The Next Ordinariate?

The question now mulling around is where (if there is to be any) will the next Ordinariate be erected? What began in the heartland of Anglicanism, in England and Wales on 1 January 2011, as an initiative to unite and bring disaffected Anglicans into the safe fold of the Catholic Church, has spread to the US (and Canada), and as of today, Australia. It’s a logical sort of progression: Extension into lands that were all at one time part of the British Empire, and thus to where the influence of the Church of England has reached, and is still well felt to this very day. Anglicans, Continuing Anglicans and Episcopalians are the intent behind the apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus. So following the geographic extent of the now worldwide Anglican Communion seems to be key in order for us to stay abreast of the historic narrative unfolding before our eyes. And unfolding it is… As a canonical structure within the Roman Catholic Church, the Ordinariate continues to grow and development, not just where established or delimited geographically, but also by spreading into new and other territories.

Here is a rather interesting world map showing the Provinces of the Anglican Communion in Blue (the other colours are Churches now in full communion with the Anglican Church):

The ‘official line’ of course is that there needs to be sufficient interest to warrant the establishment of a Personal Ordinariate in any given place. In Canada however, where numbers are low, groups exist as Sodalities, with incorporation into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, but a prayerful future possibility. One can only wonder about figures in Australia (New Zealand and the Torres Strait?). It may well be a little too early for such wild speculation, however all indications in the present are that numbers will be (are) small. But then again, as Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson once put it when describing that which lay before him: ‘I’m basically starting a new diocese from nothing … from scratch.’ So then there is always plenty of room for both growth and development, especially when you are starting from scratch.

Now with the above in mind, dare one then venture to ask the question: ‘where next?’ A lot of people have already. Perhaps we can even do a little poll? But before we do, let’s first allow for a few obvious suggestions:

1)  Africa. Africa, it would appear is the next most likely place for the erection of an Ordinariate. In fact, there are already whispers in the corridors of power… But only that: little whispers. Of course God – and this is against the naysayers – never ceases to amaze and/or confound the best of human wisdom. Anglicanism is big, vibrant and strong in Africa. Orthodox in many parts too. The dissatisfaction with theological matters in the West, or the ‘apostasy’ as they have come to call it, has caused the African Anglican bishops to rally around the Global South, a group of Provinces all coming from so-called ‘Third World’ countries. They are conservative. One obvious exception would be South Africa, which has largely embraced the liberalism of the West and is well affiliated with the USA’s Episcopal Church. But it is exactly that malaise that causes Anglicans to question their theological position.

I couldn’t help but notice a passing question posed by Fr Peter Geldard in the last Portal Magazine:

‘Seeds sown in different parts of the worldwide Communion may take generations to materialise. As we rejoice – and thank God – for the Ordinariate in Australia, our thoughts and prayers must be: Where next?

When I visited South Africa in the past, I was often reminded of Archbishop Fisher’s words that the Anglican Church there once “was the jewel in the Anglo-Catholic crown”.

Is anyone in that Province listening and responding. . . I wonder?’

2. India. Anglicanism on the subcontinent is complex. The Church of South India (Anglican) is India’s second largest Christian church, after the Roman Catholic Church. Along with the Church of North India, the Church of Pakistan, and the Church of Bangladesh, it is one of the four united Churches in the region. The sheer volume of Anglicans may in and of self, suggests a level of interest. Further, the Traditional Anglican Communion’s Acting Primate currently resides in India. As the TAC’s largest Province, and being traditional Anglo-Catholic in theology and liturgical practice, their very existence and size would indeed lend credence to the now supposed presence of disaffected Anglicans.

3. Japan. It would seem most unlikely. Maybe a connection could be established with the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, down-under. But numbers would be negligible at best.

4. South America. Anglicans in South America are very thinly spread. It is one of the smaller Provinces in the Anglican Communion in terms of size and numbers. Latin American countries are and remain primarily Catholic.

So what say ye?

One last point. I think that the appointment of Fr Harry Entwistle today as the first Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross clearly dispels the myth that TAC Clergy are ‘inferior’. It now clearly all boils down to individuals and their suitability for Ordination in the Catholic Church. Are there impediments or not? That is the question.

 

St John the Baptist’s Bones? Again

The Huffington Post has some not so new – for those of us following things archaeological – news:

London – It’s a tantalizing find in a Biblical mystery – Oxford University researchers have concluded that a set of skeletal remains which many Bulgarians attribute to John the Baptist probably belonged to a first century male from the Middle East.

