The South African Catholic blog Signum has an article reporting that TAC in UK accepts "Ordinariate"At the 2009 Assembly of the Traditional Anglican Communion UK, the following resolution was passed:
That this Assembly, representing the Traditional Anglican Communion in Great Britain, offers its joyful thanks to Pope Benedict XVI for his forthcoming Apostolic Constitution allowing the corporate reunion of Anglicans with the Holy See, and requests the Primate and College of Bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion to take the steps necessary to implement this Constitution.The Assembly also suggests Bishop Robert Mercer as a possible candidate for Ordinary.
I hear a lot of skeptical comments about the Holy Father's offer of Personal Ordinariates, with the conventional wisdom being that it will not really attract many people. So it is good to hear news of twenty or so parish communities that will be interested. The TAC asked for the provision in the first place so it is to be expected that they would be first off the mark; but I think that there may well be plenty more to follow in due course.
13 comments:
Bishop Mercer would be an excellent choice. I've met him several times in Portsmouth. An Anglican religious, he is very conservative and liturgically traditional.
What is a personal ordinariate and an Ordinary??
Coffee Catholic - there is a reasonably good Wikipedia article on this.
An ordinary is one who exercises a certain level of ecclesiastical authority - usually a Bishop but not necessarily.
That's all very good news, and they are very welcome. I get the impression, though, that the TAC is very small in England. The bigger question is what the Angloids who are are currently part of the mainstream C of E are going to do.
Well I, for one, don't really care how many come over to take up the Pope's offer.
I just want those that accept it to do it for the right reasons.
The TAC is very odd. Its current Primate is a twice-married former Catholic priest, and it has quite a number of ex-Catholics in it.
eeeejjjjj! :-D
The TAC is very odd. Its current Primate is a twice-married former Catholic priest, and it has quite a number of ex-Catholics in it.
And that precisely is the problem with the new ordinate. How sincere will the conversion of these "Traditional" Anglicans (who haven't seen themselves as anything but Non-Papal Catholics) be? Do we need any catch of people who are more bothered about lace and maniples than fighting for the rights of the church and conversion of England?
As I have an old friend who is an ex-Catholic now Anglican vicar (married with a young family)who is quite determined to come back into the Church under the Pope's recent proposals, I'm curious to know if anything concrete has been said on this issue? I would have thought that his having previously been a Catholic would be something of a barrier...perhaps this should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis?
Hestor - to talk of al lthe possible converts from Anglicanism as only being concerned with lace and maniples is a lazy insult. Many of the Anglicans convert clergy I have known have a solid theology and a sound spiritual life that would put many cradle Catholics to shame.
Hestor ~ have you had coffee after Mass with some "sincere Catholics" recently? Many of them have no grasp of the Faith at all.
They ARE an odd lot, the TAC. But they don't want to come over because of women bishops or anything. They went through that a generation ago. No, give them their due: they are sincere converts. In which case, they must accept everything that follows from being sincere converts.
Robert Mercer is unable to be an ordinary for Great Britain. The Apostolic Constitution states that an ordinariate must be set up within an episcopal conference. An 'Epsicopal Conference of Great Britain' does not exist. If he were to be an ordinary somewhere in the British state it would have to be either in Scotland or England and Wales which each has its own separate conference of bishops.
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