Posted on 10/25/2007 6:38:38 AM PDT by marshmallow
UP to 300 Irish Anglicans could soon be joining the Roman Catholic Church to the traditional hymn tune 'Faith of Our Fathers'.
A report in today's 'Irish Catholic' newspaper claims that three Church of Ireland parishes are Romeward-bound, and may soon be received by Pope Benedict into full communion with the Catholic Church.
This change of denominational allegiance is part of a long-standing doctrinal feud over the ordination of women.
All three parishes broke away from the mainstream Church of Ireland in 1991 after the House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland decided to start ordaining women, a move which they condemned as "a defiance of scripture and tradition."
Two of the parishes are in the North and one is in the Republic.
Newtownards in Co Down, Eskra, outside Omagh, in Co Tyrone, and Stradbally in Co Laois, are members of the so-called traditional rite within the Church of Ireland.
These traditionalist members, who do not have a national profile, were not listed in a separate box about religious identity in the recent census. But they say that they are true Anglicans.
In total, they claim to have 400,000 members belonging to the worldwide 78 million Anglican Communion. So their defection to Rome could have a dramatic effect.
Earlier this month, they sent a letter to the Vatican seeking "full, corporate, sacramental union" with the Catholic Church under the authority of the Pope.
While only a few hundred Anglicans in Ireland will be involved in converting to Rome, the move, if approved by the Vatican, will see 400,000 Anglicans worldwide admitted into the Catholic Church.
Last night, Michael Kelly, deputy editor of the 'Irish Catholic', said it was extremely rare for entire Anglican communities to seek corporate communion with the Catholic Church.
"But individual Anglicans frequently convert to Catholicism," he added.
Only last week Anita Henderson, wife of the Church of Ireland Bishop of Tuam, Killala and Achonry, was received into the Catholic Church at a private ceremony in the chapel of Catholic Bishop John Fleming, in Ballina, Co Mayo.
The prospect of three whole parishes shifting their loyalties -- and churches -- under the papal flag will come as a further shock to the Church of Ireland, which has been enjoying a growth in its membership, mainly of new immigrants but also of former Catholic priests.
A spokesman for the traditional rite based in Northern Ireland confirmed that a decision had been made "not to give interviews at this stage".
However, the spokesman did confirm that the members of the traditional rite of the Church of Ireland fervently hope to be received into "full communion with the See of Rome". The decision to petition Rome was made earlier this month at a plenary meeting of the international body known as the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), their umbrella organisation.
According to a statement: "The bishops and vicars, general unanimously, agreed to the text of a letter to the See of Rome seeking full, corporate, sacramental union.
"The letter was signed solemnly by all the college and entrusted to the primate and two bishops chosen by the college to be presented to the Holy See," the statement added.
A spokesman for the Australian-based Archbishop John Hepworth, primate of the worldwide traditionalist communion, said the letter was cordially received at the congregation for the doctrine of the faith in Rome.
Substitute Ireland ping!
Have a Guinness!
Rome . . . where my thoughts are strayin’ . . . Rome . . . where my music’s playin’ . . .
{sorry - I'm having a light pop morning)
Could this be the begining of the Anglicans making the trip home en masse?
Wait for me!
God be praised.
Would that their numbers increase geometrically so that all will come back to the Church.
This is really excellent! Irish people should be Roman Catholics.
So these Irish parishes are party to the much larger TAC proposal?
We're already well into that "en masse" movement I think--it's just been happening on an individual basis under the radar, with very few actual bodies/parishes coming over ala the Anglican Use parishes. The TAC merger may turn out to be the the high-water mark, because from what little I know, I don't think too many other Anglican bodies are as Rome-inclined as the TAC has been. The low-churchers and broad-churchers certainly won't make the trip.
However, I think it is true that if TAC comes in and is granted some sort of Apostolic administration or other arrangement that allows a distinct Anglican patrimony to exist under Rome's jurisdiction, that may inspire even more Anglo-Catholics to come in on an individual/parish basis, and perhaps some of the people that already came in (e.g. Al Kimel, Bishop Steenson) will gradually migrate over to that new structure.
That’s exactly what my pastor was saying yesterday; we were playing Irish music when he wandered into my RE class to get a cup of coffee. (We meet in the office kitchen.)
The reunion of the TAC under an appropriate juridical arrangement is what we are hoping and praying for down here in the Anglican Usage of the Roman Rite, I can assure you. The Anglican tradition, in its Anglo-Catholic variety, brings a lot of old Catholic material, especially the collects, back to the Church at this great time of true renewal of the Church in continuity with, not rupture from, her 2,000-year history and practice.
Welcome home!
Not likely. Some are swimming the Tiber, but there is not a mass exodus largely because the alternative jurisdictions being set up by conservative leaders are working out.
There will never be a reconciliation between Rome and the Anglicans, even after the liberals are kicked out of the Anglican Communion.
One can only hope and pray.
That's how it appears.
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Long-term rector of our parish was raised Roman Catholic, but became Anglican.
Indeed! I’ve been praying for it for months myself.
One thing that interests me is that I’ve been hearing the TAC uses the Knott Missal and isn’t crazy about the Anglican Use. I looked up the original Knott and found that it had some Sarum elements, but I’m not sure those are in it anymore. People have been telling me that the modern English Missal has no Sarum aspects to it. Which I think is a kind of shame. That *really* is the true patrimony of the English Church.
It’ll be interesting to see how this all works out though. I’m hungry for news of course, but I suppose we’ll all find out in good time. :)
Why? I'm an Irish Protestant(not C of I, BTW). My wish is that all Irish people would be devout Christians, of whatever denomination. The last few decades have seen a huge drop in active participation amongst all denominations, unfortunately.
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