The Next Ordinariate?
June 15, 2012 37 Comments
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.
About Fr Stephen Smuts
In Africa with Fr. Smuts as an ordinary
Perish the thought! See, now you’ll get me into more trouble
But for what it’s worth, I know there would be far more experienced, wiser and holier men than I. I’m too young (if pushing 40 is to be considered young), foolish and happy… as I am.
Strangely, I’d say South America, as the 2 TAC Bishops there are (amongst the few) still committed to the ordinariate, and I heard there are a good number of TAC folks in Puerto Rico.
Another possibility is the Torres Strait as a separate ordinariate from Australia, Bishop Nona’s dream. Fr. Barnier stated that the people in charge in Melbourne are envisionning this possibility.
Bishop Hepworth stated in his much controversial letter that Bishop Samuel Banzana in South-Africa is still committed to the ordinariate vision… But you’re surely better placed than me to confirm or infirm this, aren’t you?
+ PAX et BONUM
I think there are three TAC communities in Puerto Rico with one bishop and four or five priests. Bishop Rodriguez of TACLAP stilll committed to the ordinariate? sure?
I defend the option of Africa.
For a real challenge, try India. I’m sure that our faith will be tested there rigorously. Though SSPX already has made good progress in their projects over there, I wish some Anglo-Catholics would REPRESENT! (On the plus side, India’s already somewhat aware with the Anglican Rites, maybe? Because of the British Raj and all? I don’t know anything about the Anglican Communion over there.)
I and hopefully Cairns Parish will enter OLSC and join Torres Strait Ordinariate when erected.
As I said in another place there are problems and things are very slow but we are confident there will be a TS Ordinariate.
Re Japan: A retired Anglican Bishop and 4 clergy. They are in the same situation as Scotland and Canada: not enough people to have an ordinariate (though a Bishop-liaison had been appointed in those 2 dominions, +Tartaglia in Scotland and +Collins in Toronto) but still there is enough interest to permit the erection of personal parishes a foreign (or in the case of UK, “foreign”) ordinary has specially delegated jurisdiction on.
+ PAX et BONUM
The other thing that the appointment of Fr. Entwistle shows, is that any Ordinary appointed, at least in new Ordinariates, will have been a bishop in the Anglican community before entering the Catholic Church’s communion. I think this is a determined move on the part of the Holy Father and the CDF to show respect toward the Anglican Communion, and this recognition and respect is simply a modern instance of the same respect reflected in the final words of Leo XIII’s Apostolicae Curae.
Apostolicae Curae.
Doesn’t take long for the triumphalists to show up.
OFP, I think you mistake my meaning. The latter part of AC which I quoted hardly is “triumphalist”. I see it as recognizing the value and dignity of the the Anglican ministry and see later papal pronouncements and actions, from Popes Paul VI, JP II and Benedict XVI as in the same trajectory.
No member of the Anglican Communion would recognise Fr Entwistle as a bishop, as his consecration took place in the context of the TAC, so respect toward the Anglican Communion is not at issue here. I think it is members of TAC that can feel some satisfaction that it is not being sidelined, although Fr Entwistle’s association with the “continuing” movement was relatively brief.
Well, he was a TAC Bishop for 6 years, I wouldnt call that brief. And regarding his sacerdotal ordination in the Canterbury Communion, well, anyway most Continuing Priests (at least in the US and Australia) are former Canterburians or Romans.
+ PAX et BONUM
I think you should ask rather than make an unsubstantiated claim. Like Robert Mercer he was a bishop and a good one I understand
“No member of the Anglican Communion would recognise Fr Entwistle as a bishop, as his consecration took place in the context of the TAC.”
Absolutely untrue.
“Unsubstantiated” in what sense? Fr Mercer was a bishop of the Anglican Communion before joining a “continuing” body. Fr Entwistle, on the other hand, was consecrated by John Hepworth and other ACCA bishops who would not be recognized as such by the Anglican Church of Australia.
Hopefully the next ordinariate will be Canada’s. Yes, our number’s are small but some say we’re comparable to Australia in that regard, and in the last few months the obstacles to the establishment of the various ordinariate groups across our fair northern Dominion have all fallen away. There is no real reason we couldn’t have an ordinariate erected here, proper to Canada.
I agree. Most of our communities are already self-supporting, i.e. able to pay our bills including clergy stipends.
