John Allen Interviews Fr Mark Woodruff for the National Catholic Reporter

This interview with our priest-director forms part of the blog, All Things Cahtholic, of the distinguished journalist senior correspondent of the American National Catholic Reporter, and is found here, starting about half-way down the page.

John Allen writes:
While I was in London recently, I had the chance to speak with several people about the new “Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham,” a structure provided for by Pope Benedict XVI two years ago to welcome groups of Anglican clergy and laity into the Catholic fold, which is now a going concern in the U.K.

The ordinariate currently numbers roughly 900 laity and 60 clergy, including some newly minted Catholic priests who had already retired from Anglican ministry at 70.

One of the more interesting conversations came with Fr Mark Woodruff, a former Anglican who entered the Catholic church long before the ordinariate, but who has served as an advisor for some of its groups. A veteran ecumenist and a deeply thoughtful soul, Woodruff sketched some of the promise, and the challenges, facing the new venture. Woodruff not only took the time to answer my questions in person, but he also fleshed out his thinking in e-mail correspondence. The following are excerpts from our exchange.

What does the ordinariate mean?
I think it’s genuinely an attempt to signal that in the universal church, which we believe subsists in the Catholic Church, there is endless space, with the possibility of embracing Christian tradition in its entirety and its integrity. … This is an immense affirmation of Anglicanism and its riches. It’s possible for them to be in communion, united not absorbed tout court. Furthermore, we as a Catholic Church can to some extent internalise Anglican tradition and make it our own. This is an immensely valuable tool ecumenically that we have not had before. It’s not about poaching, it is about internalising in the Catholic Church what already belongs to it, the ultimate dimension being the visible unity of the whole of Christ’s body.

What’s the background to the ordinariate?
The practical shape and detailing of it has been under discussion for twenty years or more. There were negotiations for something along these lines in the late 1980s. A grouping called the Congregation for the English Mission was involved in discussions with Cardinal [Basil] Hume when there was a crisis for Catholic-minded Anglicans and papalist Anglicans in those days.

At that time, the Catholic bishops here didn’t want a multiplication of jurisdictions. They wanted an integrated diocesan structure. The effect was that, when there was an influx of Anglicans in large numbers in the early 1990s — since that time we’ve had about 500 priests in England and Wales who have come from the Anglican tradition — it broke up relationships, traditions and shared outlooks, as people made their own way. They did so in great number, but you lost that esprit de corps.

What did that say about what we really thought of ecumenical reconciliation? Our message was that, to be in communion with the Catholic Church, you had to relinquish your old life together and simply ‘convert’ to Roman Catholicism. As we lost sight of the principle of corporate reunion, we also lost sight of our own principle that the church is a community of communities. That communion has not been broken up this time around. You’ve got some kind of ecclesial, Eucharistic, corporate identity, and that’s something to build on.

There are 900 laity and 60 clergy in the ordinariate. Ten years from now, what will those numbers be?
Partly, it depends on finding resources and buildings from which the Ordinariate parishes can conduct their mission. Perhaps there will be some sharing with other denominations, or existing Catholic parishes. A big concern is how to pay the clergy too, not least those with families. There are hospital, school, and prison chaplaincies that can help with this, and some have arranged to take secular employment, as permitted by the norms.

The liturgical rite is being developed and hopefully will be in use early next year. In my view, it’s a risk not to have it ready now, as inevitably people may drift from their groups into the parishes where they are now getting accustomed to church life. But when it is in use, there is no reason why it shouldn’t be a draw to other Christians who want to be built up in this way. Other Catholics will be free to attend and take part and, it may even be that, with this rite as normative, the Ordinariate will be among the most enduring manifestations of the Anglican tradition in this culture and country.
I believe that God has not gone to all these lengths for something that is merely transitional.

Is it an open question how large the ordinariate may become?
I happen to think that if the ordinariate project gets its liturgical life together, and it maintains a distinctive Anglican theological and spiritual tradition, it will be a great addition to the Catholic church in this country. It will embody something to which people will respond. It will have classic Anglican liturgy, it will express Catholic faith in a classic Anglican way, and it won’t have the sort of dichotomy within itself between orthodoxy and relativism that I think is troubling the Church of England.

Are the members of the ordinariate right-wing ideologues?
No, I don’t think they are. I think most people have been ordinary Anglican churchgoers coming from the broad range of Anglican-Catholic traditions. Externally, some will be used to a fairly elaborate liturgy, others will be coming from a more choral-civic ‘Prayer Book’ tradition, others will have been very consciously ‘Vatican II’ and not theologically all that different from Roman Catholics. Sociologically and demographically, they will have different perspectives, but from what I have seen there is both the sheer normality of the people and clergy, and also a range of views and their expression – from very conservative, to very academic, very ‘Anglican’, very pastoral, very spirituality-focused, to very social gospel-focused, to everything else that we can find in our regular Catholic churches.

What’s been the Anglican reaction?
I think there has been a great deal of neuralgia. In the English situation, the Church of England does not quite occupy the position in national life that it once did, but it still has this important position of leadership and engagement with the state and with civil society that is vital, I think, also to the mission of the Catholic church. We are absolutely bound to work together and, besides, we respond to different parts of society, and they respond to us. There has to be a partnership.

We mustn’t settle for the Ordinariate as the last word in somehow embracing an Anglican tradition within the Catholic community. The work that still needs to be done is the union of all Christians, and that has to be happening because it’s the will of Christ. The Church of England entire and the Catholic church entire have at some point to be in complete union.

I’ve stressed time and time again to these friends of mine who have come into the Catholic church: I do not want you to come in and pull the ladder up. This is not about you finding a safe haven. You are now somebody who is embedded within us, who adds something to us in terms of our understanding of Anglicanism, which helps us reach out and embrace and be friends and collaborate even more deeply. We want you, therefore, to be part of that ecumenical outreach and engagement.

It is clear to me, too, that the church in this country cannot simply go on as it is, with all of our ‘denominations’ experiencing a declining grip on the imagination of people. No one church can address the deepest longings in those imaginations on its own. We need each other, we relate to people differently, and even though we are disunited we urgently need to collaborate and realise more and more an ecumenism of life.

There’s also an ecumenical vocation to the ordinariate?
If it forgets that, it must fail. It has to be about unity, because it really does have to be about the struggle for the soul of Europe and re-evangelization. It has to be at the centre of that. Otherwise, it’s just going to be an ‘ecclesiastical granny flat’. No one wants that.

For the Record: Fr Peter Geldard on the Ordinariate in 2010

What is the Ordinariate? – Origins and Opportunities

Fr Peter Geldard, Catholic Chaplain of the University of Kent

This address began as a talk to the Catholic League’s annual pilgrimage for Catholic Christian Unity at the Beguinage in Bruges, Belgium, in September 2010 (see left). A shorter version was delivered at St Agnes’ Church, Kennington, on Saturday, 11 December 2010, and this at St John’s Church, Sevenoaks, on Wednesday, 15 December 2010.

I don’t know if many of you do remember me from the past, when I was the National Secretary of the Church Union. But if what I say could be of use to you, it is not only in the sense that I have been involved in the Ordinariate in the last six to nine months, but also that in some ways (when I tell you my life story briefly) you will see that I have been involved in it for perhaps the last thirty or forty years.


First of all, I am going to say just two things that, as it were, I am not going to say - but will refer to. The first is that I do not believe it is right or possible for me here to persuade you, or try to encourage you, to make a decision in your own lives that may not be appropriate, or may not be timely. Important spiritual decisions are always acts of faith and it is one of the mysteries of God that He gives that gift of faith to people at different times and in different ways. There are in each one of us on our pilgrimages the Nicodemus, as well as the St Paul. So it is very important that none of us get into a judgmental situation, let alone a rhetorical argument (whether within ourselves or with regard to other people), where the position you find yourself in demands that you must make a certain decision right here and now, or that you should have made it five years ago, or that you should be making it in a fortnight’s time. I say again, it is one of the mysteries of God that for different people at different stages they come to different conclusions.


