Britain’s Ordinariate is in peril Hostility from the authorities, and apathy from its own clergy, have put the Ordinariate’s future in danger. But there could be a simple solution The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is a canonical structure for ex-Anglican clergy and lay people who have been granted – by a mighty and irrevocable decree of Pope Benedict XVI – their own English Missal based partly on The Book of Common Prayer. The experiment has not been a runaway success, as members of the Ordinariate readily admit. Ever since the body came into being five and a half years ago, I’ve been listening to Ordinariate clergy predicting that it can’t last. One priest was still wearing his Mass robes as he declared, à la Private Frazer, that “we’re dooomed!” If so, there will be few tears shed by the bishops of England and Wales. They are queuing up to preside at its Requiem Mass. (They can do nothing about its sister ordinariate in America, now flourishing under its own 41-year-old bishop, Steven Lopes.) In the words of one supporter of the Ordinariate, “the English hierarchy seems to have decided that the Catholic prohibition against ‘assisted dying’ doesn’t apply to corporate bodies.” The bishops’ hostility dates back to 20 October 2009, when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced – with flamboyant disregard for ecumenical etiquette – that Anglicans coming over to Rome could have an entirely new church structure free from the meddling of local bishops. (The CDF didn’t put it like that, but you only had to look at the faces of English Catholic prelates as they pretended to “welcome” the Holy Father’s initiative to guess how pleased they were.) In 2011, three former Anglican bishops were ordained priests and made monsignors. The boss, the “Ordinary”, is Mgr Keith Newton, former Bishop of Richborough. He can’t be a bishop, because he’s married, but he basically has episcopal jurisdiction and wears a mitre. That ordination in Westminster Cathedral seemed to herald a miracle: a parting of the waters of the Tiber to allow Catholic-minded Anglicans to cross over without sacrificing the cadences of Cranmer and Choral Evensong. But, even then, lots of us had our doubts. And, sure enough, here we are in 2016 and this revolutionary structure has just 1,000 lay members in this country, scattered in tiny communities. So it’s the size of a large parish, but one with around 80 ex-Anglican priests to support. Which it cannot do. When the Catholic Herald asked me to write this article, I wasn’t enthusiastic. Having noisily championed the Ordinariate from day one, I wasn’t keen to hear – yet again – its own faithful tell me that, well, it was a nice idea, but everyone hates us and even some of our own priests aren’t really on board. Sure enough, that is exactly what I’ve been told and I’m now convinced that the Ordinariate in its present form will wither away. Click here for the rest of the article: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/iss...dinariate-is-in-peril-here-is-how-to-save-it/
Perhaps if the C of E was truly fully AngloCatholic , the Ordinariate would never have happened. Authenticity is a much maligned blessing which is central for flourishing
The Ordinariate in the UK will fail. It is on life support. It was never than big or had that much of a following. Same in Australia. The UK Ordinariate faces a hostile Roman leadership. The Roman leadership has been hostile probably since Henry VIII, definitely since Elizabeth I. If it was not for the efforts of the Anglican Use parish Our Lady of the Atonement and Fr. Christopher Philips, they would not even have prayerbooks. Yes the Anglican Ordinariate in the UK is made up of those who had been using the Ordinary Form of the Roman Catholic Mass for years. Back in the early 90's there was a move of Anglicans to Rome. Most quietly returned. The Ordinariate in the States is not thriving. It is not growing, has no money. Most parishes are in single digits or barely into double digits. The majority can not support a priest. They have more priest than parishes, but are not planting new parishes. Closure and mergers are happening. They now have a Bishop who is Portuguese and has not real understanding of Anglicanism. But neither did Stenson, a failed TEC Bishop who has now failed in the Ordinariate. The US Ordinariate could have been a good thing. If they had put Fr. Philips in charge. He almost single handed created the Ordinariate. That he still refuses to go into the Ordinariate with his parish is telling. At one time there were almost 100 parishes and diocese looking to go into the Ordinariate with hundreds of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. Cardinal Wurel and his office made sure to destroy the group. Wurel was placed in charge of the creation in the States. His "hitman" oh um "appointed chancellor" Fr. Hurd created much confusion and discontent. Also the way they decided to interpret the documents doomed the group. The majority of the Ordinariate priests are former TEC priests, mainly men who fit the mould Stenson and Hurd wanted. Not proactive nor mission minded and definitely not of an Anglican patrimony. One generation, maybe two and it will be gone everywhere. I was there when it was formed. I knew and know the major players. My mentor and spiritual advisor was Fr. Philips. This was a doomed adventure from the beginning. Blessings Fr. Mark