Anglicans are Coming: Archbishop Wuerl to Oversee Reception of Anglican Christians

Britain could have an Ordinariate by the end of the year

Britain could have an Ordinariate by the end of the year. The Rt Rev Keith Newton and the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham are pursuing the invitation which allows groups of Anglicans to come into full Communion with Rome without losing their Anglican identity. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith has named Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC to oversee the reception of Anglicans into the full communion of the Church. 

P>WASHINGTON, DC  (Catholic Online) - The Vicar of Christ and successor of the Apostle Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, just returned from an extraordinary pastoral visit to the United Kingdom. There, he beatified John Henry Cardinal Newman; the great Anglican turned Catholic Churchman, beloved by Catholic and Anglican Christians. The visit was extraordinary. This humble, diminutive Pope won the hearts of the faithful of the United Kingdom and opened the hearts of many others. The United Kingdom is still unpacking the historic implications of the visit. For the best treatment see the excellent reporting of Rocco Palmo.

One of the reasons the visit is of such significance is because it comes right at the time that the Anglican Community is fracturing, splintering and falling apart. Some within it are abandoning the ancient faith handed down to us from the apostles. To many Anglican Christians, this is a tragedy. So, the Vicar of Christ has offered a juridical structure which provides a place within the full communion of the Catholic Church where they could maintain their Anglican Ethos and be a part of a new missionary age in a restored Catholic Church, finding a safe harbor. 

I have followed the formal request of the Traditional Anglican Communion for full communion with the Catholic Church from the very beginning, writing extensively on its significance. I persisted in covering it after many news sources, including Catholic ones, dismissed the possibility that it would ever bring a positive response from Rome. We are dedicated to an authentically Catholic vision of ecumenism which recognizes the need for visible unity, with legitimate diversity, within the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I have closely followed the movement of Anglican Clergy and lay faithful toward the safe harbor that is found in the Bark of Peter. I have grieved along with many of them as their own Christian community was torn asunder by the rejection of both orthodoxy and orthopraxy. It is my conviction that the influx of these Anglican Christians into the full communion of the Catholic Church is a gift to the Catholic Church and the beginning of the coming full communion of the Church.

The depth of faith, life and worship found within the Catholic Church is sometimes not understood or even fully embraced by many of her own members. The Church is the Body of Christ, a communion. By virtue of our Baptism, we actually live in the Church. The lifelong process of conversion unfolds as we partake of the graces which are mediated through her Sacraments, feed on the Holy Eucharist and receive the Living Word of God which has been entrusted to her.

Contrary to some limited understandings of our age, Christianity is not about "Me and Jesus". The Christian faith is about me and you - and the entire world - IN Jesus. The Church is to become the home of the whole human race. She is the new world, the seed of the kingdom to come. There is no real Christianity without the Church. We now live our lives in a participation in the Trinitarian communion through our life in the communion of the Church. She is God's great gift to us in Jesus Christ. The Church is not simply an organization, not "Some - Thing", but "Some -One", the Risen Body of Christ. We are called make our home within her.

As members of this Risen Body of Christ we continue the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ our Head. We invite all men and women to come home. The Church, in the inspired words of the Apostolic Constitution which synthesize the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, is "an instrument of communion with God and of unity among all people." It was never the Lord's plan that His Body be divided. It is His plan that she recover a path toward full communion.

Disunity, in the words of the Second Vatican Council "openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages that most holy cause, the preaching of the Gospel to every creature." It is the Lord's plan that His Church be healed and come back into visible unity. These Anglican Christians have recognized this plan and responded with humility. They call us all to reflect upon our own understanding of our life within the One Church and the duty which our membership entails.

The Anglican Catholics coming into the full communion of the Catholic Church will be a leaven that leavens the whole loaf of the Catholic Church. They will call us to be more faithful to our identity as Catholic Christians. They will help us rediscover the legitimate diversity within the bedrock unity we have in fidelity to the Magisterium, the teaching office, of the Catholic Church. We certainly must embrace orthodoxy (right teaching) and orthopraxy (right practice). However, we are a Church with many beautiful liturgical expressions and there is room for legitimate distinctives.

Many Catholics do not know of the existence of differing liturgies within the One Catholic Church. As a Deacon, I have the privilege of serving at "Mass" (both Novus Ordo and extraordinary form) of the Western Rite. I also have permission to serve the beautiful "Divine Liturgy" of the Eastern or "Byzantine" Church. I have found in my diaconal ministry that many Catholics do not even know there are "Eastern" or "Byzantine" Catholics. They often do not know of our full recognition of the Orthodox Church or the movement toward the healing between Eastern and Western Christianity currently underway.