We have seen that in our Church life’s history, particularly in England over the last 200 years, for some people there comes “a bridge too far”, or “a straw that breaks the camel’s back”; and sometimes it may seem almost insignificant in terms of the weight it carries. For John Henry Newman, you may remember, the great founder of the Oxford Movement, it was the Jerusalem bishopric. We may find it rather obscure today to think that that debate in 1841 about who should or should not be bishop in Jerusalem – an English Anglican, or a Prussian Lutheran and whether they were interchangeable - was the crucial issue; but for Newman it was the final moment. For Cardinal Manning, of course, it was the Gorham Judgement, the judgement of the Privy Council that overturned the Bishop of Exeter’s and the Court of Arches’ rulings that it was contrary to Church of England teaching to insist that baptismal regeneration (of infants particularly) was conditional upon a personal profession of faith – and this permitted a vicar to be appointed on the authority of the secular power without regard to episcopal authority. Different crises have confronted other people right up to the present day. After the Second World War there were some who found the Church of South India scheme too much, in that it provided for the gradual assimilation of Anglican, Methodist, Congregationalist and Presbyterian ministries in one united Protestant Church with a threefold ministry, by means of mutual recognition regardless of whether ministers were ordained by a bishop. For me, it happened when I had been for 20 years on General Synod, on 11 November 1992 at 5 o’clock – I remember it well –and the decision was made by the Church of England unilaterally to ordain women to the priesthood by a majority in the House of Laity of one vote. For me that was the bridge too far. But the crucial thing is, and I hope I have kept my word in this, that I have never judged anybody who came to a different conclusion, or who thinks differently at any given moment.


Part of my work, particularly in dealing with students from all over the world (I deal with about 18,000 students at the University of Kent), is to respond every year to the many students who come to me asking if they could be reconciled with the Catholic Church, some from Anglican backgrounds, some from other very committed backgrounds and some from none at all. I learnt very quickly that you never say, “Well, it depends on where were you last week, or what your position was the week before.” You simply just say, “The door is open; you’re welcome; come in”. In this way, I want to say something even more positive as well, and that is that all that has gone before is usually God-given. So one of the crucial things I always want to emphasise - and I hope this has been prominent in your thoughts and discussions - is that there is to be no denial of the past. The past and what God has done in it is something that he is building on, making it into something better and bigger. There is no question of you denying the Anglican sacraments you have received or the baptism you possess – all these things are God-given. And it is that grace that we build on: it is a going forward, not a looking back.


So that is the first point I want to be borne in mind, so we do not need to come back to it again. The second point to register, but that I do not want us to labour, is that I am not going to seek to convince you that it is the fulfilment of the Catholic life that we should be in communion with the successor of Peter. That I take as a sine qua non, something which, in the end, all of us believe is central. When I joined the Church of England - I came from a non-Church background as a young lad of 17 and a half, having grown up at Bexhill near Hastings, and I went to a church called All Saints, Sidley - almost within a matter of days of coming into that community I believed that the fulfilment of Catholicity was to be found in communion with the successor of Peter. I recognised it, staring at me in the face, in Scripture. In the little I knew then and have studied since of the Early Fathers, it stands out and it keeps being repeated. I also saw it being emphasised time and time again by scholars within the Church of England. I remember reading that great book by Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, The Gospel of the Catholic Church, written in 1936 and now too often forgotten, in which he makes that fundamental point that the unity of the Church and the wholeness of the Church are inseparable from the apostolic order and mission of the Church, by means of which it proclaims the Gospel and we live and bear witness as Christ’s disciples in the world. Thus he speaks not just of bishops and their role in the Church but of the one episcopate, the successor to the apostles, the organ of unity and continuity (p.220, 2nd edition, Longmans, 1956), which it is impossible to consider apart from its primate (p.228). He quotes the paper about the Papacy by Canon B. J. Kidd, Warden of Keble College, Oxford, at the Malines Conversations: “without communion with him there is no prospect of a reunited Christendom” (p.228). And he challenges a certain Anglican tendency to present the episcopate as just something that contributes to the bene esse of the Church, rather than what constitutes its esse (p.219). To Ramsey, this “one episcopate” of the universal Church, in which the Bishop of Rome is integral to its ever growing organic wholeness as the Body of Christ (p.220), is thus not just there for its benefit or wellbeing, it is of its very essence.


So, even though I knew that the Church of England led by the Archbishop of Canterbury was not united with the Catholic Church led by the Pope, I had that profound awareness of this one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of which the Church to which I belonged was clearly part, and by which God was able to work in us and and give us his grace, despite our divisions. I knew that in my life in the Church of England, first as layman and then as a priest, I was not in communion with the Pope, whose role and ministry is vital to the Catholic faith in which I believed and proclaimed; but yet I believed that God had his reasons and a purpose for me in the Catholic movement in the Church of England. Providentially and mysteriously he had put me in All Saints, Sidley, and he put me in the Church of England as he put you in the Church of England, because I believe categorically - and most of my life has been fighting for this - that our job was thus to do whatever we could to reconcile the whole body. As Catholic Anglicans, we were not saying that Catholicism was preferable to Anglicanism, we were not denying our Anglican sacramental life, and we were not denying our history. In fact we were attesting to the opposite. The great affirmation of the Oxford Movement, the Tractarian Movement, and the Anglo-Catholic Movement was, of course, to challenge the Church of England to recover her true catholicity, in her worship, her spirituality and in her history. And so the witness of Catholic Anglicans was not asking her to deny anything, but to affirm something that we believed was there but due to historical accident had sadly disappeared from view.


This is how I became heavily involved in working for unity within in the wider Christian Church and predominantly, of course, with the Roman Catholic Church. That was my aim and my ambition. I saw that the Catholic Church was the larger part of Christendom and that we Anglicans were western, but we broke away from it at the Reformation. So it was the duty of those Anglicans who realised this to try if we can to reconcile Christendom and heal our breach. Thus historically our job was to work within the Church of England to try to achieve that by every means - by getting the Lambeth Conference to pass resolutions in 1920 affirming this; and by encouraging the Church of England to become involved in closer relations and dialogue with Rome, notably through the theological dialogue of ARCIC, the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission. All that was to the good; all that was so hopeful for the cause of Christian Unity. One of the great joys I had when for ten years I was National Secretary of the Church Union was travelling all over the world, speaking, promoting and encouraging the ARCIC process, particularly in places where the bilateral discussions were being held - Australia, Japan, Korea, South Africa, the United States, a whole variety of places. I urged the case for ARCIC to come to fruition.


To cut a long story short, all this came of course to a climax in my life when, you remember, Pope John Paul II came to Canterbury in 1982. The stole he wore that day was one that I had presented to him personally a year earlier on behalf of the Catholic Societies of the Church of England. The greatest joy was when he came into Canterbury Cathedral with Archbishop Runcie and they stood in front of the throne of St Augustine. You may remember those historic words: “The successor of St Gregory greets the successor of St Augustine”. It appeared that there truly was a genuine chance that corporate reunion – as we referred to it – was a possibility within my lifetime. It is for that reason that I continued to labour within the Church of England. But then we fast-forward a little bit, only ten years, and that ideal, that hope, shattered. That was, of course, on that Wednesday afternoon in 1992, when I saw what came to be referred to as “an insuperable barrier” placed squarely in the path of the possibility of reunion. At that moment, whereas for the bulk of my life up until that point I believed that I was part of the wider Catholic Church, and the Church of England was part of the wider Catholic Church but contained within it (of course) people who emphasised Protestantism, in simple terms the circle turned. I realised that corporately the Church of England had become a Protestant Church, in which some people were desperately trying to be Catholic.


