Cardinal Newman is a beacon of hope to those, myself included, hoping to avail themselves of the Ordinariate. I recently returned to his auto biography -’Apologia pro vita sua’ – and found it useful for one contemplating the exciting journey. Furthermore I feel Newman’s prayers are close to Anglo-Catholics at this historic moment and that he is willing us on from heaven. May he lead us to safe pasture where Catholic truth is embraced and not treated with contempt and suspicion.
Whilst on holiday my mind kept returning to something bugging me at present- namely the lack of enthusiasm amongst many Anglo-Catholics! I speak of those who, despite praying for reunion for years, are now acting as if the very possibility of being in communion with Peter is the end to all we hold dear. How warped but revealing this is!
I do not speak of those asking questions or probing the agenda to advance its cause but of those who know in their hearts that they are going nowhere. Why do they look for problems with a louder voice than they give public thanks? Why pour cold water on the ordinariate despite it being the ONLY show in town? Why continue to look to an unloving synod when the Holy Father himself is now calling us to safety? They remind me of the people in Jesus’ parable who had dead to bury and fields to plow- the finding of good excuses to mask a refusal to follow where he calls.
I suspect such people are not scared of an ordinariate so much as terrified of risk and change. Fear grips and they want to bury heads in the sand. Or else they have grown far too content moaning on the fringes of an increasingly liberal establoshment to risk or sacrifice comfort in pursuit of God’s truth! Does the dreadful state of modern Anglicanism not bother them? Do they not think the rejection of marriage and acceptance of serial monogamy (gay or straight) are serious salvation issues? Nor think the silence on abortion is an affront to our Lord? The acceptance of priests who do not believe? The desire to please the world that trumps an ability to stand up for the Gospel?
Little wonder such people are angry! The offer of an Ordinariate not only calls their bluff but wrecks the entire party! Where is the integrity in defending a tiny Catholic tradition once you refuse to be part of the Catholic faith? Any claim of Catholicity from those opting to stay- that is opting for communion with Schori, Gene Robinson et al instead of the Pope- will sound as funny to many as it sounds disingenous.
Perhaps Newman can help. For he reminds us that fear is not a motive and nor is refusal to change. However much we might desire that God suspends time- to keep us comfortable in our cosy ghettos – it aint gonna happen. So listen to Newman again: ‘to live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often.’ Change is at the heart of the Gospel and change is what needs embracing once again.
Life does not stand still. And however much we yearn to exist in ‘comfort zones’ these are never the places where we grow and develop. I can not think of a single biblical hero who pleased God by considering salaries, housing or buildings but I can think of dozens who learnt the meaning of faith through sacrifice, change and obedience. We go into the Ordinariate not because we know it will work but because it is the only way we can stand up for our understanding of the faith with integrity. If we really DO uphold Catholic doctrine then how can we possibly opt for Canterbury over Rome given the current state of both churches?
The call to join the Ordinariate is challenging then but cannot- and must not -be avoided. We must embrace uncomfortable/risky change to stand up for our Catholic convictions. Only this will demonstrate to others tgat we are Gospel people, a people desiring of truth. To remain where we are will now smack of compromise given the statements we have made.
That is to say we can no longer pretend that the Anglican church offers a genuine ‘Catholic’ home, is part of the Church universal, after the numerous heretical decisions of recent years. To do that would be deeply dishonest and I think every Anglo-Catholic knows this in their heart. Nor can we imagine that we have the ability to return it to a place of true orthodoxy when almost ALL theological colleges, Cathedrals and seats of power are now in the grip of liberal theologians. To believe this is bordering on being delusional and the report of the Revision committee reveals as much. The very most we can hope for is to be left alone to slowly die out languishing in the margins whilst preaching a faith that does not resonate in any other part of the Church we belong to. What a dreary prospect that is!
This is why logic dictates that the Anglo-Catholic movement can only be leading to a place of upheaval and change. The experiment born in the 19th Century is now over and this reality HAS to be faced. I think that any impartial person with half a brain could tell us that much! So we can either remain where we are and sink into history without trace within one generation or rejoice in the truly wonderful fact that the experiment ended in glory- the glory of communion with Rome.
