Ordinariate Watch: United but not absorbed

A Reflection on the Ordinariate from An Australian Perspective

The Pope has responded to the requests of many Anglicans (including the Traditional Anglican Communion) that some way might be found to welcome groups of clergy and faithful into communion with the Catholic Church (colloquially known as the "Roman Catholic Church") (RCC) by publishing the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus (AC) which, together with the accompanying Complementary Norms (CN), sets out how this is to take place.

What does this mean for the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia (ACCA), and how will it work in practice?

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The governing structures of the personal ordinariates are identical to that of a Roman Catholic diocese (see canons 460 - 572 of the Roman Catholic Church's Code of Canon Law.) Under Roman Catholic canon law the ordinary is the sole legislator in the diocese. The governing council, or council of priests, has only a consultative vote. The manner in which the ordinary will be selected by the Roman Pontiff is identical to that for an auxiliary bishop (see canon 377 §4. ) The requirement that the ordinary visit Rome and submit a report in person to the Roman Pontiff every five years is identical to that for a Roman Catholic diocesan bishop (see canons 399 and 400.) The major difference between a personal ordinariate and a Roman Catholic diocese is that a Roman Catholic diocese is territorial. For the time being the ordinary of the personal ordinariate will be a senior Roman Catholic presbyter.

"Adherence to the Articles," the GAFCON Theological Resource Group in Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today tells us, "is constitutive of Anglican identity." Being Anglican is doctrinal. It means being both Protestant and Reformed Catholic since the two concepts, when properly understood, do not conflict with each other. In converting to Roman Catholicism, those who join a personal ordinariate will be abandoning any pretense of being Anglican. They will be Roman Catholics. The idea of being "united but not absorbed" is a fallacy.