Church Planting For The 21st Century - The Christian Challenge

Vatican Plans Outreach To
Disaffected Anglo-Catholics
Report/Analysis By Lee Penn
As divisions widen in the U.S.-based Episcopal Church
and beyond, some reports say the Roman Catholic Church is
drawing up plans to reach out to traditionalists in and outside
of the “official” Anglican Communion.
In mid-November, The Sunday Times of London and other
sources said that Pope Benedict XVI is “keen” on outreach to
conservative Anglicans who have been antagonized by their
church’s stance on women priests and homosexuality, and
hopes to welcome them into the Roman Catholic Church.
The Sunday Times said that Fr. Joseph Augustine di Noia,
undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith, has led a team analyzing the current schism in the Anglican
world, and preparing a dossier on the most effective
means of attracting orthodox Anglicans.
Remaining unclear at this writing was just how serious or
imminent an initiative was in view, and what form the outreach
to Anglicans might take. Rome’s historic relations with the
Anglican Communion are likely to be a tempering factor in
whatever is envisioned. There was speculation, however, that
Rome might offer an expansion of the “Pastoral Provision,”
possibly by the creation of a “personal prelature” for Anglicans
who wish to reunite with the Catholic Church.
UNDER THE PASTORAL PROVISION, approved
by the Pope for the U.S. (only) in 1980, Catholic dioceses in
America can allow “Anglican Use” parishes - congregations
which use a modified Anglican liturgy - led by former Anglican
and Episcopal priests who switched to the Roman Catholic
Church and were accepted as candidates for ordination. These
priests may be married, in an exception to the disciplinary rule
that Latin-rite Catholic priests must be celibate. More than
70 former Anglican clergy have been ordained as Catholic
BRIEFS Continued
were found on his computer.” On October 7, a church employee
found pornographic images of pre-teen boys on a laptop computer
that Tate had lent to him. On October 9, Christ Church
officials demanded Tate’s resignation, and evicted him from the
apartment that he had on church grounds. However, according
to The New York Times, “the church did not report what it found
to law enforcement authorities and did not secure the computer
that had the images.” As a result, “subpoenas have been issued
and the focus of a federal investigation has broadened beyond
Tate to include others who may have been responsible for how
the situation has been handled. It is not clear who notified the
authorities.” Christ Church has been a home parish for the
Bush family. Former President George H. W. Bush attended
services there during his childhood, and the funeral services
for his parents (Prescott Bush Sr. and Dorothy Walker Bush),
were held there. The parish, with 1,500 families as members,
has a 300-year history. It is one of the largest congregations in
the Diocese of Connecticut, and reportedly has sponsored an
internationally recognized chorale program with five childrens’
choirs. – The Living Church/The New York Times/The Associated Press/Stamford
Advocate/Episcopal News Service
0 November-December 2006 The Christian Challenge www.challengeonline.org
priests under the Provision (most recently, Frs. Alvin kimel
and Dwight Longenecker).
Anglican Use parishes, however, are so far considerably
fewer in number. Just seven such parishes exist, in Massachusetts,
South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. They employ
an Anglican-style liturgy, as set forth in the Vatican-approved
Book of Divine Worship, and allow those who wish to enter
the Catholic Church to retain - in part - their Anglican traditions
and customs.
There is no comparable provision in Canada, but six married
former Anglican priests are now serving Catholic parishes
there.
A personal prelature is a jurisdiction whose subjects are
defined by affiliation rather than by geography (as is usual
with dioceses). Thus far, the only personal prelature in the
Catholic Church is Opus Dei. It operates as a parallel organization
churchwide, reporting to the Vatican directly and outside
the control of diocesan bishops.
It may or may not be significant that the Pastoral Provision
leadership includes two Opus Dei clergy. Archbishop John Myers
of Newark is a member of Opus Dei Priestly Society of the Holy
Cross. Myers’ secretary in the Pastoral Provision is another Opus
Dei priest, Fr. William Stetson. Archbishop Myers is in charge
of the Pastoral Provision, though the ultimate responsibility
for it lies with Cardinal William J. Levada, the Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
Myers’ predecessor as the head of the Pastoral Provision
in the U.S. was Cardinal Bernard Law, who held that post
from 1981 until his recent move to Rome, after resigning as
leader of the scandal-ridden Archdiocese of Boston. Cardinal
Law, now the Archpriest of the Church of St. Mary Major in
Rome, will offer an Evensong service in September 2007 for
those who join a Pastoral Provision pilgrimage to Europe. Law
will be joined in this celebration by “other invited cardinals
and...high clergy.”
*FROM THE CONTINUING CHURCH comes word that
the Rt. Rev. Council Nedd II and the Diocese of the Chesapeake
and Northeast were unanimously received into the Episcopal
Missionary Church (EMC) during the latter’s recent synod in
Columbus, Ohio. Formed as a missionary endeavor in 2004, the
Diocese of the Chesapeake reportedly has seven churches and
missions and two foundations. The synod also was attended by
representatives of Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation for
Anglicans in North America, a mission of the Nigerian Church,
and of Presiding Bishop Walter Grundorf of the Anglican Province
of America. The EMC is led by Bishop William Millsaps, based
in Tennessee.
OF GENERAL INTEREST:
*SUPPORTING THE LONG-CHERISHED EUROPEAN
CONCEPT of free speech, a court ruled October 26 that a Danish
newspaper did not libel Muslims by printing cartoons of the
Prophet Mohammed. In October, the City Court in Aarhus said
it could not be ruled out that some Muslims had been offended
by the 12 drawings printed in Jyllands-Posten, but said there was
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