And so that, for me, was a dilemma. It was a dilemma which resulted, as some of you may know, in myself and six others being involved in very detailed negotiations with Cardinal Hume and other Catholic bishops of the time towards some kind of scheme of corporate reunion for Anglicans who desired it. These are now names that will be familiar to you – there was Bishop Cormac Murphy O’Connor of Arundel and Brighton , as he was then and successor to Cardinal Hume as he became; there was Cardinal Hume’s assistant, someone called Bishop Vincent Nicholls, who has now succeeded them both as Archbishop of Westminster; there was Bishop Allan Clark of East Anglia, who had been chairman of ARCIC; and there were one or two other ecumenical officers, such as Fr Michael Seed SA and Fr Anthony Nye SJ. On the other side there was the Bishop of London, Dr Graham Leonard, myself and a few other priests, including Fr Brooke Lunn and Fr Michael Woodgate. I always say teasingly as I wrote in an article at the time, “I suppose in military terms we were rather heavily out-gunned!” But the reality was that we were there to negotiate the possibility of reconciliation. It happened, because of one of those quirks of history, that I had written an article in the Catholic Herald, a Roman Catholic newspaper, published on exactly the same day that the Bishop of London had written an article in the London Times. I described how I had become an orphan, how I believed that what the Church of England had done had destroyed something which to me was very precious; and that I was now seeking a new mother. Graham Leonard, using slightly different language, said he recognised the time had come for us to make our journey to the Catholic Church, that we were to come as supplicants and it was our job, perhaps, now never to talk in terms of demands respect for our position ever again. In the course of those discussions, of which books and articles have been written, with more and more coming out on the web occasionally, it was known that I was particularly involved in presenting details of something that was called the Pastoral Provision, which had already been set up in the United States. This was a unique arrangement, whereby individual Anglican parishes (or Episcopalian as they are known in the United States) might be reconciled with the Catholic Church, retain their own particular liturgy and, with their own particular ethos, remain as what were called pastoral parishes in something of their own right. They would come under the local Catholic bishop of the diocese in which they were situated and thus integrate with it, but at the same time they were to be allowed to retain all that they could of the past. Now admittedly in America such parishes have had the great advantage in many cases of already owning their building and being used to paying their own pastor. So if you made a decision to change allegiance, you could do so almost lock stock and barrel and the only cost involved in material terms was painting a different sign outside the door. For the most part, parishes carried on almost seamlessly - one week Anglican and Catholic the next.


I had been to the States many times and I had found out all the details they had about how this had worked. I presented everything to Cardinal Hume and the other Catholic participants at our meetings in England. I remember many weeks of discussing it. But one of the problems at that period of history - and many of you will know this because it came out afterwards - was that Rome insisted on unanimous approval from the Roman Catholic hierarchy in this country before a like scheme could be implemented here. Anything less than unanimous approval meant that things could not happen. No such unanimity was possible, so the result was that that concept of corporate identity among groups being reconciled could not in the end come to pass in England. Perhaps on the Day of Judgement we shall see the whole plan laid out and realise how the hand of God was at work in this. Whether, in fact, seeds were sown then that have borne fruit in the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus and the prospect of an Ordinariate that are now before us, I leave for history to decide. I remember the sixteen boxes of great big folders I had and, rather than see the waste of all my efforts, I said to Cardinal Hume that I hoped he could do something with all this work. He rather sweetly said he would post it all to Rome. Being still a young man, I was concerned about the cost of the postage and he said, “Peter, have you ever heard of the diplomatic bag?” So all this went off to Rome and whether or not this had any influence I don’t know. But what I do know is that, during my time as General Secretary of the Church Union, three times I met John Paul II and three times I met his assistant, someone called Cardinal Ratzinger. On something of shorthand terms, I once had a conversation of about twenty minutes with him and the concept of corporate reunion was something we talked about. So possibly seeds were indeed sown.


Ironically in the birthplace of Anglicanism, with no hope of a Pastoral Provision in England for Christians of Anglican tradition owing to the opposition of English Catholic bishops of the time, there was no possibility of a structure to maintain or care for groups or parishes with their own identity. The only way open to Anglicans to become Catholics, individually or in groups, was what we called Individual Submission or Individual Conversion. I had finished in London at the Church Union and I was then serving as priest of a church in Davington in Faversham which is part of the Canterbury diocese, a sweet lovely medieval church which was actually attached to a house. This caused a lot of confusion because my name is Geldard, but the owner of the house was someone called Bob Geldof, so there were many times when our names got confused in the newspapers. It also got confused in the telephone bill and once I opened mine and saw that I had spent something like £8,000 on calls, before I realised that it was his bill and not mine. Surprisingly, the cheques never came the other way! Anyway, there I was at Davington in Faversham, and from 1992 I thought it right to spend two years with my people praying, reflecting and deciding what was right. For the situation which I faced then - and it may be one that many of you face now - was that “you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t”. If you act immediately, you are accused of being impetuous; if you delay and you think and you reflect, you are accused of being opportunist. In the end I felt it was right that we explore all the possibilities. We got speakers in to talk about what was then called “The Roman Option”; we got speakers from Orthodoxy; there were people begging me to create what we could almost call a Continuing Church, virtually a Congregationalist church; and of course there were others who said that, if we were part of the Church of England, then we must accept the decisions made. And we wrestled with all that.


After two years, I felt it was right that I declared my hand. But not knowing it fully, although I sensed it, I knew there were others in the parish that had been thinking the same as me. When I announced my decision, 34 others in the parish made the same decision - all the church officers and the whole parish council. Thus 35 of us were received into the local Roman Catholic church in Faversham. Then, in ways that I still do not fully understand, I waited to see what the outcome those discussions with Cardinal Hume would be. At the time I resigned, the possibility of a married man like me being ordained had never been talked about, let alone put into practice; and so I resigned and there was that long period of silence and worry and concern. After that, as far as the way that the Catholic Church often works, so the saying is, “the rest is mystery”. Suddenly the phone went and basically they said, “We’re going to ordain you and we’re going to make you the Catholic Chaplain of the University of Kent just down the road, so you can stay in the same house.” I have enjoyed that work that God has made possible and given to me for the last sixteen years.


And during those years it has been interesting to recall the many conversations with others who have wondered, as I had done, about what is right for them. All that wondering changed, I believe, last November in 2009, when out of the blue came this booklet, which I am sure you are familiar with, called Anglicanorum Coetibus. If you have not yet read it, do not worry. If you have already read it and it is not all that clear, do not worry either. In a sense it is like the telephone directory – there’s no point in just reading a document like that and thinking you will get all the answers. It is not a narrative, nor is it the story or the explanation. It is “legalese” and it is job is to describe the administration of the Ordinariate once it is created. Mysteriously, perhaps, it does not tell the story behind how the Ordinariate should be created or what its “patrimony” may look like, because this is a constitutional document to provide for all time for the creation of a number of different possible Ordinariates, whereas the creation of each actual Ordinariate which it provides for will be over in a whisker when it happens. And so we are in that interim period where the creation of the Ordinariate lies ahead; and once the Ordinariate in England is up and running, it will be run according to this booklet. It is like when I always say to my students, as I try to help them when they struggle with their exams and their essays: “In the last resort, don’t read the book, look at the picture!” And so, if anyone asks what Anglicanorum Coetibus is all about, I say, “Look at the picture.” And this is crucial. It is not a picture of an individual “swimming the Tiber”, it is a picture of a bridge. What has changed - and of course it is the initiative of Pope Benedict that has caused this change to happen worldwide and particularly here in England – is that there is now a bridge that makes it possible for groups of people with their pastors to move and be reconciled, staying together, maintaining their patrimony and their heritage and all that they love, but fully incorporated with the wider Catholic Church.


This is so radical and so phenomenal that most people have still not got their heads round it. They can say what it isn’t, but they find it very difficult to say what it is. It is not a so-called “uniate” church, one of the historic Eastern Churches in union with the see of Rome, and yet it seems like a “uniate” church because of its own liturgical provisions and “patrimony”. It is not a bi-ritual church in the sense that it does not have a separate liturgy, yet at the same time it can have its own distinctive liturgical characteristics as well use the liturgy of the Western Church – which for many, of course, is the one they are using at the moment. It is not a specialist body for clergy like Opus Dei, although it does have an Ordinary who is going to be in charge of it in his own right, and the Ordinary will not be in Rome like a major religious superior, but in England close to his pastoral charges and as an integral part of the Church here. And so the whole thing in one sense is very confusing, yet in another very exciting. Above all, what it is - and I use these words carefully – is what I believe all of us, me in my lifetime and the generations who followed the Oxford Movement during the last 150 years have been desirous for. What we worked and longed for these long years has come about.