While that doesn’t prove that the bones belonged to the man revered by Christians as the forerunner to Jesus, it does mean that those who believe the relics are the remains of the first century saint have a scientific case.

The discovery of a sarcophagus containing a knuckle bone, a tooth, a skull fragment and other remains under an ancient church on an island off Bulgaria’s coast – paired with a small urn bearing a Greek-language reference to John the Baptist – drew enormous interest when it was announced in two years ago.

Officials didn’t wait for scientific evaluation before offering the relics up for public view; thousands waited for hours to catch a glimpse of the bones when they were displayed in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital.

Oxford professor Thomas Higham, whose lab subjected the bone fragments to radiocarbon dating and DNA sequencing, said he was skeptical at first.

“We didn’t expect results that would be consistent with the expected – or hoped for – results of our Bulgarian colleagues,” he said in a telephone interview.  But he promised that the find, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, would stand up to scrutiny.

“We’re very confident about the genetics,” he said.

According to Christian tradition, John the Baptist foresaw the coming of Jesus and baptized him in the River Jordan. The ascetic desert-wandering prophet was later imprisoned and beheaded after criticizing the ruler of Galilee, Herod Anitpas.

Higham’s Oxford colleague Georges Kazan, who has traced the tortured history of John the Baptist’s remains, said it was possible that his relics could have ended up under the fourth century monastery on St. Ivan’s Island (Ivan is the Slavic word for John.)

Nearby Constantinople – now known as Istanbul – was then at the center of the Christian world and the surrounding area was “full of monks and holy relics,” he said. St. Ivan’s Island, along an important Black Sea trade route, would have been made sense as a place to store the saint’s bones.

Then again, Kazan said he had identified more than 25 purported relics of John the Baptist scattered across the world, including 11 purporting to come from his head. Most appear to be bone fragments – i.e. part of a jaw – although some pieces are large enough that they they’re unlikely to be from the same person.

Higham said that, inevitably, some of the relics wouldn’t stand up to scientific scrutiny.

“There are about eight or nine skulls of John the Baptist out there,” he said. “They can’t be all John the Baptist.”

Higham’s research was funded with a grant from National Geographic, whose channel is due to air a documentary on the find, entitled “Head of John the Baptist,” this Sunday.

 

Msgr Jeffrey Steenson on News of Australian Ordinariate

U.S. Ordinary welcomes news of Australian Ordinariate:

Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, Ordinary of the U.S.-based Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, welcomed the announcement that a personal Ordinariate is to be established in Australia on June 15, 2012:

“The news that the Holy Father will establish a Personal Ordinariate in Australia, the third in the world, is truly wonderful, as it marks another important step toward Catholic unity.

“I offer my prayers, good wishes and encouragement to all those who will become part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, and I  pledge the support of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.”

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross will be the third Personal Ordinariate created by Pope Benedict XVI following the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus to serve Anglican groups and clergy seeking to become Catholic while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage and tradition.

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established by Pope Benedict XVI on January 1, 2012, and is based in Houston, Texas. Sixty Anglican priests are in formation to be ordained Catholic priests. The first ordinations will be in June 2012.

 

Holy See Establishes Ordinariate in Australia

The news (on this blog) is here.

The Catholic Herald:

Pope Benedict XVI has established a personal ordinariate in Australia and named a Lancashire-born former bishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) to lead it.

The ordinariate, the world’s third for Anglicans wishing to become Catholic while retaining some of their Anglican heritage, is known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross. It was erected today, June 15.

Fr Harry Entwistle, who was born in Chorley, Lancashire, was ordained a Catholic priest today and named as the ordinariate’s leader.

Fr Entwistle had previously served as a bishop in the TAC, a communion of traditional Anglican groups that had broken away from the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The 72-year-old priest studied at St Chad’s Theological College at Durham University and served as chaplain at Wandsworth prison in south-west London before emigrating to Australia.

He said: “Pope Benedict has made it very clear that unity between Christians is not achieved by agreeing on the lowest common denominator, and those entering an ordinariate accept the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the authoritative expression of the Catholic faith.

“Membership is open to former Anglicans who accept what the Catholic Church believes and teaches; former Anglicans who have previously been reconciled to the Catholic Church but who now wish to reconnect with their Anglican spiritual heritage and those baptised in the Catholic Church who have close family members who belong to the ordinariate.”

