How are the new U.S. Catholic ordinariate for former Anglican groups and the 1980 U.S. pastoral provision for Episcopal (Anglican) priests who become Catholics different? What do they have in common? What does the presence of Catholics in the new ordinariate mean for other Catholics?
The pastoral, canonical, ecclesiastical and other questions posed by the new developments are numerous and challenging, but here is an attempt to sort out a few of the bigger ones.
To take the third question first, other Catholics -- Eastern or Latin rite -- who were baptized or confirmed into the church as Latin or Eastern Catholics can legitimately participate in the life and worship of an Anglican-use Catholic community, but ordinarily, they may not become a formal member of that community.
An exception is marriage, for which church laws similar to those applying to Latin-Eastern rite Catholic marriages would come into play: An Eastern or Latin Catholic marrying a Catholic in the new Anglican-use ordinariate could become a member of that ordinariate if the couple agrees on that decision. To read more, click here.
Related article: Former Episcopalians welcome new Catholic structure
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"The Book of Divine Worship, an official Catholic liturgical text developed in 1983 and updated in 2003, serves as the text for those existing Anglican-use Catholic communities and will also be the chief liturgical text for Anglican priests and communities entering the Catholic church under the new ordinariate."
This is significant insofar as many of the proponents of the Ordinariate would like people to believe that the recent spate of converts is going to bring with them some special kind of "Anglican Patrimony" and have a Prayer Book unique to them. Baloney! What they will have is what Rome will give them, the already-in-use 2003 Book of Divine Worship. I have to hand it to the Romans they have been honest. It is the proponents of the Ordinariate both amongst those who have crossed, or are crossing, the Tiber and their numerous supporters and fans among the Continuing Episcopalians who have been and are being misleading.
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