The greatest hope I had as an Anglican was for ARCIC to succeed. So one of the questions you have to ask is, “If we were all in earnest at ARCIC, and Rome claims it was in earnest in ARCIC, what would have been the result if ARCIC had come to an achievement within six months? What would have been the practical outcome?” The practical outcome would, of course, have been a corporate reunion of the whole. But the possibility of that in my lifetime I saw fading; and those who have known the Church of England since 1992, know that it has faded even further. But what has happened through the Apostolic Constitution is that Pope Benedict has revived the hope and offered the chance of corporate reunion along the lines that ARCIC might have achieved for all those right around the world who are desirous to have it. To use an analogy that others have used, he has sent a boat to pick us up, he has sent us a boat with extraordinary qualities, which will be our own. It is flying an ex-Anglican flag; it is being captained by an ex-Anglican Ordinary; and all the crew will be ex-Anglican. The hymns it sings, the ethos it has will be ex-Anglican. It has all the designs we could want and yet some people are saying there is one fault; and that is, if you go down into the engine-room, although the engine itself is ex-Anglican, you will see a little brass plate that says this boat was designed on the advice of ex-Anglicans, it was built by a man in Rome. Well, if that is the only fault that some people can find with it, it is like criticising someone for making the present you asked for. For it is in fact an offer which I believe we need to respond to as generously as it has been given.


It is also a challenge which all of us have got to reflect upon. You cannot blame it for not answering questions and addressing considerations over which it has no control. To look at one burning question at the moment, for instance, It cannot be blamed because it cannot categorically say, “You can have this building, bricks and mortar, lock stock and barrel”, because it does not own this or that building, or have any say over what belongs to the Church of England. I believe there are solutions to such questions with good will, perhaps an ecumenical Church Sharing Agreement, of which there are many examples in England already among different local denominations, to enable an Anglican parish and an Ordinariate Catholic parish to sustain their use of a cherished place together. But I beg you not to be locked into thinking too much of how you can take properties with you. Property is a liability. The pilgrim church must always travel light. Even so, there are possibilities in certain cases for people to be able to continue to use the buildings they know, because economic circumstances may tend to make that practical, even attractive, where it is difficult for an Anglican or an Ordinariate group to maintain the use of a church on their own. You do not need relations between Catholics and Anglicans determined and complicated when it comes to property. But with good will something may be possible.


The question I cannot answer is, “What is it going to be like in six months time?” What I can say is that the speed at which things are now happening is quite phenomenal. I stand judged if I get it wrong, but I believe that three of those bishops who have resigned will be ordained as priests by the end of January. I believe three or more will be ordained about a month later. I believe that groups will be starting to be reconciled at the beginning of Lent; they will be allowed to retain their pastor and they will stay working and worshipping together. There will be no question of taking the pastor away, as it was in my case, saying “Right, you go off to seminary for a year or two”. No; as I say rather teasingly, they will be resprayed very quickly in about ten weeks, they will be ordained, and they will continue their pastoral life, alongside any additional studies following on after that - exactly what happened in the Pastoral Provision in the United States and that we recommended for England as far back as 1992.


That is a phenomenal breakthrough. It is a great change of mindset for the Roman Catholic Church to commit itself to, and I cannot emphasise that to you strongly enough. But it has come about because of somebody with the exceptional qualities and insight that belong to Pope Benedict. He understands Anglicanism. He is a scholar of Newman, a lover of Newman and he is committed to Newman’s objectives Newman for the Church, for its people, and for Christianity in England.


I leave you with two quotations. The first is from Victor Hugo (Histoire d’un Crime, 1852/1877, end of chapter 10):

There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.

And then those words of Brutus from Julius Caesar, Act 4, Scene 3:

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
omitted, all the voyage of their life 
is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat
and we must take the current when it serves,
or lose our ventures.

God bless you.

David Carter reviews "Anglicans and Catholics in Communion"

David Carter is a distinguished British Methodist ecumenical scholar, a leading figure in Churches Together in England's Theology and Unity Group and also the British Catholic-Methodist dialogue committee. In the past he was Secretary of the Society for Ecumenical Studies and is currently a member of the editorial board of the UK Benedictine Catholic ecumenical journal, One in Christ.

As editor of the Newsletter of the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary he is a notable reviewer of books with an ecumenical significance. He recently wrote the following assessment of the Catholic League's Messenger 292 (April-August 2010), Anglican & Catholics in Communion: Patrimony, Unity and Mission.

The League is grateful for this perspective from a disinterested and widely respected commentator on ecumenical developments and thinking. Some voices still question the Ordinariate's potential contribution to Christian Unity (even suggesting it could be harmful to it); others dismiss the idea that in England there can be such a thing as Anglican patrimony. Yet over the last year and a half it has been interesting to see how the imperatives we have promoted - Christian Unity and Re-evangelisation in Europe - and the cultural, spiritual, liturgical identity and responsiveness to society we have commended, features that an Anglican patrimony embodies, belong in the communion of the whole Church, not just within Anglicanism, have become the narrative others are now articulating.

If you would like to receive Anglicans & Catholics in Communion, a complimentary copy is available from the General Secretary, David Chapman, c/o St Paul's Bookshop, Morpeth Terrace, London SW1P 1EP, telephone 020 7828 5582. A donation to the Newman Fund (see the panel to the left) would be appreciated in return.

Anglicans and Catholics in Communion-Patrimony, Unity, Mission, edited by Mark Woodruff (The Messenger of the Catholic League, No 292, April-August 2010).

Mark Woodruff and the Catholic League are to be congratulated on this publication which is a valuable vade mecum for anyone wishing to understand the origins and basis of the Ordinariate as well as the hopes that may reasonably be entertained for it. Its canonical basis is clearly and succinctly outlined by Fr Gianfranco Ghirlanda and its rationale explained in other essays with particular attention to the understanding of catholicity as explained in the Decree on Ecumenism of Vatican II. Cardinal Levada explains that "when I say enrichment, I am not referring to any addition of essential elements of sanctification to the Catholic Church - Christ has endowed her with all the essential elements. I am referring to the addition of modes of expression of these essential elements, modes which enhance everyone’s appreciation of the inexhaustible treasures bestowed on the Church by her divine Founder". One might here slightly quibble with the cardinal. Surely, if the Church’s catholicity is wounded by virtue of the separation of any of the baptised from her, then, to a degree, so is her ability to offer the fullness of worship to Him, this being only complete when the entire family that the Son has gained for the Father is present "in one mind and heart together" (Acts 4:32)?

Fr Mark himself offers two excellent chapters, one on the question of the way in which Anglican orders can be "recognised or received" and one on hymnody as part of the Anglican patrimony to be shared with the rest of the Roman Catholic Church by members of the Ordinariate. One might just add here that, in a sense this is part of a wider heritage than purely Anglican since so many who have contributed to it have come from the free church traditions, Isaac Watts being the most prominent. One might add that though Charles Wesley would certainly wish to be remembered as an Anglican, it is Methodism that has preserved so much of his heritage.

Philip North contributes a particularly interesting chapter in which he asks how far Anglicans making the journey into Roman Catholic communion may be able, or not, to maintain the sort of ministry to the whole population of a parish that they currently exercise and value. This is an important missiological question and should not be overlooked by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference as they prepare the ground for the Ordinariate in England. John Hunwicke contributes a delightfully written essay entitled  Patrimony - What Patrimony? He argues that "we should be allowed to paddle around with our Anglican patrimony in the middle of the catholic mainstream" (my italics). He feels that much that traditionalist Anglo-Catholics value may be a timely gift to the Roman Catholic Church, stressing particularly that their concern for due awe and reverence in worship may fit precisely with the aims of Liturgiam Authenticam. I have some sympathy with this view, as I feel that in all the western Churches there is a need, particularly on the part of those ministers or lay preachers entrusted with the leadership of worship, to conduct it with dignity, to remember that it is not entertainment (a word I address particularly to the Free Churches) and to communicate a sense of awe and wonder particularly in preaching, praying and presidency at the eucharist. Fr John also stresses that the patrimony is essentially that of a tradition embodied in the people, the people in whom the anointing of the Spirit resides (1 John 2:20) and who have the sensus fidelium.