The Apostolic Constitution for Anglicans offered by Pope Benedict XVI to those seeking full communion - and the norms which accompany it - will integrate our brethren into full and visible unity with the One Catholic Church while allowing them to bring their gifts. It will also dramatically affect the ecclesial landscape of our Church going forward. This is the beginning of a new missionary age and the coming reunion of the Church. Breathing with both lungs, East and West, she will lead us into the future.

In the midst of the darkness of this hour the Catholic Church has done what she has done for over two millennia; shine the light of the Truth. The Church is not some optional organizational "extra" which we fashioned; she is the Body of Christ, the new world, the seed of the Kingdom to come, the place where all men and women can find their fulfillment and the path to authentic peace. She is God's Plan for the whole human race. The prayer of the Son of God "May They Be One" (John 17) echoes. The Anglicans are coming and we should all say "Welcome Home". This is the first chapter in the coming reunion of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Writing for the UK Catholic herald, Anna Arco reported some great news on Friday, September 24, 2010, "Britain could have an Ordinariate by the end of the year, it emerged today.Sources say that the Rt Rev Keith Newton, the flying bishop of Richborough and the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, the flying Bishop of Ebbsfleet will take up the special canonical structure, which allows groups of Anglicans to come into full Communion with Rome without losing their Anglican identity, before the end of the calendar year. Groups of Anglicans are already forming across the country in preparation for joining an ordinariate, according to the blog of the retired Bishop of Richborough, the Rt Rev Edwin Barnes."

In the United States, the Conference of Catholic Bishops announced that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith has named Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC to oversee the reception of Anglicans into the full communion of the Church through the Apostolic Constitution for Anglicans. 

The Bishops noted that, "In this position, [Wuerl] is a delegate of the congregation and heads the U.S. bishops' ad hoc committee charged with assisting CDF in implementing the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. Pope Benedict XVI issued the document in November 2009 to provide for establishing personal ordinariates for Anglican groups who seek to enter corporately into full communion with the Catholic Church.

"The personal ordinariate is a canonical structure similar to a diocese that covers the area of a bishops' conference. This permits the incoming Anglicans to be part of the Catholic Church while maintaining aspects of their Anglican heritage and liturgical practice. Interested Anglicans are asked to contact Archbishop Wuerl through the Washington Archdiocese."

First out of the gate to respond to this extraordinary moment is the "Cathedral of the Incarnation" in Orlando, Florida. The entire parish has applied for reception sending this letter :

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Cathedral of the Incarnation
Diocese of the Eastern United States
Anglican Church in America
Orlando, Florida
September 8, 2010

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

With profound gratitude and filial respect to the Successor of St. Peter, the Chapter of the Cathedral of the Incarnation warmly receives the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.

Having prayerfully considered the aforementioned papal legislation, along with its associated Complementary Norms, and with due regard for the accompanying canonical commentary by Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, S.J., Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University (all published under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on November 4, 2009) and recognizing in the Holy Father's most generous response to the pleas of various Anglican groups our common desire and holy commitment to achieve the reconciliation of our small flock with the Catholic Church in a corporate fashion and with due regard to our own precious Anglican Patrimony, the Cathedral Chapter now unanimously resolves:

1. that the Bishop of the Diocese of the Eastern United States, the Dean of the Cathedral, and Officers of the Chapter be authorized to communicate directly with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) or its authorized liaison for the territory of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on behalf of the Cathedral of the Incarnation to the end that the Cathedral parish eventually be received in its integrity into the full communion of the Catholic Church through an Anglican Personal Ordinariate as envisioned by Anglicanorum Coetibus; and,

2.  that the text of this Resolution be published immediately on the parish web site and the online journal, The Anglo-Catholic, with copies to be posted directly to the Holy Father, William Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the authorized liaison for the United States of America.

Signed,

Very Rev. Fr. Mark Siegel
Dean of the Cathedral

Christian Clay Campbell
Rector's Warden

Ernest Parker
People's Warden

As an expression of the unanimity of the Bishop and Parish Clergy, the Chapter welcomes their signatures to this Resolution.

Rt. Rev. Louis Campese
Bishop of the Eastern United States (ACA)

Fr. William "Doc" Holiday
Senior Curate

Fr. Scott Whitmore
Curate

Fr. Jason McCrimmon
Curate

Make no mistake; we are living in historic and prophetic times. The Anglicans are coming and the Catholic Church will be enriched by their presence as full members. And Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman is smiling from his place within the full communion of the blessed in heaven. We have only begun to see the wonders of heaven for the sake of the world which God still loves so much that He sends His Only Son, through His Body, His Church.

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