Welcome to those coming in from other sites and a warm thanks to those who've linked to this post.
Before getting to the text of my initial thoughts on the apostolic constitution, here are some background pieces from the last couple weeks:
- Anglican Ordinariates: Let the Tabloid Phase Begin
- One Last Evensong: Converting the Heart
- Anglicans Looking Over: The Challenge of Authority and the Gifts of the Laity
- Variants of Anglican Worship (at the New Liturgical Movement)
- Not Quite So Fast on Cardinal Newman, Please
- High & Hazy, Low & Lazy, Broad & Crazy: Understanding Anglican Churchmanship
- Forward in Faith Assembly Day Two: As Encouraging as It Could Have Been
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And now, some initial thoughts on the text of the apostolic constitution:
Dating: The document is dated on the feast of the great practical reformer, St. Charles Borromeo, and released on the Dedication of the Lateran, the Pope's Cathedral and "Mother and Head" of all the world's churches. I'd had a hunch that today would be the day and I think it's most fitting.
Membership: The normal members of the ordinariate are both current and former Anglicans. This raises interesting possibilities and dilemmas for the numerous Anglican laity and clergy who have already crossed the river, who have disparate views of their Anglican past. I'll be interested to hear what a real canonist has to say about others who wish to join.
Governance: The structure will look familiar to Anglicans but be made to conform to canon law. The ordinariates, in many instances, hybridize the structures of ethnic national parishes with those of uniate churches. (Forgive the term.) The Anglican ordinaries may have less power than a diocesan bishop and have a number of relationships to negotiate, but in many respects, they will actually have more authority than does an Anglican bishop who, in many places, is limited to confirming people and confirming acts of the diocesan synod/convention. The question of who is appointed as ordinary in various places will likely be key to determining who comes in some cases--watch statements from the Traditional Anglican Communion, Forward in Faith UK, and others carefully.
Former Anglican Bishops: Former Catholic priests cannot exercise ministry nor can those in irregular marriages, which will effect some, but former Catholic laymen seem to be in, which will allay the anxiety of others. Even those who are not the ordinary are allowed to apply for pontificals, recognizing their former status. This is both pastoral and sensible. Mitred monsignors were once fairly common, so this is not a particular innovation.
Religious Communities: Anglican Use religious communities can be incardinated and established. That's an immediate bit of good news for the All Saints Sisters of the Poor and will have interesting implications down the road.
Liturgy: The door is left open here for worship "according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See.” Stay tuned, but it sounds as if there may be some flexibility. The Ordinary Use of the Roman Rite is explicitly allowed--a major concern for English Anglo-Catholics who've been using it for years--and, by implication, I believe that the Extraordinary Form seems to be allowed as well, which is certainly not unknown in Anglican circles.
Celibacy: Celibacy will be the norm, but the door does seem to be open a crack more than I thought last week's clarification implied. The case-by-case petitioning for married men makes no mention of a time limit or of their needing to be former Anglican clergy. I'll be interested to hear what others say.
Prospects: The Pope of Christian Unity's offer is even more magnanimous than I would have guessed. This is truly a great day for those who had hoped to enter full communion with the Holy See. But remember that last phrase is very important: short of something extraordinary, this is not a huge group and now that it is clear that former Anglicans will indeed be treated as something like an ethnic use returning to full communion, albeit a generously treated one, rather than as a church entering full communion, many will back away. The limitations on who may exercise ministry will be a stumbling block for others. That said, short of some miraculous scenario in which the Lambeth Conference of all the world's Anglican bishops signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church and voted to pursue reconciliation with the Holy See, I think that this is as generous a welcome as anyone could ever have realistically expected. Now we pray that hearts are opened instead of hardened.