There are many other riches in this book which I heartily commend. Whatever the rest of us may feel about Anglicanorum Coetibus, I think we can all derive pleasure from two things. The first is that due provision has been made for a group of people who feel they must join the Roman Catholic Church but also take with them all that is compatible with that Church from their previous Anglican tradition. The other is to record the gracious words of Archbishop Rowan to the effect that he welcomes anything that allows the Anglican heritage to be more widely shared with the rest of Christendom.

David Carter.

Pastoral Message of CBCEW - November 1993

This message was first published by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales in November 1993:

As the first ordinations of women to the priesthood in the Church of England draw near, a number of Anglicans, both laity and clergy, who are unsure about their future in the Church of England, have approached members of this Bishops’ Conference. We are aware, too, that many others, in some ways represented by those who have approached us, await our response. In the light of these discussions, and of our own careful consideration of all the issues involved, we now wish to address publicly the questions they have raised.

Our responsibility, as bishops of the Catholic Church, is to ensure that the Catholic community in England and Wales, in its faith and life, is within the full communion of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, united in bonds of faith and sacraments, with a clear awareness of its universality. Our ministry as members of the College of Bishops in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the successor of Peter, is one of the visible signs of that universality. Within this Catholic Church there is a clear doctrinal structure and vigorous debate, both of which are needed for Church life. There is also to be found a variety of styles of prayer and liturgical practice. The distinctive and complementary roles of laity and clergy, and women and men, are a point of continuing development.

Many of those who have approached us manifestly share this vision of the Catholic Church. Their concern is not primarily that women are to be ordained to the priesthood. Rather they are struggling with the question of the authority by which the decision to ordain women to the priesthood has been made by the Church of England and the implications of that decision for those who wish, above all else, to live their Christian life in the Catholic tradition. Many have arrived at the conviction that visible communion with the Bishop of Rome is a necessary element of Catholic life. They believe they can no longer work within the Church of England to achieve that end. To them we wish to extend a warm welcome.

Those who have approached us make very clear the personal sadness and distress which they experience at this time. For our part too, we take no encouragement from the difficulties being faced in the Church of England. The urgent task of announcing the Gospel in Britain needs the strength and vigour of all Christian communities. This same task also underlines the importance of the search for unity of life and witness among all the followers of Christ. Working vigorously for this unity remains one of our grave responsibilities. It is our conviction that this search for unity would not be assisted if another ecclesial body were to emerge from present doctrinal and pastoral difficulties.

Approaches have been made by clergy of the Church of England, both singly and in groups. In some few instances groups of parishioners with their pastors have also made approaches, enquiring about the possibility of coming into full communion with the Holy See, embracing the fullness of Catholic life. After our Low Week meeting we stated that our aim in welcoming those who wish to join the Catholic Church must be their eventual total integration into the Catholic life of our dioceses. This remains our aim. Other paths have been suggested. We have looked carefully at the suggestions of the establishment of a Personal Prelature or of a Special Pastoral Provision, such as exists in the USA. We are of one mind that, in our particular circumstances, such alternatives would serve to increase the multiplicity of Church identities in an unhelpful and confusing manner. Our determination in this matter does not imply any lack of respect or esteem for the tradition, strengths and vision of Christian living represented by those who are approaching us. In fact the opposite is the case. We are convinced that the Roman Catholic community, diocese by diocese, will be enriched by the eventual full integration of those who bring with them not only the traditions of English Anglicanism, but also its commitment to reach out to those who are on the margin of Christian living, or beyond. But for this to be the case, it is essential that we strive to come together in a fully integrated manner, a challenge which will involved real change for all concerned.

It is this fundamental conviction that gives shape to the ways in which we have agreed to respond to those who approach us.

1. We welcome those who have served as clergy in the Church of England, and will endeavour to express in specific ways the value of the ministry they have exercised. We gladly acknowledge and esteem their faithful celebration of Word and Sacrament in the Church of England. We would never suggest that those now seeking full communion with the Roman Catholic Church deny the value of their previous ministry. According to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, the liturgical actions of their ministry can most certainly engender a life of grace, for they come from Christ and lead back to him, and belong by right to the one Church of Christ. We recognise in the ministry they have exercised a call from God. This is the basis for our readiness to assume a continuity of ministry, normally leading to ordination to the priesthood in the Catholic Church, depending on a process of mutual discernment. A period of study, preparation and integration, suited to the requirements of each person, will also be necessary.

We are convinced that our solemn duty to ensure the unquestionable validity of the sacraments to be celebrated with and for the Catholic community means that we cannot accept any residual doubts as to possible defects affecting the validity of the orders already conferred in the Church of England. This means we must ask all who are chosen to exercise priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church to accept ordination in our Church as the fulfilment of their ministry and its full integration into the Apostolic Succession. This is a difficult and sensitive matter, but we are reassured that so many who have approached us understand quite readily this need for certainty in such a crucial matter.

2. As is well understood, there are special difficulties faced by those who have thus far exercised ministry in the Church of England and are married. The celibacy of priests in the Church of the Latin Rite is the norm. It is a witness to the total love of Christ for his Church and a treasured part of our tradition. This is not at stake. In fact, it is shared by some who are seeking the fullness of Catholic life and priesthood. Rather, in these exceptional circumstances, consideration has to be given to the manner and extent in which it is possible, and desirable, to permit exceptions to this norm. This is because the discipline of the orders of those married clergymen who now seek full communion with the Holy See permitted them also to take up the vocation of married life. We understand and accept that they may well be convinced of the continuity of their vocation to serve the Catholic Church in the priesthood. This is a matter which we are pursuing with sympathy for those who have approached us.

3. In welcoming those pastors who approach us together with a group of parishioners, we wish to state that we respect and esteem the bonds of fellowship that exist within such a group and between the group and its pastor. While insisting that the decision of faith entailed in coming into full communion with the Catholic Church is always one  which must be made individually, we will do all we can to respect and build on those precious bonds of shared discipleship. Steps are now being considered which will enable a group to stay together for as long as it is wishes not only during any period of enquiry and exploration, and in the process leading up to reception into the Catholic Church, but also, if thought fit in particular circumstances, after that point. The process whereby that group becomes, in practice, fully one with the Roman Catholic local community may, indeed, be gradual. On the other hand, once important steps are taken, and misapprehensions or misgivings removed, it may well be that the common identity of full Catholic faith opens up a much easier process of integration into the local Catholic parish community than is now envisaged by some. The Catholic community in many parts of England and Wales is already characterised by a diversity of culture and background. It is Catholic faith shared within the visible unity of the Church which forms our identity.

At this important time, it is clear that the way forward requires of us all both generosity and patience. For many troubled in conscience difficult decisions lie ahead. We are exploring ways in which they can be given additional spiritual and pastoral support. We will do all we can to encourage the Catholic community to give a warm and generous welcome to all who join it at this time. Similarly, we will seek not only to protect but also to enhance key ecumenical relations so that ecclesial life may be strengthened and the service and common witness required by the Gospel given in our society.

19 November 1993

Resolution of the Plenary Meeting of CBCEW - April 1994

This continues our series of posts of texts pertaining to the transition and reconcilation of Anglicans into the full communion of the Catholic Church in the 1990s.

Matters relating to the Reception of Anglican Clergy into the Catholic Church.

Statement

In recent weeks and months approaches have been made by members of the Church of England unsure, about their future, to most of the Roman Catholic Dioceses of England. These have been both from individuals and groups, clergy and laity. Some have already been received into full communion with the Catholic Church; others are about to be so received; others are making first enquiries about what such a journey involves and how they will be received.

The discussions which have taken place, with individuals and groups, involving both bishops and Catholic laity, have made clear a number of important perspectives and some widespread misunderstandings. It is these we now wish to address.

