Personal Reflections upon the Apostolic Constitution Anglicorum Coetibus and the Personal Ordinariates

By Robin G. Jordan

Several of my readers have asked why I post articles related to the Apostolic Constitution Anglicorum Coetibus and the Personal Ordinariates. “You are a conservative evangelical,” they tell me. "Why do you take an interest in something that has nothing to do with the conservative evangelicalism?"

First, I am also a Christian who seeks to live his life according to the teaching of the Bible. I find a great deal in the Bible that teaches that I cannot simply turn my back on someone because I do not agree with his beliefs and practices. For example, James in his epistle writes, “My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20) We cannot shrug our shoulders and go about our business.

In the Sermon on the Mount Matthew records our Lord to have made this statement:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.(Matthew 5:43-48)

Second, the establishment of these Ordinariates for Anglican converts to Roman Catholicism is a top news story. It is on par with the global realignment of the Anglican Communion. Indeed it is a part of that realignment.

While the Anglican Church has always had a number of its members become Roman Catholics over the years and the Roman Catholic Church has in turn had a number of its members become Anglicans, the number of defections from the Anglican Church to the Roman Catholic Church have never been as large as they will be under this scheme. If substantial numbers of Anglo-Catholics defect to the Roman Catholic Church Pope Benedict will have pulled off the coup of the century.

Third, it is going to impact the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church in a variety of ways, some of which are anticipated and even eagerly awaited in certain quarters, and others which will be wholly unexpected and will come as an unpleasant surprise especially to those who did not give sufficient heed to this development and its ramifications.

Groups that have been overshadowed by the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Anglican Church may begin to emerge. Anglican bodies like the Anglican Church in North America may become even more accommodating toward Anglo-Catholics out of fear of losing them to the Roman Catholic Church while other groups may grow resentful of this further accommodation. Anglo-Catholics remaining in the Anglican Church may be forced to re-evaluate and rethink their identity. The full working out of effects of the establishment of Anglican Ordinariates in the Roman Catholic Church may take years.

Fourth, judging by their comments on the Internet a number of the Anglo-Catholics who are encouraging the defection of their fellow Anglo-Catholics to the Roman Catholic Church are completely out of touch with the realities of life in the Roman Catholic Church. As TAC Archbishop John Hepworth recently admitted, Anglo-Catholics are ill informed about the Roman Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church is ill informed about Anglo-Catholicism.

The Book of Divine Services containing the Anglican Use Liturgy had only one printing and now is out of print. This says a lot about how the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy saw this liturgy. It was a temporary measure. The Roman Catholic Church is introducing a new, more conservative Roman Rite. There is a strong likelihood that the new “personal parishes” and “personal quasi-parishes” will be expected to use the new liturgy. It certainly will not be the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the American Missal.

There is a strong likelihood that a number of the smaller Anglo-Catholic congregations that convert en masse to Roman Catholicism will not be granted “quasi-parish status” and will be disbanded. Their members will be expected to attend the local Roman Catholic parish. The churches that these folks sacrificed to build will be sold and the Roman Catholic Church will pocket the proceeds from their sale. In a number of cases the Roman Catholic Church will be the beneficiary of the hard work of Anglicans who, if they were still alive, would be opposed to the mass conversion of the congregation to Roman Catholicism and its subsequent disbanding. Once the church is sold, converting Anglo-Catholic congregations will have little choice but lie in the bed that they have made for themselves. Older Anglo-Catholics, if they do not like the Roman Catholic church and change their minds, will not have the energy, the resources, or the time to build a new church.

While it is becoming fairly clear how Anglican Ordinariates will be erected in Australia and England, it is not so clear what is going to happen in North America.

The establishment of the Anglican Ordinariates is not likely to change the face of the Roman Catholic Church. However, it is very likely to change the face of the Anglican Church. How it will change the face of the Anglican Church is beyond my ken. But I do anticipate that we are in for more “exciting” times. The tension and turmoil that has marked the past 30 odd years is not going to go away. If anything it may become even more pronounced. We live in a time in history when the world is going through a series of major paradigm shifts and other major changes.