‘Mr Louis Campese, a Former Anglican Bishop…’

He shares his personal journey and that of his congregation into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter:

Traditional Anglican Communion Bishop Louis Campese was speechless on Sunday, Sept. 16, as he joyfully witnessed his flock of American Anglicans be shepherded into the Roman Catholic Church.

“Oh, I’m still on Cloud Nine or Cloud 10,” the former bishop of the Anglican Cathedral of the Incarnation told VOL Tuesday afternoon. “It was just amazing”…

Currently, neither Bishop Campese nor any his former cathedral clergy – Fr. William Holiday, Fr. Scott Whitmore and Fr. Jason McCrimmon – have been ordained as Catholic clergy. He is praying that Fr. Holiday will be able to be ordained as a Catholic cleric in the not-too-distant future, but Fr. Whitmore has decided to take a little more time to discern the perimeters of his priesthood, while Fr. McCrimmon has chosen to remain Anglican and live out his priestly ministry as a chaplain in the US Navy.

As far as Bishop Campese goes, he is simply content to be a practicing Roman Catholic. He is now a Catholic lay person, and is addressed as “Mr. Louis Campese, a former Anglican bishop”, an Ordinariate spokesperson told VOL…

VirtueOnline has the whole piece here.

 

Anglican Cathedral (TAC) in Orlando Becomes Catholic

Via Seasons of Grace:

It’s been five years in the making, and this morning the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Orlando, Florida will become Catholic.At a Mass of Reception at 10:15 a.m. Sunday, September 16, the Cathedral of the Incarnation, which was formerly associated with the Anglican Church of America, will become the Parish of Incarnation—joining about twenty other former Anglican or Episcopal congregations to be accepted in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, the personal ordinariate established as a home for Anglican converts to Catholicism in the United States and Canada.

Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, a former Episcopal bishop who now leads the Personal Ordinariate, will confirm the parishioners as Catholic during the Sunday service.

Bishop John Noonan, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando, will participate in the liturgy, but the Parish of Incarnation will not become part of Orlando’s diocese.  Carol Brinati, spokesperson for the Orlando Diocese, explained, “While we recognize them as part of the Catholic church, they have their own services.  We share our beliefs, but everything else is separate.”

The impetus for many former Episcopalians and Anglicans who have sought entry into the Catholic Church has been the increasing liberalization of the Anglican Church—which has in recent years broken with tradition by ordaining women and gays as bishops and accepting homosexual marriage.

In July 1980, Pope John Paul II, responding to requests received from some priests and laity formerly or actually belonging to the Episcopal Church in the United States, had decided to make a special Pastoral Provision for their reception into full communion with the Catholic Church.  The Pastoral Provision provided a mechanism by which married, former priests coming from the Episcopal Church could be ordained in the Catholic Church, and personal worship communities could be created which would be allowed to retain elements of the Anglican liturgy.

And in November 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, an unprecedented invitation for Anglicans to become Catholic in groups or as parishes.  Anglicanorum Coetibus established the canonical structure for the personal ordinariates—which serve like dioceses, but which are national in scope.  Currently three personal ordinariates  have been established:  the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter (serving the United States and Canada), the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham (in England and Wales), and the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (in Australia).

Church of the Incarnation (ACA/TAC) to be Received into the Ordinariate

The announcement has just been made on The Anglo-Catholic:

It is my great honour and privilege to be able to announce, on behalf of the parish, that the Church of the Incarnation (formerly Cathedral of the Diocese of the Eastern United States, ACA/TAC) is to be received into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter on 16 September 2012.

This announcement is especially poignant for me as I served as Rector’s Warden of the parish at the time of the publication of the Apostolic Constitution and I led the process by which the Chapter and full membership of the Cathedral parish accepted the Holy Father’s most generous offer of full communion by means of Anglicanorum coetibus.

Since my confirmation into the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, I have necessarily been out of full communion with my parish family. I am overjoyed that this separation is soon to come to an end.

I also thank God for the visionary leadership of Bishop Campese and Fr. William “Doc” Holiday (also a Contributor here on The Anglo-Catholic). Without their devotion and sacrificial ministries to the parish, this great goal could not have been achieved.