First, there should be no doubt that those approaching us are not simply wishing to avoid the advent of women priests. To describe them in such terms is inaccurate and a real disservice. Rather they reveal depth of Catholic faith which is both impressive and moving. The doctrines they hold concerning the sacraments and the Eucharist in particular, including its reservation for prayer and devotion, are substantially Catholic. Many follow the same devotional and liturgical practices as we do; they have a deep respect for the Holy Father and acknowledge the primacy which is his as the successor of Peter.

It is important for members of our Catholic community to understand that for some of these Anglicans, especially the clergy, the principal aim in their Church life has been to help bring about the visible unity of the Church of England with the See of Peter. In their judgement, recent decisions make this no longer a realistic possibility within the Church of England, and lead them to seek that full visible unity individually or in groups. As we said in our statement of November 1993: “Many have arrived at the conviction that visible communion with the Bishop of Rome is a necessary element of Catholic life. To them we wish to extend a warm welcome.”

Secondly, it has become clear that question the key question from many who are approaching us is the view they should take the sacramental life they have faithfully lived as members of the Church of England. This is an important question for our Catholic community, too. It is the clear teaching of the Second Vatican Council that visible elements of the Church of Christ can and do exist outside the boundaries of the Catholic Church. The visible elements and sacred actions spoken of by the Conciliar Decree on Ecumenism include “the celebration of the memorial of the Lord's Supper” (para 22). These sacred actions, and the ministries by which they are carried out, are clearly to be found in the Church of England. Catholic teaching is, then, that the liturgical or sacred actions of those in the Church of England “most certainly can truly engender a life of grace and, one must say, can aptly give access to the communion of salvation.” (para 3). No one who is considering full communion with the Catholic Church is, therefore, expected to deny the value of the liturgical life they have celebrated in the Church of England, which has sustained them to this point. Rather they are coming to recognise that it is “through Christ's Catholic Church alone … that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained.” (para 3).

These perspectives have important consequences for the nature of the journey into full communion to be undertaken by those seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. Undoubtedly they will engage in a period of exploration of contemporary Catholicism, offered in discussion with the neighbouring Catholic community. But the period between their decision to leave the Church of England and their reception into full communion need not be lengthy. As the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults states, when speaking at the reception of baptised persons, such preparation is to be “adapted to individual pastoral requirements” (No 391). For those who have been accustomed to regular, if not a daily, Holy Communion in the Church of England, a lengthy delay before they are admitted to the Eucharist is not desirable. Their sharing in the sacramental life of the Catholic Church will help the process by which they come to an experience of being part of the local Catholic community.

As we stated in on the 1993 November meeting, in welcoming those clergy of the Church of England who are approaching us, “We recognise in the ministry they have exercised a call from God. This is the basis of our readiness to assume a continuity of ministry, normally leading to ordination to the priesthood in the Catholic Church, depending on a process of mutual discernment.” For some this has already begun. So, too, has the exploration of ways in which we can respect and build on the bonds of fellowship that exists between groups of Anglican laity who wish to lead a Catholic life and their pastors.

In all these matters we ask that the five principles enunciated in our 1993 Low Week meeting be kept in mind. They are:

1. the conviction that the fullness of Catholic life, and the Orders which part of it, is to be found in the visible communion of the Catholic Church.
2. the aim for those who seek to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church must be their eventual total integration into the life of the Catholic community.
3. that those seeking full communion are required to accept the teaching authority of the Church in matters of faith and moral, as exercised by the Pope as the successor of Peter and by the College of Bishops acting in union with him.
4. that we reiterate our commitment to developing ecumenical relations with the Church of England and with other Churches and communities; we will continue this dialogue and common effort in the new circumstances that now obtain.
5. that we are confident that the Catholic community will be enriched by the spiritual heritage of those seeking full communion and that Catholics will show generosity of heart as they work with us in the duty of meeting the needs of those who are now approaching us.

We are thankful that our ecumenical relationships remain good. Our commitment to the search for the full visible unity of the Church remains undiminished, rooted in the conviction that such is the will of Christ. His solemn prayer makes clear that this visible unity is necessary for the effective proclamation of the Gospel in our society:

“Father, may they all be one, just as you are in me and I am in you, so that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe it was you who sent me.” (John 17.20-21) 

14 April 1994

Pastoral Message of CBCEW - April 1993

Over the course of the coming days and weeks we will be publishing some texts from the 1990s, especially pertaining to the management of the transition of Anglican clergy  and laity to the Catholic Church. Many of these, it is thought, are not available elsewhere online. There are significant differences between the circumstances of the 1990s and the current development - the difference between individual and group reconciliation being chief amongst them. Having said that, many of the texts enunciate, in a helpful way, the journey of many of Anglicans towards the full communion of the Catholic Church and the official response of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, to their requests.

First is a Pastoral Message from the Archbishops and Bishop of England & Wales to the Catholic priests and people of their dioceses. It was read in parishes on the Fourth Sunday of Easter 1993. 

Last November, the General Synod of the Church of England passed a resolution authorising the ordination of women to the priesthood.  Although this measure was agreed by a two-thirds majority, it left a number of Anglican clergy and laypeople not only opposed to the decision itself but also deeply troubled in conscience. As has been well-publicised, some have turned towards the Catholic Church and begin to consider whether they might seek full communion with our Church.  The extent of reaction has taken many by surprise.  The uncertainty about the numbers involved has helped to fuel rumour and misunderstanding.

Many different hopes and anxieties have been expressed, in the nation at large as well as within the Church of England and within our own Catholic community. As your bishops, we have listened to these and have reflected together on the sensitive pastoral and ecumenical issues which are involved. During our Low Week meeting at Westminster, we have been able to agree on certain principles which must guide our response, and we have begun to set out some practical ways forward. More detailed reports of these discussions will be available through the media, but we also wish to send this pastoral message to all our priests and people. Our purpose is to explain these principles and invite you to share with us the process of proud reflection which is needed at this time.

It is important first of all to understand that, for many of those Anglicans now looking towards the Catholic Church, the Synod vote last November brought to a head some long-felt difficulties. These people, by no means all clergy, are concerned particularly about authority. They do not believe that the General Synod has the authority to admit women to the priesthood. They believe that decisions about a matter of such doctrinal importance should not be taken by the Church of England alone. Even though much discussion focused on attitudes to women and ordination, it is the issue of the teaching authority claimed by the Church of England which is at the heart of present anxieties. It is to this that we, as Catholics, must respond.

We believe that whilst the gift of the Holy Spirit is given to all Christians by virtue of their baptism, it is the bishops of the Catholic Church, together with the Pope, who have the task of teaching with authority those things which Christ has revealed to us as saving truth. It is this understanding of authority, as the sure way to truth, which in recent years led us to explain that the Anglican vote to ordain women would in fact change our relationship with the Church of England, adding a real obstacle to our hopes for unity. It is this same teaching authority, expressed especially in the ministry of the Pope, which some Anglicans now wish to recognise and adhere to.

Our response must reflect our deep pastoral concern. As a Catholic community, one of our first responsibilities is to welcome those who seek with a sincere hearts to belong to our Church. Each person’s journey into the Catholic Church is unique, but in these present circumstances, we shall wish to acknowledge the value of the ministry and life of faith, which those who now seek to join us have already experienced.

In the light of some fears which has been expressed, let it be clearly understood that this does not mean bargaining with truth, nor a wholesale abandonment of the disciplines of our Church. Nor is compromise sought in what is expected of those seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. We gladly welcome their rich devotion and personal holiness, but we look towards their eventual total integration into the life and mission of the Catholic Church. This remains true whether their approach to ask is as individuals or in groups. Our response will be generous and understanding. It will be guided by the same principles, even if in the difficult period of transition, these may be expressed in different practical forms suited to varying situations in our different dioceses.

We repeat: we shall look towards eventual total integration into the Catholic Church. But this is a new situation and we must feel our way forward sensitively, courageously, with understanding and faith. Of course it will also, in general terms, be after due consultation with the Holy See. It is communion with the one universal Catholic Church which those troubled at this time are seeking, not some negotiated change of membership at the local level.

