Replies

If Anglican orders were "absolutely null and utterly void" 100 years ago, then how could Rome recongnize TAC orders as valid? The clergy who left for TAC were ordained by the same bishops as the clergy who stayed. Therefore, if those bishops and the clergy who stayed are invalid, then the initial TAC priests were invalid as well. Were all TAC clergy re-ordained by Polish bishops? What rite was used?

"If Anglican orders were "absolutely null and utterly void" 100 years ago, then how could Rome recongnize TAC orders as valid? The clergy who left for TAC were ordained by the same bishops as the clergy who stayed. Therefore, if those bishops and the clergy who stayed are invalid, then the initial TAC priests were invalid as well. Were all TAC clergy re-ordained by Polish bishops? What rite was used?"

My understanding is that it has been and would continue to be the policy of the church to require those religious of the Anglican tradition converting to be ordained by a Catholic bishop. I am not aware of any exceptions to this policy being granted in the last century or so. If anyone has knowledge of such exceptions I would be interested to read the particulars.

An interesting question is how solid is the decree regarding the validity of Anglican orders? It must be remembered that the church has always taught that Holy Orders along with Baptism and Confirmation are sacraments which may not be conferred more than once without sacrilege. In the case of Baptism the custom has been to use the formula for conditional Baptism if there is the slightest doubt about the convert having been validly baptized previously. Is there such a thing as conditional Holy Orders? If there is even a slight doubt about the validity of these orders how should one proceed?

If Anglican orders were "absolutely null and utterly void" 100 years ago, then how could Rome recongnize TAC orders as valid? The clergy who left for TAC were ordained by the same bishops as the clergy who stayed. Therefore, if those bishops and the clergy who stayed are invalid, then the initial TAC priests were invalid as well. Were all TAC clergy re-ordained by Polish bishops? What rite was used?

From the 1930's to the 1970's, Polish National Catholic Church Bishops in the US and Old Catholic Bishops in England were involved in many ECUSA and CofE episcopal consecrations with the explicit purpose of rectifying the false lineage of Matthew Parker. Therefore, in many cases the situation today is quite different than that in 1896.