* * *

31 July 2012

Commemoration of St. Ignatius of Loyola

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Laudetur Iesus Christus!

As I have always told you, when I had some information concerning our reception into the Catholic Church, I would share it with you all straightaway. Finally, after nearly three years of prayer and preparation in the parish – with the seemingly interminable waiting, sometimes with anxiety and even anguish – I have some very important news to share with you all. Please indulge me as I make several observations as a preface to the joyous news to follow.

Firstly, I would like to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. Through these months turned to years, you have been faithful in your prayer and your commitment to the vision of a fully Catholic Church of the Incarnation. No doubt, at times, many of you have felt as the Israelites wandering the desert wilderness.

Many of us also recognize that our journeying caravan has been continuously harried and harassed by the Devil and his unrelenting hosts. Navigating our way out of the shambles of the Continuing Church and gathering up the crumbs with the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family, we have paid a heavy price. The Evil One has pitted brother against brother, demoralized both clergy and laity alike, and caused many to fall away from our mission – that same mission given to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ himself and recounted in the Seventeenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. John.

Now for the news! The congregation of the Church of the Incarnation is to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church on the Sixteenth Day of September, a Sunday. There will be only one Mass at Ten Fifteen o’ clock that morning. As this reception entails both corporate and individual aspects, it is imperative that you keep this date. The Mass will be the setting for your entrance into communion with the Holy See and your enrollment into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. We must have you there on this occasion of what will surely be profound joy!

As we are still working out the specifics, I have few details to share as this time, but I can say that Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson, Ordinary, will preside over the Celebration. His Excellency John Noonan, Bishop of Orlando, and a tremendous and invaluable resource and advocate for our cause, will also be in attendance. I have also invited the membership of some of our smaller missions to join us as well.

* * *

Now an update on the circumstances of our individual clerics:

Bishop Campese:

As you all know, my goal from the very beginning has been to lead the people under my care to a safe harbor in the Catholic Church. Above all, this is what matters to me. I am still discussing future options with my counterparts in the Catholic Church. At the moment, neither the Personal Ordinariate nor I have made any decision with respect to my personal future. Anyway, this is not about me. As many of you are aware, I recently turned 78 years of age. So far, the Good Lord has provided me with good health, but I have a number of considerations about which to think. Regardless of what clerical role I may play in the future of the Church of the Incarnation, I will remain here until I die. This is my parish, and I will serve it and Holy Church in whatever way God calls me to do, just as I have striven to do from the very beginning of my ministry in His Church.

Fr. William “Doc” Holiday:

Fr. Doc has received a nulla osta from Rome. This letter means that there is no canonical bar to his ordination in the Catholic Church. We do not yet know when he will be ordained deacon and priest; we are working out the details presently.

Fr. Scott Whitmore:

Fr. Scott has attached a personal letter with regard to his life decisions at this time. But do not worry, Fr. Scott is not going anywhere; he will remain in our parish family.

Fr. Jason McCrimmon:

We have been greatly blessed to have Father McCrimmon and his beautiful family as a vital part of our parish life for many years now. Father Jason is pursuing his ministry as a Military Chaplain and it has been an arduous journey for him, especially hard as he has also given sacrificially, ministering to our church family.

I am sorry to have to report that Father Jason will be leaving us soon, to continue the ministry to which he believes he has been called. He will preach his last sermon on the Fifth Day of August, and I hope that you will be in attendance to support him. The United States Navy will be getting an excellent chaplain.

* * *

Finally, I wish to entrust this last leg of our race toward Catholic Unity in a most special way to the Great Mother of God, Mary most Holy. I know that she has guided our way closer to Her Divine Son thus far; she will not abandon us now. May all the Angels and Saints of heaven watch over us these next several weeks.

In Dno,

Bishop Campese

The Church’s website is here:

 

Bishop Brian Marsh on the Pro-Diocese of the Holy Family

The following sent in via e-mail. For a background, do see the post (yesterday): ‘The TAC Is For All Intents and Purposes Dead’ here. Both Bishop Michael Gill and  Bishop Louis Campese commented.

