former Episcopalians
2 - Development of liturgies familiar to Anglicans
3 - Ordination of Episcopalian ministers as priests

The establishment of personal parishes in dioceses of the
United States was in response to the many requests of
former faithful of the Episcopal Church. Several have been
set up under this provision:

Our Lady of the Atonement Parish, San Antonio, TX
Our Lady of Walsingham Parish, Houston, TX
St. Mary the Virgin Parish, Arlington, TX
St. Thomas More Parish Fort Worth, TX
St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, Austin, TX
St. Anselm of Canterbury Catholic Mission, Corpus Christi, TX
St. Athanasius Congregation, Boston, MA
Church of the Good Shepherd Parish, Columbia, SC
Atlanta Area AU Catholic Laity, Dunwoody, GA
California AU Catholic Laity, St. Francis of Assisi Church, La Quinta, CA

They also retain certain liturgical elements proper to the
Anglican tradition. This Anglican Use liturgy uses the
Book of Common Prayer (with minor updates) for the Mass.
So there is no need to lose the liturgy Anglicans are
familiar with. This Mass is valid for all Catholics as well.

Under the Provision the ordination of married Episcopal
priests was made possible as well. Since 1983, close to 100
former Episcopal ministers have been ordained for priestly
ministry in Catholic dioceses of the United States.
(Yes, there are married priests in the Latin-rite church).

Resources for those interested in the Catholic faith:

Catholic Answers
www.catholic.com
A superb site for clearing away the myths propagated by too many.
Offers free on-line library that examines all the major issues,
free on-line archive of over 1,500 hours of radio/audio material,
plus magazines, books, pamphlets, tracts, videos, and more.

Coming Home Network
www.chnetwork.org
Provides fellowship, encouragement and support for Protestant
pastors and laymen who are somewhere along the journey or
have already been received into the Catholic Church.

Biblical Evidence for Catholicism
www.biblicalcatholic.com
Dave Armstrong's monster site. Eclectic, fun, exhaustingly
detailed, personal, moving, and more.

Resources for those interested in the Anglican Use rite:

Yahoo Discussion Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnglicanUse/

And our own Sockmonkey and B-Chan are Anglican Use converts.
They have generously made themselves available for answering
questions via FreepMail.

May the Word be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.