I guess it depends on the definition of “stipend.” St Edmond’s,Good Shepherd, and the Tyendinaga community have about 10 members each. The sodality in Victoria has perhaps 25 lay members and 5 (former) clergy. From the data available at OpenCharity.ca and such sites it appears unlikely that most ACCC parishes were ever able to pay clergy more than an honorarium. And before St John the Evangelist Calgary, by far the largest Canadian AU parish, pulled the bulletins from its website I noted that it was showing a significant budget shortfall every week, so “self-supporting” may also be open to debate. That parish has to exercise its option to buy the building in the next five years.
“it was showing a significant budget shortfall every week”
Actually it is not true. I was also intrested in their financial standing and only two or three last bulletins showed slight deficit (and even that only excluding some ‘special funds’ allocated for missionary support in Africa, flowers, etc.), mostly e.g. because of lower attendance due to some state holiday (and a long weekend for going away), while a number of previous bulletins showed regular surplus. Overall, it seemed very sound financially.
CC : Since the figures are no longer there I guess it will have to be a case of conflicting memories. Why do we think the Bulletins and Notices were pulled?
Probably because it’s neither your business nor mine, just of their parishioners’ (who get hard copies). Too much unnecessary information on the net often provokes unfriendly comments.
Well, some recent Notices are back up. You can now draw your own conclusions about whether the shortfall is “significant” or “slight”. Service bulletins are also available. I am interested in hearing from someone knowledgeable about conformity or lack thereof to the BDW, Canadian version.
Well, now there is not really much data for conclusions – just two weeks, one at even and one in the red due to low attendance. Anyway, they wouldn’t invest in purchasing and renovating a new costly tabernacle, if they felt really desperate about money, would they?
I cannot comment on the priorities of this parish, about which I have no first hand knowledge, but if your point was that NO parish would fritter money on expensive holy hardware while it went into deficit you must have led a very sheltered parochial life.
Pingback: Comment on the Appointment of Fr. Harry Entwistle | Catholic Canada
I personally know all the clergy and members who would form an ordinariate here in Japan, and the numbers are very small. Of course, the bigger obstacle is language. A few of the clergy can speak English, but as a rule, the Anglicans in Japan worship in the Japanese language with a Japanese prayerbook and hymnal. New texts would have to be in Japanese. All the Ordinariates so far have been in English speaking countries. I hope the obstacles can be overcome, because I’m ready to join if it makes it this far.
There may be some hope for you yet: http://frstephensmuts.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/former-tac-bishop-to-be-the-head-of-the-new-australian-ordinariate/. Read the last sentence, with hope and anticipation…
Wow, that arrangement has been discussed here in the past, and I’m happy to see it is still being mulled. Great news! Really curious how they would handle the language issue. Maybe we’d better learn to speak Australian…
On second thought, a lot of Japanese text would not have to be modified at all to be in line with the Catholic Church. The Japanese Anglicans and Catholics already use the same Bible translation, and have jointly come up with a common version of the Lord’s Prayer which is used by both Anglicans and Catholics. And the retired Anglican bishop who heads the Japanese TAC group hoping to join the ordinariate was also one of the men who worked on the current Japanese Book of Common Prayer, and I am told they also consulted Catholic sources such as the Liturgy of the Hours when producing it.
@ Christopher.
It is a numbers game. Just as with tradtitional dioceses, every Ordinariate is expected to be self-supporting. So to justify a separate Ordinariate there have to be sufficient parishes to support the administrative superstructure.
So one can predict the Canadian path – first a deanery (already planned). If the Deanery grows, no doubt the Dean will in due course be made a Monsignor and designated as an Assistant Ordinary. If there is more organic growth then it can be hived off and the Deanery erected as a separate ordinariate. The same pattern is routine in mission territories and it was also that of the re-estabilshment of the Catholic hierachy in England and Wales.
If the single COP Ordinariate fulfills its promise one might expect initially separate deaneries and in God’s good time separate ordinariates for differrent regions of the USA After all, in an ideal world, one would not expect a priest to have to take a transcontinental flight for the annual chrism mass of his diocese.
Funnily, the “Provincial Episcopal Vistors” of the Anglo-Catholc parishes in the CofE were quickly nick-named “Flying Bishops”. The Ordinaries of the COP and OLSC Ordinariates wiill very quickly transform that nickname into reality. Just imagine how many air miles Mgr Steenson may have to clock up to minister to his present Ordinariate.