Writes Bishop Brian Marsh:

I found it interesting that an entry on one of the blogs bears the title: The TAC is For All Intents and Purposes Dead.” Perhaps it reflects wishful thinking on the part of some. But my experience is quite the opposite; the ACA and TAC are really quite vital. Our recent South Africa meeting was an outstanding example of the church working “with one accord.” Much good news may be communicated from all quarters. While there are certainly issues that need to be addressed, I see a strong present and a hopeful future for the TAC.

One issue should be attended to regarding the so-called Pro Diocese of the Holy Family. This has never been established in any legal, canonical manner. Unlike the short-lived Patrimony of the Primate, the Pro Diocese has never been approved by either the ACA House of Bishops or the TAC College of Bishops. Indeed, it has never been discussed by the ACA College of Bishops at all.

The only mention of the Pro Diocese of the Holy Family in any official document occurs in Bishop Campese resignation letter from the ACA Diocese of the Eastern United States, where he states that he is “transferring to the Pro Diocese of the Holy Family.” One may certainly state that he is transferring to another diocese, but that doesn’t mean the entity exists. The Pro Diocese of the Holy Family is neither legal nor Roman nor an empire.

I certainly pray that those who wish to become part of an Ordinariate will have their wish granted. I bear none of them any ill will. But everyone must recognize that, if they believe that the Pro Diocese is a legally-constituted part of the ACA/TAC, they are harboring an illusion.

Your Brother in Christ,

+Brian

 

Holy Week 2012 Pastoral Letter

Msgr Jeffrey Steenson:

Throughout the season of Lent, in the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church reads a series of texts that follow Moses and the Chosen People in their journey from captivity to the Promised Land. It was certainly an eventful and epic journey, filled with great blessings and abject failures. The Church has found in these accounts a pattern for the Lenten journey of every soul in search of its true home.

One of the most dramatic of these events happened in Numbers 13-14, when the people arrived at the threshold of the Promised Land, and then because of fear and a lack of faith they murmured and rebelled, even to the point of plotting to stone of their leader. It would be better to have remained in Egypt as slaves than to venture forth into an uncertain future. And so they turned away from the Promise, choosing instead to wander in the wilderness for the next 40 years.

This is a very striking metaphor for every person’s journey of faith. At some point on this journey, we must leave the well-trodden paths to venture forth in faith, trusting in the Lord to guard our steps.

The journey to full communion, for both individuals and groups of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, seems not to be unlike this. In these first three months, I have heard stories of faith and courage that humble and inspire; but there have also been disappointing stories of those who have come to the doorstep but then for one reason or another do not step through the portal. These stories always bring sadness and sometimes scandal, when they involve an unwillingness to embrace wholeheartedly Catholic teaching and discipline. This is, according to Lumen Gentium 14, to those who know “that the Catholic Church was made necessary by Christ,” a matter of salvation.

On Palm Sunday I had the great privilege of visiting one of the happy stories of the Ordinariate, the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Orlando, which has been superbly shepherded over the years by Bishop Louis Campese. Here are people who have been well catechized, with the right disposition, who have already built good relationships with the local Catholic Church, well poised to grow, and they are an excellent model for what an Ordinariate congregation can be.

In this infinite mercy, God watched over the reluctant pilgrims as they wandered through the wilderness for the next forty years. But it was a severe mercy, a difficult penance, and many were not ultimately able to see the Promised Land before they died. I pray that if you are on this journey, if you are persuaded that the Catholic Church is the will of Christ and the keys have been given to St. Peter and his successors, nothing will deter you from this holy goal, which is the principal mission of the Ordinariate.

And may our Lord bless you in this Holy Week, direct your steps, and give you peace.

The visit with Bishop Campese was mentioned (on this blog) here yesterday. Bishop Campese commented here.

 

TAC Latest News: Official Statement to Holy See on Anglicanorum Coetibus; Archbishop Hepworth; Archbishop Falk; Bishop Campese; Bringing Order to the Church…

UPDATE:  I have been asked to remove this post. For the sake of Christian charity, I will.  But as mentioned previously, all of it was on the Anglican Church in America website here.

Go there – for as long as they still keep it up.

It’s rather unpleasant stuff… But said it was.

UPDATE II:  If you click the link (above), you will note that a heavily edited version is up. The Q & A has been removed.

For the original, see comments below.

UPDATE III:  The links are now all finally down.