Thus we have no option at present but to be brave and accept things. What is the Ordinariate if not the solution from God? What is the point of being Anglo-Catholic if we opt to remain within a Church that stands for everything BUT the Catholic faith?! Especially when we have the invitation to stand with true Catholics!
Again Newman can inspire us. He too battled internally as he made momentous decisions. He too embraced change in order to enter communion with Peter and live out the faith with integrity. And having done so he found peace: “From the day I became a Catholic to this day, now close upon thirty years, I have never had a moment’s misgiving that the communion of Rome is that Church which the Apostles set up at Pentecost.”
The time for bravery is here and it is now. Let us get our people ready. Let us pray with joy in our hearts. Let us stand up for what we truly believe! And let us stamp out the negativity at this most vital and thrilling moment of our lifetime.
The Catholic Movement was always meant to be that- a MOVEMENT. Why did we join it if we only wanted to stand still? Why do we still pray for the Pope at Mass if we have no intention of joining him? And why teach the Catholic faith at all if our real desire is to serve a protestant body that is so clearly now leading to a liberal conclusion? Those seeking integrity in debate must answer these questions if they wish to make a case for remaining. I cannot for the life of me see how they will do it.
Thank you Fr for these thoughts. Indeed with joy in our hearts we move towards the freedom of proclaiming the Gospel with integrity. May Blessed Newman accompany us in this journey.
Apologies for reiterating what I’ve written elsewhere (cf. my comment in http://www.theanglocatholic.com/2010/06/cold-feet), but for celibate Anglican priests and those with alternative financial means, the issue isn’t quite so frightening, unlike a man like myself accustomed to secure stipend and housing to support his wife and child(ren).
According to the Apostle of Faith, it does boil down to fiduciary commitments in the end – though not necessarily in the manner some might presume!
‘But if any man have not care of his own and especially of those of his house, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.’ (1 Timothy 5:8)
Unfortunately, ‘faith alone’ – without work(s) – can neither save us, nor feed a family, nor put a daughter through university…
Sorry for the polemics and sounding curmudgeonly. Let’s just hope men in my position aren’t forced to face such a dilemma: cynically ignoring a vocation or heedlessly running toward a mental or marital breakdown.
As a man who is 36 yrs old, married and with two children under five I think I can relate to what you are saying. But if this is God’s will then he will provide and I see no reason why we cannot be self supporting within a couple of years (if that).
Here in Rochester Diocese each parish has to pay for its own priest – thus if the people follow and are joined by some Romans to swell the numbers as is likely…I see no real problem. If not there is always a bit of supply teaching, or taxi driving, or work at the crem or pub work or any other means of providing for the family.
You are absolutely right though that we must plan well and ensure we DO provide however and I will not be doing anything until reasonably certain my family will be well. Be of good cheer and have confidence- I do not imagine Rome will let us starve for one minute.
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Dear Fr Ed
You have written movingly on a number of occasions about the extraordinary achievements of St Barnabas’ School in recent years. This is undoubtedly due in large part to Teresa Anderson and her staff, but you must take your share of the credit for the amazing turnaround. You have also been the driving force behind the new and thriving pre-school, providing the first vital steps in education for children who have never before benefitted from such a service, one which is perhaps taken for granted in other parts of the town. You have also initiated the Barnababies. The whole parish has a new spring in its step. I am not going to allow you take all of the credit for that; as ever, the best things are achieved by people working together, but nevertheless, speaking as someone who knows the area well and lives in an adjoining parish, you have played a really significant part in that.
And yet you are walking away. To become the vicar of another parish that would benefit from your energy and vision? To minister to the Christians of an impoverished parish overseas? No. Quite possibly for “a bit of supply teaching, or taxi driving, or work at the crem or pub work”. The parish of S. Barnabas, as you have reminded me on many occasions is a parish with many problems and the church is a Rock at its centre where its people can, and do, find spiritual nourishment and comfort, not to mention a shoulder to lean on and a cup of tea and a biscuit. This parish needs you and you are walking away. I have to say, that viewed from this perspective, all talk about the Ordinariate is frankly self-indulgent. There are real people who need their church and its priest. They are, mercifully, ignorant of the theological hair-splitting that goes on at General Synod or FiF conferences. They wouldn’t know a heresy (one of your favourite words), if it walked up to them and said “Good morning, I’m a heresy”. They just know that they need their church and their priest. And yet you are walking away. Don’t airily say that the parish could just be taken over by St. James’: you have always railed against how S. Barnabas’ parish has always been victimised by the wealthier parts of the town. For this to happen would be a betrayal of Mr Iredell and represent the final victory of Canon Hoare! This would be an unfortunate legacy, wouldn’t it?