“As the ordinariate is in organic unity with the Catholic Church, Western and Eastern Catholics are welcome to worship and receive communion in an ordinariate Mass and vice versa,” he said.

 

Fr Harry Entwistle Named as the Ordinary! Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross Erected in Australia

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross has been erected in Australia. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has a statement:

Personal Ordinariate of our Lady of the Southern Cross erected in Australia

Media Release

15 June, 2012

This evening 15 June, 2012, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI officially erected the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury.

Ordinariates have thus far been erected in England and the United States and are the response of Pope Benedict to Anglicans who have been petitioning the Holy See to enter into full corporate unity with the Catholic Church while retaining essential elements of their heritage.

The first ordination to the Catholic priesthood to serve in the Ordinariate took place this evening at St Mary’s Cathedral in Perth when former Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) Bishop Harry Entwistle was ordained a Catholic priest and also named as the first Ordinary.

Following his ordination this evening by Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, Fr Harry Entwistle will be the leader of the Personal Ordinariate in Australia.

His jurisdiction as the Ordinary is equivalent in law to a Diocesan Bishop.

Fr Entwistle has been serving as a Bishop in Western Australia since 2006, and is married to Jean. They have two adult children.

Fr Entwistle is honoured to have been chosen to lead the Ordinariate and explained that it is a wonderful privilege and step towards unity between the Churches.

“Pope Benedict has made it very clear that unity between Christians is not achieved by agreeing on the lowest common denominator, and those entering an Ordinariate accept the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the authoritative expression of the Catholic faith”, said Fr Entwistle.

“Membership is open to former Anglicans who accept what the Catholic Church believes and teaches; former Anglicans who have previously been reconciled to the Catholic Church but who now wish to reconnect with their Anglican spiritual heritage and those baptised in the Catholic Church who have close family members who belong to the Ordinariate.”

“As the Ordinariate is in organic unity with the Catholic Church, Western and Eastern Catholics are welcome to worship and receive communion in an Ordinariate mass and vice versa”, he said.

More information about Fr Harry Entwistle including his Curriculum Vitae is available at

www.catholic.org.au

For media enquiries, please contact Beth Doherty on media@catholic.org.au or 0407 081 256

The above is in pdf. here.

The Decree from the Holy Father (pdf.) is here.

And the Curriculum Vitae of Fr Harry Entwistle (pdf.) is here.

 

TTAC News

The TTAC newsletters for June:

My Dear Friends,

One of the most striking features of the Queens Diamond Jubilee year has been the constant reference about her as a person and the character of her long reign described as an unprecedented period of service to this nation and to the commonwealth.

Service to her peoples and to God has been the constant theme throughout and coupled to the other most enduring aspect of her life and character that of dedication, has made her reign all the more remarkable and attractive to many.

Service to God is an essential ingredient to the lives of all Christian people, it is a part of the foundation upon which we exist in the world that is to serve God and his peoples in all of our thinking and our actions.

What unites all Christians is this very essential element of our daily lives, that is to place God first and foremost and to serve him to the very best of our ability in every situation that we face.

One other element of our Queens reign has been her steadfast believe in the word Duty, again she has demonstrated with great admiration her constancy in Service, Dedication and Duty. Duty is also a none negotiable option in the lives of all Christians, we are duty bound to serve God in whatever task he asks us to do.

The TAC has emerged from a long and dark chapter in its recent history and we all praise and thank Almighty God for that. However it remains challenged on many fronts and still needs to deal with ongoing distractions and related issues.

However, if we stand fast firm and resolute and follow the example as set by our Queen, everything will be resolved as God commands and orders. We are united now and the bonds of love and friendship between us all both at home and abroad will begin to flourish and grow.

I am delighted that we now have a new dedicated web site for the TAC, you can find it by going to www.traditionalanglicancommunion.org. There you will find the voice of the Communion that reflects accurately our position on the current issues and the positive message for the future. Please take time to read it and digest its contents.

Regarding our own Web site, the “new” site which is currently under construction will go live at the beginning of July; the link to our existing site will be transferred to the “new” site at the same time.

May Almighty God Bless You All,

In Christ Jesus,

Fr.lan.

The above is in pdf. here.

