Understanding the Ordinariate Catholics of the Anglican Patrimony
by Fr Edward Tomlinson
All booklets are published thanks to the generous support of the members of the Catholic Truth Society
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CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY publishers to the holy see
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Contents Preface..................................................................... 3 Introduction............................................................. 5 1 Understanding an Ordinariate.............................. 6 2 The Anglican patrimony..................................... 10 3 How an Ordinariate begins................................ 14 4 Entering an Ordinariate...................................... 16 5 The role of the lay faithful................................. 22 6 The role of the clergy......................................... 24 7 Marriage questions............................................. 27 8 The Ordinariate liturgy....................................... 31 9 Other questions people ask................................ 34
All rights reserved. First published 2016 by The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, 40-46 Harleyford Road London SE11 5AY Tel: 020 7640 0042 Fax: 020 7640 0046. Š 2016 The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society.
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ISBN 978 1 78469 068 7
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PREFACE This booklet aims to answer the questions people have about the Ordinariates erected by the Vatican for former Anglicans. I hope you find answers here to satisfy your curiosity about this exciting new development in the life of the Catholic Church. Most Christians agree that disunity, the existence of competing denominations, weakens Christian claims. What people do not always appreciate is that unity, which Jesus called for when He prayed that “his Church be one�, requires more than friendship. It requires shared proclamation of truth. In the interests of securing unity, in 2009, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI responded favourably to a group of Anglicans who, having come to accept the teaching of the Catholic Church, petitioned to join. In the interests of evangelisation they were asked to enter Catholicism retaining aspects of their Anglican/English spiritual patrimony lost at the Reformation.
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The Personal Ordinariates were created - a new space within the Latin Rite in which Anglican tradition may flourish: no longer in separation from Rome but now in unity with it. If, having read this booklet, you have more questions, or wish to experience the Ordinariate first hand, visit the official Ordinariate websites: Australasia: http://ordinariate.org.au The UK: http://www.ordinariate.org.uk America & Canada: http://ordinariate.net
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INTRODUCTION On 4th November 2009 Pope Benedict XVI issued an Apostolic Constitution entitled Anglicanorum Coetibus.1,2 Through it he established “a Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans who wished to enter full communion with the Catholic Church�.3 This was a pastoral response to Anglicans who had repeatedly petitioned Rome to enter into the fullness of the Catholic Church. It represented an historic moment. For the first time since the Reformation divide, groups of Anglicans could now enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, forming new and distinctive communities in the process. With a missionary and ecumenical agenda, these groups are now called to live out the Catholic faith, not through absorption, but adoption. They are to preserve their distinct customs and traditions in the interests of bringing others into unity with the Catholic Church.
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1 UNDERSTANDING AN ORDINARIATE 1.1 What is an Ordinariate? An Ordinariate is much like a diocese within the Catholic Church, except that it is defined primarily by membership not geography. For this reason its territory overlaps that of established dioceses and can cover entire nations. Governed by a bishop (or designated priest) called an “Ordinary�, membership of the Personal Ordinariates is made up of former Anglicans, their family members and eligible new converts who wish to belong to the Ordinariate. 1.2 So is it like the Eastern Rite churches? No. The Ordinariate is not a separated Church in communion with the Pope but a part of the Latin Rite, effectively working as a non-geographical diocese within it. For this reason Ordinariate priests are ordained by bishops of the Latin Rite and many also work in diocesan settings. Ordinariate clergy are priests like any other - save for the fact that, like
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members of religious communities, they answer to their own superiors. 1.3 Who or what is the Ordinary? An Ordinary is a priest or bishop appointed by the Pope to govern, teach and sanctify the faithful who come under his care; that is the members of the Ordinariate. 1.4 Why is the Ordinariate “Personal”? The term “Personal” relates to the fact that the Ordinary has pastoral care only for specific persons,
Monsignor Keith Newton meets the founder of the Ordinariate, Pope Benedict XVI.
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the members of the Ordinariate. He does not have jurisdiction over other Catholics unless they have formally associated themselves with the Ordinariate. 1.5 Why did the Pope set up this new structure? In the opening paragraph of Anglicanorum Coetibus (the official document which launched the Ordinariate) the Holy Father says: “In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately”. Essentially then the Pope set up the new structures because he was asked to do so and because he could see value in retaining an Anglican patrimony to exist in unity with the Catholic Church and not outside of it. 1.6 What does entering “full communion” mean? It means becoming a full member of the undivided Catholic Church. This means you are “in communion with” the Successors of Saint Peter and the Apostles, the Pope and Bishops. It means you are healing the rupture of the Reformation when the State and various Christians broke with Rome to take control of the Church for themselves.
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1.7 What does “corporate� unity denote? The Ordinariate is centred on corporate unity. This means individuals can be reconciled with Rome as part of a wider group seeking a new life in the Catholic Church. Every effort is made to hold such groups together to ensure continuity is not lost and liturgical gifts and charisms are not lost. 1.8 How can we trust that Ordinariates are Catholic? Those entering the Ordinariates retain aspects of their Anglican patrimony but must sign up to the Catechism of the Catholic Church - the authoritative and official teaching document issued by the Vatican. They embrace every facet of Church teaching and are therefore robustly Catholic.
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