And what of the building? It is possible that you will be able to come to some sort of sharing arrangement with the CofE over the building, but the legal consensus appears to be that you will not. Now, I know that a building is ultimately just bricks and mortar but, as you explained to me many times last year, S. Barnabas is also a place that is holy and very special to its congregation. But it is quite possible that, with no priest and no congregation, S. Barnabas could close or be sold off and become a carpet warehouse. This would be a terrible tragedy, but another possible result of your decision to walk away.
I do not write this in order to spoil your understandable excitement at the prospect of the Ordinariate, or to dampen spirits, but to remind you of what you, and more importantly, your parish will lose if you walk away. You have achieved so much for ALL your parishioners – please don’t abandon them now. You may be saving your own soul, but what of theirs?
John
Thank you for the comments and compliments John but I think the concern at the root of your post is unfounded. The only way I will go anywhere is if the C of E forces me out – my proposal is to remain! I would also point out that it is not the Catholic movement which is moving away from the C of E – we are after all in sympathy with where we were 50 and 100 yrs ago- but the C of E which continues to move away from us. (they have changed beyond ALL recognition.)And under current proposals, the reality is that there will be no authentically Catholic ordinand to follow me in any case.
However if the parish opts to move the Ordinariate then nothing will change EXCEPT that we will have a long term and viable future. The benefit to this parish is obvious. I could also remain with the school as a governor and within the parish to champion its causes. Indeed I suspect that if S. Barnabas DID become the Ordinariate church (which seems reasonable given that TW is so overchurched with buildings in any case) then it would secure me here for longer than if I remained in the C of E.
But it is still early days and we must continue to ponder the future carefully. But please note that it is very unfair if the wider church rejects Anglo-Catholics at every turn and then accuses them of desertion when they can no longer remain as they are in good conscience
Mr Marshall clearly doesn’t understand the fact that truth requires sacrifice. If you come to the conclusion that your orders/sacraments are/have been/will be compromised by the decisions of a liberal lay body then you have no choice – in conscience and truth – but to walk away. Mr Tomlinson will not do it lightly or happily – I now, I did it nearly 15 years ago myself – but it will mean his conscience is clear. There are always reasons/excuses for staying. I made them myself for 5 whole years – but the truth will out in the end. Don’t, please, Mr Marshall, make Mr Tomlinson feel guilty for following his conscience into truth!
It is the feast day of Saint Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of Engalnd, and Saint John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and Chancellor of Cambridge, where he founded Christ’s College and St. John’s College. Perhaps at this time when we are seeking guidance we all ought to reflect on the deadly choice they made which cost them both so dearly.
You’ll all be pleased to hear we English Catholics no longer burn the Roman variety. But then they burned quite a lot of our guys too.
Actually, Apostolic, it’s not the feast day of Ss Thomas More and John Fisher. It’s the feast day of Saint Alban, Proto-martyr of England. The thing is, the Roman Catholic Church, contemptuous of England, chose to move the traditional date to make room for a commemoration of two 16th century traitors. Those who leave the Church of England to join the Italian Mission have a poor grasp of theology and an even poorer ecclesiology.
In my copy of Common Worship, St Alban is celebrated on June 22nd and Thomas More and John Fisher on July 6th. That is the definitive Anglican answer, however those using Roman Missals may have other ideas.
