The Anglican Rite in the Catholic Church

Surprise! There is still life at the Vatican. The institutional Church is still breathing. Someone in Rome continues to actually think. While one would not consider the Church to have suddenly become a dynamic organism, at least there appears to be a flicker of life. The latest word from the Vatican on receiving Anglican communities into the Church represents potentially the most significant move in the life of the Church since Pope John XXIII flew open the windows of the Vatican and called for the Second Vatican Council.

Let me hasten to add lest there be any confusion, the new move also points to several negative issues. The Vatican's actions raise major concerns which will be addressed in some detail below. Yet in terms of what it could portend for the future it cannot be dismissed out of hand.

While we know very little about the details of this latest Vatican move, we do know that it creates a new structure within the Church. It is of course not really a new rite like one of the uniate eastern rite churches. Instead it is known as an ordinariate, akin to the military ordinariate which serves all of our men and women in the armed services. Anglicans interested in joining the Catholic Church will be able to join as it were en masse. They can retain their liturgy, customs, and probably even their heirarchy. The ordinariate to be established will be separate from our current diocesan structure. It will have its own leadership and will not report to any diocesan bishop. Married Episcopal clergy can continue serving as priests in this new ordinariate.

We are of course still waiting for the Apostolic Constitution which is a papal document that will provide the details of how this ordinariate will operate. There is little doubt that the Vatican will attempt to make the structure as narrow as possible so as not to engender more change to the Roman Rite than it intends. However, even if they are successful in doing so initially, it is likely that changes will occur over time, and the ordinariate structure offers within itself the possibility of some intriguing developments.

Certainly, a major issue for the Church here has to be that of a married clergy. We know that the history of the Church has included a married clergy during much of its 2000 year history. Less known is that the Church currently has married priests. There are Eastern Rite communities in union with Rome that have and have always had married clergy. There are also about 200 former Episcopalian and Lutheran clergy who have been accepted into the Roman Catholic Church in this country and are serving as married clergy today. If indeed there is an influx of Anglican communities in this country and other countries who operate with an existing married clergy it will represent a major change in the operation of the Church. Only time can tell what it means. At a minimum, however, it will provide a place for priests who want to get married to continue their priesthood while remaining faithful to the Church. There could be added pressure if there were significant numbers of priests who wanted to join the new church structure. It could provide an opening to more married priests even within the Roman Rite.

Additionally, it is possible that entire parishes within the Roman Rite might prefer the Anglican or Episcopal tradition and choose to affiliate with an Anglican community. It actually provides the opportunity for some of the diversity I have been speaking about in earlier blogs. Movement between the Roman Rite and this new ordinariate could provide choices that would make it possible for Catholic and Episcopal communities to adapt religious and liturgical practices to fit the worshipping needs of their community. While it is certainly not simple, you could almost choose what liturgical tradition you wanted to join. Those who prefer a return to a Mass closer to the traditional Latin Mass might be able to do that while allowing other catholic communities the option of maintaining and even updating further the Mass as it is currently offered in Churches around the country.

Let's take a look at some of the real negatives to what Rome has decided to do. These negatives exist both within and outside the Church. From within the Church one has to ask why we can reward outsiders with special privleges and yet have nothing to offer our own people. Marriage is permitted for clergy coming into the Church, but our own clergy, some of whom have served the Church faithfully for many years, are not permitted any options and are cast aside and turned away if they have chosen to enter the married state.

Of even greater concern is what it tells us about how the institutional church continues to operate. The Church essentially snubs its nose at the Anglican community and its leadership and provides a haven for any disaffected members. It has basically set out to raid another denomination. Specifically, the Anglican community is a denomination with which Rome has carried out good faith ecumenical dialogue seeking greater understanding and unity. Never mind what this recent decision means for the larger goal of working together as fellow Christians to respect and encourage one another in the faith. It is also striking that the Church found no way to help protect young boys from being molested by its own clergy, but when it came to gathering new converts and perhaps additional resources, church buildings etc, suddenly the Vatican was able to find creative and progressive means to enable something in its own self interest to proceed. Even worse it appears that communities are being rewarded specifically because of their stance on gay marriage and women priests. Trampling on the civil rights of others is not a particularly good way to enhance one's own image of a community of the Gospel.

On balance then this move by Rome is a difficult one to characterize. It is troubling to see the Church move in opportunistic fashion to lay claim to members of a collegial community. Boldly intruding on the internal matters of an ecclesial group with which we have developed cooperative relationships seems shameful in the extreme. It also reflects that continuing clerical imperialism that lets one know that the Church need not abide by what might be considered ordinary rules of decorum and courtesy. Yet, perhaps this may be a case out of which good may come from evil. While we await the details of the new structure, it seems likely that in one way or another the Church may have embarked on a course that will significantly alter its celibate clergy whether that was its original intention or not.