 

The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart

19 days after Pentecost Sunday, on the Friday after the octave of the Feast of Corpus Christi, we have the Catholic Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. The day is a timely reminder of Jesus’ unconditional love and boundless mercy as symbolised by his heart.

 

Collect:

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who glory in the Heart of your beloved Son and recall the wonders of his love for us, may be made worthy to receive an overflowing measure of grace from that fount of heavenly gifts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever

 

Australian History Being Made with the Launch of the Ordinariate

UPDATE:  Fr Harry Entwistle named Ordinary

Australia Incognita:

Today is the official launch of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, which i under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury.

And it officially gets underway with the priestly ordination of former Anglican Bishop Harry Entwhistle, and reception into the

Church of around 70 members of his congregation, in Perth tonight at the Cathedral at 7pm.
So if you are in Perth, do go along and show your support.

Regardless, please keep all those preparing to enter the Church, and those being ordained, in your prayers.

Please pray also for those who have so far rejected the invitation to enter or return to the Church, that their hearts might yet soften.

And please do especially remember Bishop Peter Eliot, who has been the lead on this for the Church in Australia, and whose anniversary of consecration as a bishop it is today.

 

Being ‘Still’

(Fr) Chori Jonathin Seraiah writes:

Someone asked me today why I had not posted anything about my diaconal ordination that occurred this last Sunday (June 10th, 2012). It is not as though I did not want to say anything about it (for any who want to see pictures, the Diocese of Des Moines has posted some here ). And though I have been very busy, that is not the reason either. I have actually been a bit overwhelmed at what is happening.

Being overwhelmed can lead one to exasperation and frustration, or it can lead one to inner contemplation. Thankfully, the latter has happened to me recently. In this contemplation I have found less to say because I realize more fully than ever before (and I attribute this to the grace of the Spirit) that this whole thing is not about me. I am a part of a historic event, yes, but I am also merely a servant of God; He is what it is all about. I do not like talking about myself unless it can help others to grow closer to Christ. So, here are some reflections on my experience of the past three days.

My inner contemplations have also helped me to see better the drastic contrast that exists between the peace that I now feel, and the the chaos that is so prevalent in much of Christendom today, especially in America. We are such a busy society that our culture has slowly assumed the necessity of being busy. This is especially challenging for me since I am something of a workaholic. I do not think I am actually obsessed with my work, as some are, but I will admit that I do not “rest” very well. I have to force myself to do so (a movie works well in this regard, but I do not want to become a “vidiot” either).

“Be still, and know that I am God” has always been a tough verse for me personally. I do not mind being patient while I wait for God to work (I have lots of practice at that), but sitting still is much harder than doing something to pass the time. We are inundated today with temptations that prevent us from sitting still. Grocery stores have tv’s hanging from the ceilings, video screens playing commercials on the end of most aisles, and background music from three different directions. How hard it has become to find a place where we truly can “be still”. Parents who do not see this clearly are often crippling their children’s spirits without knowing it. Allowing them anything that gives a constant stream of distraction (internet, tv, music, etc.) numbs the mind to the discipline of “being still”.

One of the reasons that I have thought about this lately is because of something that happened during my recent ordination to the diaconate. Laying prostrate on that cold marble floor of the Cathedral while the litany of the saints was being sung is an experience I will never forget. Face down, arms outstretched, and pleading with God to make me the clergyman He wants me to be; it is truly a time to “be still”. Although you do not need to spend time prostrate on the floor of a Cathedral, when was the last time that you were intentionally “still” before God? Parents may have to have someone else watch the children, and those who live in mixed homes may need to find another location. Certainly silent Eucharistic adoration is a good way that this is done, but it is not the only one, and if we use it as an excuse to avoid “holy silence” at other times, then we are missing out on a wonderful blessing.

As I read and hear about things afoot in Anglicanism, I am greatly saddened by it. I want nothing to do with all the in-fighting and the denominational politics. Yes, I know that the Catholic Church is not free from disagreements and power struggles, but I also know that now I can stand completely confident that I rest in the grace of God. When I am able to “be still” it has an entirely different context. The background noise and inner static is gone. I am a member of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and there is no doubt about the validity of the sacraments. I hurt for my Anglican brethren who are still trying to find their place, and I do pray that they can also find how to “be still” as I have. Whether that is your situation or not, seek to find regular time to “be still” and know that He is God; after all, it is all about Him.