`Calm down, dear’, and don’t be silly, Poppy. This really is silly, earnest-cathedral-sidesman-with-BNP-tendencies-trying-to-find-a-legitimate-lineage `history’, which no serious historian would take seriously. Is the Duke of Norfolk an Italian? Are the Ainscoughs, Almonds, Ardens (of Longcroft), Bedingfelds, Berkeleys (of Spetchley), Blounts/Blunts, Cary-Elwes (or Elwes), Cliffords (of Chudleigh; since 1673), Coates, De Lisles (or de Lisle), Fermors (of Tusmore), Fitzherberts (of Swynnerton), Fitzherbert-Brockholes, Geralds, Gillibrands, Gosss, Holmans, Hornyolds, Huddlestons, Jerninghams, Mattinglys, Paynes, Petres, Scarisbricks, Scropes (of Bolton), Stonors, Stourtons, Talbots, Throckmortons, Towneleys, De Traffords (or de Trafford), Trappes-Lomaxes (Trappes of Nidd), Vavasours, Wards, Welds, and Weld-Blundells (or Weld Blundell), Latewises, Keighleys, Beesleys, Heskeths, Marsdens, Threlfalls,the Mostyns (of Mostyn), the Herberts (of Treowen), the Morgans (of Llantarnam) and, most notably, the Vaughan family (of Courtfield, near Ross-on-Wye; the family of Cardinal Vaughan), many of whom have rendered courageous and noble service to this country down the centuries, both before and after the Reformation and not least in two world wars, all `Italians’? Please don’t be so silly. Notwithstanding your implicit attempt to present this period as `The Roman Yoke’, this country’s very orgins lie in `Italian Mission’, which xenophobic and condescending caricature suggests farmore about your prejudices and lack of knowledge of history than anything useful about the Catholic Church.
Fred Johnson: do you really believe that `our guys’ would be recognised as `Catholics’ by Foxe’s catalogue? I very much doubt it.
Rev. Tomlinson. All very interesting, but what does a reformed (yes, yes, I know, but supposedly Catholic `too’) church care or know about saints’ days, and asserting these against its Roman parent? And in any case, why do or should Anglicans celebrate SS Thomas More and John Fisher, who, according to Poppy, for impeccable Protestant reasons, are `traitors’?
Apostolic: The Church of England which as you say is both Catholic and Reformed, has always celebrated saints days. They can be found in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer at the beginning after the prefaces. Fr Ed now has my 1549 prayer book, but I am sure they are there. Thomas More and John Fisher are celebrated in the Church of England because they were fellow Christians who died for their faith in days before ecumenism was a reality.
I’ve just realised that my fast typing omitted June 22nd as the feast day of SS Thomas More and Fisher. I did not mean to suggest that it was today, or indeed July 6th either.
Thank you for your response Fr Ed. Well, if what you say cames to pass, then I see no problem for your parishioners. As far as they are concerned (although I realise there’s a lot more involved as far as you’re concerned) the beans will be the same but the label on the tin will be different. Good luck!
John
Yes, Rev. Tomlinson. I am very well aware of this. I was referring to the significance of saints’ days following the abandonment of the idea of the intercession of saints, which for good Protestant reasons the reformed CofE went to great trouble to suppress and dismiss.
With respect, Rev. Tomlinson, neither Thomas More nor John Fisher died for the principle you suggest, however laudable that principle may be today. They both made very explicit the reasons for their stand, which can be checked in generally accepted accounts of their trials: as More himself put it: England might no more opt out of the Catholic Church than the corporation of London opt out of the English realm, as well as pointing out that the Henrician Reformation was a breach of Magna Carta’s guarantee that the Church in England (not `of’ England) might be free. I am at least with Poppy on one point: either More and Fisher were `traitors’, or they were martyrs. No one is done any favours by fudging or revising to suit mordern tastes the issues they expliciticly said they were risking their earthly lives for. Let us at least grant them the respect due to these explicit statements of principle, even if some might believe them misguided.
For many, Father, the question is not quite as simple as you suggest. Had we shared your obvious enthusiasm for Rome the question would not have arisen. We would already be Roman Catholics. I don’t see the integrity in simply choosing either option without conviction. So it is not either/or, rather, Will there be anything left at all for some of us?
I shall look into the Ordinariate when I see what is written on the package but if I don’t like it and find myself unable to worship as an Anglican either, ‘the Church’ will have left me stranded but it can’t separate me from the love of God.