We hope that those who join us as a result of these events will come to live happily a truly Catholic way of life, in accordance with the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. But we cannot expect that the issues and concerns of the present time can be resolved quickly, not least because of the uncertainty created by the parliamentary legislation now needed by the Church of England to implement the decision of last November’s Synod. For our part, we must proceed patiently, and with prayer.

Whatever the outcomes of this process, our ecumenical relationships continue because they are central to our response to the Lord’s will for his Church. The real bond a baptism still unites us, and we must make every effort to build upon that bond, not only with our Anglican brothers and sisters but also with other Christian communities. Together we are called to serve God’s kingdom in our world. Together we have a mission to proclaim the Gospel in the circumstances of our own society in this country, as well as in the wider world. Our ecumenical commitment must always keep in mind this larger purpose.

We ask you to pray that is together we will find the right ways forward for the whole of God’s Church. Let your prayer guide your contribution to the reflection and conscientious questioning, now taking place in the whole Church. We need to have a deep reliance on the Holy Spirit, who unfailingly guides the Church in the way of truth. ‘But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part, is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.’ Eph 4:15-16.

Signed: In the name of the Bishops of their Provinces,

+George Basil Cardinal Hume, for the Province of Westminster

+Derek Worlock, for the Province of Liverpool

+Michael Bowen for the Province of Southwark

+Maurice Couve de Murville, for the Province of Birmingham

+John Aloysius Ward, for the Province of Cardiff

and

+Francis Walmsley, Bishop of the Forces

First Priests of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

As Archbishop Vincent Nichols remarked at the Mass of Ordination, this is what history looks like as it is being made. Fathers John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton, once bishops of the Church of England, were ordained to the order of presbyter and thus to the priesthood of the Catholic Church in Westminster Cathedral, to create a new configuration of the Church in England & Wales in its mission to serve the truth about Jesus Christ and the unity of his people.

At 10 am, the Cathedral was already half full. In the long corridor linking the Sacristy to the Clergy House and Archbishop's House, nearly 100 other priests and seminarians had begun to gather, some old friends and colleagues of the candidates, and just as many who were priests of Westminster, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Brentwood and other dioceses, as well as from religious orders, including Abbot Aidan Bellenger OSB of Downside, Fr Aidan Nichols OP and Fr Christopher Jamison OSB, appropriately the director of the National Office for Vocation. There were also over 20 seminarians from Allen Hall. Two days earlier they had saluted the newly ordained deacons with the song Ad Multos Annos, traditionally sung in recollection of those leaving the College at Douai, Allen Hall's ancestor, on their way back to England in penal times, to face danger and even martyrdom. To those who witnessed this moment on the preceding Thursday, it was a most moving sign of incorporation not only into the priestly ministry of the Catholic Church worldwide, but into everything that being a Roman Catholic priest has meant in the history and spiritual development of England's national and religious life. As the students sang Vivat!, deacons John, Andrew and Keith entered into, and were embraced by, a rich inheritance that is truly costly.

The great Liturgy (follow the link to see the Diocese of Westminster's photo record of the day) began at 1030 am with the Processional Hymn, Thy hand, O God has guided thy flock from age to age, by Edward Hayes Plumptre, the 19th century Anglican classical and scriptural scholar, Dean of Wells and biographer of the fellow hymnographer and Non-Juror, Bishop Thomas Ken. Phrase after phrase was apt: "Through many a scene of strife" ... "the faithful few fought bravely, to guard the nation's life" ... "And we, shall we be faithless ... not so, in God's deep counsels some better thing is stored". And so it proved to be. After the Introit Sacerdotes Dei and the Greeting, the Archbishop asked us to sit, remarking that even though there were so many people to greet there was a message even more welcome: thus he introduced the Message from Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announcing the Decree erecting the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, under the protection of the Mother of God and the patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman. (Here is the report from the Vatican Information Service.)

An interesting remark in the letter mentioned that Archbishop Nichols was representing Cardinal Levada, and thus not only acting as President of the Bishops' Conference and in the customary primatial role of the Archbishop of Westminster. Had the Cardinal been able to be present, it is he who would have presided at the ordinations in the name of the Apostolic See. For clearly the Ordinariate is not a department of the diocese of Westminster, nor a suffragan see, nor an initiative subject to the Bishops' Conference: it is directly subject to the Apostolic See of Rome. Of course, the new Ordinary is by virtue of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus a full member of the Bishops' Conference; and there to support and participate in the ordination of the first priests of the Ordinariate were Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood and Bishop Alan Hopes, Episcopal Delegate of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales for the Ordinariate. Present too were Mgr Vincent Brady from the Apostolic Nunciature and Mgr Marcus Stock, general secretary of the Bishops' Conference. From the outset the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is thus part of the the endeavour of the universal Church in the eyes of the Apostolic See and integral to the life and work of the Church in the local dioceses of England & Wales.

When the name of the Ordinariate was announced there was a gasp of delight and satisfaction. The news had started to emerge after the diaconal ordinations on the preceding Thursday. The three candidates had needed to swear two sets of oaths, the first to the Archbishop of Westminster, in whose diocese Bishop Alan Hopes was ordaining them as Episcopal Delegate and in the name of the Holy Father, and the second to the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. including, as John Broadhurst observed at the reception, the new Ordinary. Thus, when the Reverend Keith Newton's name was at last  publicly confirmed as the Ordinary on Saturday, there was further palpable pleasure and satisfaction.

After the Confession, the magnificent Choir of Westminster Cathedral sang the Kyrie and Gloria in Excelsis from Victoria's Missa O Magnum Mysterium. The Epistle was Ephesians 4.1-7, 11-13. There was no Gradual; and the Alleluia Tu es sacerdos preceded the Gospel from John 20.19-23.

When the Rite of Ordination began, the three men were called forward from the nave and came to stand before the Archbishop seated before the High Altar. The Ordinariate having no Vicar General or other official, it fell to the Episopal Delegate of the Bishops' Conference, Bishop Alan Hopes, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Cuncacestre (Chester-le-Street), to present the candidates for priesthood to the Archbishop. There was an insertion into the wording of Bishop Alan's presentation (in bold italics):

After inquiry among the people of Christ and upon recommendation of those concerned with their training and with the permission of the Holy See, I testify that they have been found worthy.

The text of the Archbishop's homily can be downloaded here. Or listen to it here.

After the promise of obedience to "your Ordinary" (also made by Keith Newton), there was no insertion in the rite of that introduction and prayer sanctioned by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and used by Cardinal Hume to ordain former Anglican clergy in the 1990s. There had been some dismay expressed about this at the diaconal ordinations, but in fact Archbishop Nichols in his homily had warmly spoken of the contribution and and generous spirit of the Church of England in recognising the integrity of the three in their decision and onward journey, at the same time as recognising their distinguished ministry and episcopal service in the life of the Anglican Church. At the same time, he reaffirmed the Catholic Church's whole-hearted commitment to the visible unity of Christ's people in the hope that, according to the words of the Holy Father, the Ordinariate would serve this end in a "prophetic" way. Some of the priests afterwards discussed the omission of the prayer used previously to lead into the Litany of the Saints, but we felt that everything it had said was expressed far more fully by what Archbishop Nichols had said in his homily. We also felt, even those over whom that prayer had been said years before, that it was important at the ordination of the first priests of this almost radically new structure in the Church in this country that the three be ordained - and be seen to be ordained - according to the same rites of the Church as any other Roman Catholic priests - no more no less.

The three candidates for Catholic priesthood prostrated themselves and the Litany of the Saints was prayed. Someone said the congregation was mainly male. Perhaps it is that we have become a little used to not hearing so many men singing in Church, but the voices of women were no less strong and insistent at this solemn moment of prayer for three much loved pastors.

The solemn silence as first the Archbishop laid hands, almost visibly bringing down the Holy Spirit in his power upon Keith, then Andrew, then John, followed by Bishop Alan, Archbishop Longley, Bishop McMahon, and then the 100 priests was very long and moving. Nothing stirred; no one spoke; no mobile phones went off. If they did, no one noticed. One of the beautiful things about divine Liturgy is that it is full of moments, but in the fulness of time you lose track of time. After the Archbishop spoke the Prayer of Ordination, someone in the north of the nave loudly promoted a round of applause; but as we were in the middle of the Rite of Ordination few of the clergy joined in; and we proceeded with the investiture of the priestly stole and chasuble, conveyed up to the sanctuary by the three new priests's wives, Gill Newton, Judi Broadhurst and Cathy Burnham.

