The first principle of the Ordinariate is then about Christian unity. St. Basil the Great, the Church’s greatest ecumenist, literally expended his life on the work of building bridges between orthodox brethren who shared a common faith, but who had become separated from one another in a Church badly fragmented by heresy and controversy. He taught that the work of Christian unity requires deliberate and ceaseless effort...St. Basil often talked with yearning about the archaia agape, the ancient love of the apostolic community, so rarely seen in the Church of his day. This love, he taught, is a visible sign that the Holy Spirit is indeed present and active, and it is absolutely essential for the health of the Church.

- Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Homily on the Occasion of his Formal Institution as Ordinary

Saturday, November 21, 2009

New Measures for Anglican Use Roman Catholics

By Duane L.C.M. Galles, JD, JCD, PhD
On 20 October 2009 the Vatican News Service revealed that an Apostolic Constitution is being prepared to provide norms for the creation of “Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church.” The note published was presented jointly by Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), and Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia O.P., Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.1 Indicating that norms are to be forthcoming for new canonical structures, the note said, “In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony.” As we know now, the text of the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, was released by the Holy See on 9 November, together with Complementary Norms issued by the CDF and an official commentary by Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University...

So begins the lead article in the newsletter Chrisifideles of the St. Joseph Foundation. Read the rest in their newsletter, which you can view after logging in to the the web site.

The author, Dr. Galles, will be doing a presentation on December 12th at Our Lady of the Atonement Church in San Antonio. Hat tip to Fr. Christopher Phillips.
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