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

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Pope announces plans for Anglicans to convert en masse

Last updated: October 20th, 2009
By Damian Thompson

The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict is setting up special provision for Anglicans, including married clergy, who want to convert to Rome together, preserving aspects of Anglican liturgy. They will be given their own pastoral supervision, according to this press release from the Vatican:

“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.”
More on this very important story later. But this is clearly a historic gesture by Pope Benedict which will encourage thousands of disaffected Anglicans to become Roman Catholics.

from Damian Thompson's Holy Smoke blog.

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Other Stories

See the story on the web site of the National Catholic Reporter by John Allen, Jr.: "Vatican reveals plan to welcome disaffected Anglicans"
(Don't blame John for the rather grusome title of this article. Editor's write headlines, not reporters. -- Steve)

See the "NOTE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH ABOUT PERSONAL ORDINARIATES FOR ANGLICANS ENTERING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH" which was issued this morning.

See also the story on MSNBC: Pope approves document on Anglicans joining church.

See the rather more lengthy report Vatican Creates new structure for Anglicans on Forbes.com.

See the short announcement "FiF reacts to Statement from Rome" on the Forward in Faith UK web site.

The BBC reports "Anglicans 'welcomed' by Catholics.

The New York Times reports that "Vatican Creates New Structure for Anglicans".

Fox News has a report: "Vatican makes it easier for Anglicans to convert; creates new provision within Catholic Church".
Another article on this is "Scott's Catholicism Blog" on About.com.

See also the joint statement by Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols and Church of England Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.
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