The hymn Veni Creator was interrupted for the Archbishop to anoint the newly invested priests and, when it was completed, it was the three nuns received alongside the three former bishops on New Year's Day who presented the gifts of the paten holding the bread and the chalice containing the wine mixed with water for the Archbishop to entrust to the three new priests in turn, as they all prepared to concelebrate the eucharistic sacrifice.

At this point, the Archbishop descended from before the High Altar and greeted each new priest with the Kiss of Peace. The other bishops followed suit and then the priests. Again there was silence and expectation as this proceeded, but now the atmosphere was more relaxed and the sense of prayer was of gladness and gratitude to God, something we priests as we exchanged the peace in turn with the new Fathers Keith, John and Andrew, our brothers in the service of the Body of Christ, were deeply aware of coming from the People.

For the Offertory chant, Charles Villiers Stanford's Beati quorum via integra est was sung, another admirable piece of the Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony now shared by the Catholic Church. Someone remarked that this motet was a tribute to the Oxford Movement and its appreciation of Latin Christianity, but Stanford was a convinced Church of Ireland Protestant and he had written the piece not for an Anglo-Catholic celebration but mindful of the Latin services of the Prayer Book in use in the university not of Oxford, but of Cambridge. It was published in 1905, 12 years after he had stepped down as Organist and Master of the Choristers at Trinity College, Cambridge, where for 19 years he revolutionised and just about re-invented choral singing in the liturgy of the Church of England.

The three new priests concelebrated with the Archbishop using the Roman Canon; the fourth concelebrant was Bishop Alan Hopes, Episcopal Delegate to the Ordinariate from the Bishops' Conference. The Sanctus was from Mass VIII, Missa de Angelis. Agnus Dei  was taken from the Missa O Magnum Mysterium by Tomas Luis da Victoria. The Communion Motet was Edward Elgar's Ave Verum Corpus, followed by the chant Ego vos elegi and the hymn - this time an English hymn from the Catholic spiritual patrimony - Henri F. Hémy's O Bread of Heaven.

Many of the priests asked to distibute the Holy Communion remarked afterwards that never in their experience had there been such a volume of people present, only a fraction of whom received the Sacrament. Fr Peter Geldard estimated afterwards that 90% of those who came to him asked for a blessing. Evidently a very large proportion of the 1500 present were Anglicans discerning their own personal journeys ahead.

Following the prayer after Communion, the Archbishop asked us to congratulate the new priests, having completed their ordination with the celebration of the Eucharist, and there was sustained and loud applause. After his pontifical blessing, the Archbishop went up to kiss the Altar and then immediately descended, removed his mitre and knelt before the three new priests to receive their first blessings as Catholic priests. This time the order was not alphabetical; Fr Keith as the new Ordinary went first.

Then the procession of the seminarians, the Metropolitan of the British Orthodox Church of the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria, Abba Seraphim as an ecumenical representative (and himself a former Anglican), followed by the deacons, priests and bishops left to Blessed John Henry Newman's Praise to the Holiest in the Height. Surely, the tune for this great hymn in the Anglican patrimony in full communion with the Catholic Church is now no longer Richmond, J.B. Dykes' Gerontius or Somervell's Chorus Angelorum, but definitively Billing by Richard Runciman Terry, Organist of Westminster Cathedral 1901-1924.

After the hymn, as the Procession was still making its way through the Cathedral to the Final Movement of Louis Vierne's First Organ Symphony, a deep cry of acclamation and cheering went up, the like of which I have never heard in Church before. Some thought it unseemly, but others saw it was the unbridled joy and hope of the people present. Afterwards, the Archbishop, who went to join the people in the Piazza outside, remarked upon how "jubilant" they were.

In the sacristy, the 100 priests awaited the return of their new brethren and there were several minutes of sustained applause. Bishop Alan, said "We bow to the Cross", then "Prosit", and it was done. Many of the servers, seminarians and clergy took turns to kneel before the new priests to receive their blessings, led by Bishop Alan and Archbishop Bernard.

In the reception in Archbishop's House, Archbishop Vincent once again warmly congratulated the three new Catholic priests and remarked on the historic and momentous excitement of the occasion. It was not only about three new priests God had given to his Church to do a new thing, but about the aspiration and joy of the people who were still gathered outside. In responding, Father Keith thanked Archbishop Nichols, Bishop Hopes and Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Someone asked, "Who was the Ordinary you swore obedience to?" "The Pope," said Fr Keith. And thus in paying tribute to the trust of the Holy Father in Frs Keith, John and Andrew, we all raised a glass in honour of Pope Benedict.

Ad Multos Annos - Vivat Pater Keith, Vivat Pater Ioannes, Vivat Pater Andreas.

After the Reception, Fr Geldard took me to the Library in Archbishop's House, to show me the chair in which he had sat opposite Cardinal Hume, two decades before, and with leaders of the League at the time opened up the question of a structure for Anglicans desiring to be Catholics to belong to the Catholic Church in a corporate structure for full communion. We felt deeply aware of how all the work and thinking then, the 500 or so priests who have been ordained in the Catholic Church from an Anglican background in the 1990s and since, the prayer and imagination of Cardinal Hume, the then Bishop Nichols and others at the time and others after - and the vigilance of the then Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict - and its issue in the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, had led to this great day.

Fr Mark Woodruff


Here is the Statement from Father Keith Newton, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

Here is the Statement of the Bishops' Conference of England & Wales

Ordinariate Imminent

We warmly congratulate the Revd John Broadhurst, the Revd Andrew Burnham and the Revd Keith Newton on their ordination to serve in the sacred order of deacons in the Catholic Church today, 13 January 2011, at Allen Hall. The three who will form the founding clergy of the Ordinariate, were presented for ordination to Bishop Alan Hopes by Mgr Seamus O'Boyle, Vicar General of the Diocese of Westminster, with the insertion of the words 'with the approval of the Holy See.'

The prayer created by the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship giving thanks for previous ordained Anglican ministry used in the past by Cardinal Hume was not employed.

Because the Ordinariate is not yet formally announced, the deacons are not 'acephalous clerics' nor of the diocese of Westminster. They were ordained under the direct authority of the Pope, the Archbishop of Westminster through Bishop Hopes acting on his behalf.

At the end of the Mass, the Bishop offered a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing over Mrs Broadhurst, Mrs Burnham and Mrs Newton.

Allen Hall generously arranged a reception afterwards, kindly staffed by students of the seminary. On behalf of the three newly ordained, the Revd Andrew Burnham proposed a toast in gratitude to the Seminary staff and students, Fr Tony Philpott, who had preached a fine homily on the diaconate and its grace of service as the core of all the working of the sacrament of Order, the support of the 16 concelebrating priests (many of whom were former Anglicans), the three deacons from the Seminary and the important role of encouragement and guidance played by Bishop Alan Hopes in a journey that has really been in process for six years. In response, Bishop Alan congratulated the newly ordained and proposed a toast to the Holy Father Pope Benedict, whose prophetic vision had brought about this new and hopeful opportunity.

In perhaps the most telling moment of the evening, Fr Roger Taylor, the Vice Rector, led the Seminary in singing Ad Multos Annos, traditionally sung to bid farewell to those leaving its precursor at Douai to go to their new ministry in penal times, when the prospect of danger and martyrdom were real. While the challenges and sacrifices today may be of a different nature, it was a poignant reminder of the Catholic Church's historic witness to the apostolic faith, the unity of the Church, the Mass and loyalty to the Apostolic See of Rome into which the three were now entering as servants and participants, and a moving sign that they were warmly embraced in the fellowship of the Church's ministry today and made part of a precious inheritance.

This picture taken during the Litany of the Saints is reproduced from the Ordinariate Watch blogsite with grateful ackonwledgement to our friends there.