There will be no ordinariates in Africa and Asia..as the thriving Catholic vocations there could be undermined by allowing an ordinaraite with a celibacy dispensation. Furthermore Nigeria, Kenya and Ugandan Anglicanism (30 million in total) are firmly Protestant. South Africa once Anglo-Catholic is largely liberal. Anglicans in South America tend to be ex Roman Catholics.
There are 4,000 serving women priests in the Church of England.. I doubt whether the worldwide ordinariate figures will ever surpass that.
Two years ago, when the Ordinariate was announced I challenged the figure of 400,000 converts mooted….I do feel I have been vindicated. Similar inflated figures were given in 1982 to get the Anglican Use. The Use predominately serves cradle Catholics, and has never really taken off. Blaming the Catholic bishpops is not good enough.
I also warned about Archbishop Hepworth and have watched as his role descended into a farce.However I must pay tribute to Bishop Elliott who piloted the Australian Ordinaraite through all this.
I am sure on a case by case basis good clergy like Father Smuts, could still be ordained and serve in the Catholic Church in South Africa.
“The Use predominately serves cradle Catholics, and has never really taken off. Blaming the Catholic bishpops is not good enough.”
Not true. I believed that too, but I have seen the figures, and the AU parish were craddle-Catholics are more ,numerous is Our Lady of the Atonement, and they represent only a third of the parish (because of the school). And Bishops are for real to be blamed in the relative unsuccess of the Anglican Use: they have in many cases refused to erect personal parishes (cf. Los Angeles) and where they have done so, the next has often closed it (cf. Las Vegas).
Besides, you expected everybody to come in the first wave? Considering the uncertainties of the process, the numerous growth can only be gradual. 4000 priests? Why not in a few decades? After all the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church started (by the union of Jacobite Orthodox clergy) in 1930 with about 100 priests and 2 Bishops, and now has more than 1000 priests, and 400 000 faithfuls!
You can’t at all make such radical judgements when the older ordinariate is a year and half old, and the younger a day old!
As to ordinariates in the global south, I fear the Pope may well omit to consult you if the interest there is enough for him to envision such erections…
+ PAX et BONUM
I think South Africa has a potential to have Ordinariete, just a matter of Anglicans being knowledgable of such. Seeing increasing alleged corruption in some Anglican Dioseses in S.A, most Anglicans would join Catholic Church
I don’t want to be negative, but I suspect the Anglicanorum coetibus file is wrapped up by the retirement of Cardinal Levada and the appointment of Archbishop Müller who would be concerned with other matters. The train definitely left the platform a very long time ago… I don’t think there will be any more ordinariates.
If the Australian Ordinariate draws its membership primarily from former ACCA and FiF parishioners it will likely start very small indeed, if my reading of the respective websites is correct. Surely 200 people can be found just about anywhere to join just about anything.
Well! for all those who think that the next ordinariate will be India…
Sorry to disappoint you all.
After the British left India, the “Church of South India(CSI)”, the successor of the Church of England in India came into a union of Anglican and Protestant churches. It includes members from Anglican (Episcopal), Congregational, Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregationalists, Baptist, Presbyterians, Basal Mission and the Disciples of Christ denominations.
Same thing happened to the “Church of North India(CNI)” which is less Anglican than the former(CSI). However, Both the churches are today a part of the Anglican Communion with a total members of 6.25 million. Only 10% of the total membership are true anglicans. The remaining 90% includes other Protestants. Hence, there is no possibility of an Anglican Ordinariate in India.
Recently, Both the churches have denied a possibility of entering into the Personal Ordinariate. There are also 5 other churches in India who are a part of the Tradtional Anglican Commnunion (TAC). They too have rejected the idea of entering into the Ordinariate.
The Anglican Church in Africa especially in Southern Africa is facing a serious problem. Many of its priests are awaiting the establishment of the Ordinariate on the continent so that they can join it with thousands of conservative laity.
There are more females being ordained in every diocese and the demographics will lead to it being women priests only in the next 10years. With 2 Diocesan Women bishops in Southern Africa and a 3rd in the pipe-line, many people have stopped attending mass across the country, in many cases others have joined the Latin church or other denominations.