FrDarryl Jordan,
One sympathises with your predicament. But is it not possible to view it in a more positive way, to take it as showing that in this respect (as, I would say, in others) the C of E is much the more sensible church?
Apostolic, if you don’t know the Calendar of the Church you shouldn’t venture an opinion. As I stated, the Italian Mission moved the Feast Day of the Proto-martyr of England to make way for Reformation traitors. At the time of their deaths they were the equivalent of supporters of suicide bombers. The armada of 1588 was the culmination of their attempts to overthrow the British crown. It is no accident that Alban was shuffled aside to make room for them. Mr Tomlinson Snr is correct. You, as usual, are wrong.
Poppy: And where did the CofE derive the concept of a calendar in the first place? From Joseph of Arimathea on one of his proto-Anglican visits to Glastonbury? I doubt it. From Rome, of course. But then facts do not appear to be your strong point. I won’t dignify your remark about SS Thomas More and John Fisher, who were executed half a century before the Armada, but note also that there wasn’t a `British’ Crown in 1588, but an English Crown, Scotland being still quite a separate state. You, as usual, you apear arrogant, opinionated, incorrect and manifestly blinded by bigotry. On the other hand, there are not many like you left in the Church of England, and I think you should be protected by a preservation order, along with the Protestant Truth Society bookshop in Central London – wonderful stuff there, very much in your line of thinking, but I don’t think they run to books on humility, let alone tolerance and good manners.
Apostolic, may I recommend that you google ‘synod of whitby’ as a starting point for your church history course. Then may I suggest that you take a simple course on Tudor history to understand the link between the execution of traitors by Henry viii and the attempted invasion of England by Spain in 1588. As a life-long catholic Anglican I am amused by your identification of Catholicism with the See of Rome. A schoolboy error.
By the level of her scholarship, it would appear that the dear lady Poppy Tupper could have studied church history with the dullards at St M’s College, Llandaff. Thankfully such errors will no longer be perpetuated because it has just been announced that St M’s is to close http://llandaffchesterchronicles.blogspot.com/2010/06/confirmed-st-michelles-college-to-close.html
Poppy, a `life-long Catholic Anglican’ bigot is even rarer than an old fashioned Protestant one. Depending on how `Catholic’ you are, you would not be in good favour with your heroic executioners who got rid of old John Fisher and Thomas More. I have, in fact, studied both the Synod of Whitby and the reformation period, but your take on these suggest that the last imprint of anything you have read must be about 1850, unless perhaps a reprint or two from Dr Paisley’s Free Presbyterian Church. Not since I saw that sneering old couple who through the lace curtains mocked the prolific Lancashire papists living across the road in Monty Python’s `Meaning of Life’ have I encountered such entertainingly antiquated statements. Certainly, I can’t think of any modern historian, including Patrick Collinson, who would liken an old bishop and a former chancellor to suicide bombers. Equally, I doubt very much if any RC would be so intemperate as to rejoice in the deaths of Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley, even if they disagrreed with their stand. You appear to be a hopeless case, and for that, no reading list would provide remedy … perhaps only the intercession of St Jude might work: surely worth a try at least?
Interesting article indeed. It is rather unfortunate that there has been division in Christianity caused by people’s own mistakes and ideologies. I read an interesting article from one bishop who crossed over to Rome. This bishop highlights how difficult it was for him to cross but for the sake of truth he did. One point he highlighted was that of the saints which I think might help those who want to join the only true Church established by Christ. He says, imagine if the saints were to come down with whom will they pray with and I am sure this one is clear. The saints are Roman Catholic and adhered to what the Papacy stood for and were obedient to the magisterium for the sake of unity which Christ prayed for. The funny thing with our brothers in other denominations is that they pick and choose and I think this doesn’t lead to the truth or what the saints stood for. The other thing is the Church moves with time but we cannot change what is written in Scripture and tradition. The term Catholic has been misunderstood and you find everyone calling themselves catholic but they don’t stick to Tradition which has helped the Catholic Church to survive ages. I am sure if you stand and seek truth God will always lead to you to the Roman Catholic Church. The things happening in the CofE will persist unless people stand for truth not to please people or say equality. I do support equality but it should not compromise morality which is laid down in Scripture.