The “Ordinariate” – not our journey in faith

It was with sadness that I watched the news and read the papers for Ash Wednesday. It was on that day that a number of Anglican priests , some with numbers from their congregations, entered the Roman Catholic Church. There they arrived as lay people, planning for ordination as Deacons by Easter and as Roman Catholic priests by Pentecost. At the heart of their motivation for leaving the Church of England was the issue of the forthcoming ordination of women as Bishops.

Echoing a letter in the Times of 11.3.11, it must be pointed out that this is not the end of the Catholic “wing” of the Church of England. Anglo-Catholicism is still present and vibrant within our Communion and will remain so! Organisations such as the Society of Catholic Priests and “Affirming Catholicism” have a growing presence in General Synod and in dioceses across England. Such organisations affirm the ministry of men and women equally. Even more importantly they bring to the life of our Communion the central importance of the sacramental life and the vision for building a world which reflects the glory of God.

The Times (11.3.11) estimates that 20 (out of 13,300) Anglican clergy have moved to the Roman Catholic Ordinariate, along with about 600 (out of 1.15 million) worshippers in the Church of England.

Concerns must remain for those who have felt the need to go – and our prayers for their continuing pilgrimage in faith continue. Our prayers also go for those Catholic Parishes welcoming dissident Anglicans bringing with them some very conservative views and traditions in worship and ethos which may not be in total harmony with the modern liturgies and practices of that parish.

Let us also pray for those remaining in the Church of England and at those churches that have now lost their priests and numbers of their congregation. They will need pastoral care, spiritual leadership and affirmation of their place in the continuing life of their dioceses.

Finally, we will not be following the journey to the Ordinariate for, as Catholic Anglicans at St. Mary's, we treasure our Church as both Catholic and Reformed and which safeguards the threefold ministry of the church and all its sacraments.

Harold Stephens
St. Mary's Church
Team Rector