About the "Union" Between Rome and the Conservative Anglicans
There is more than meets the eye
We have received three e-mails from a cooperator who for now will remain anonymous. He is well versed in Anglican "theo-politics" as well as in the ultimate plans of the Vatican. Therefore, with the Holy Spirit of God he was able to "connect the dots" right away.
Although this does not change the ultimate plans of the Vatican, being that you are sitting (through The M+G+R Foundation) on the front row seats of the End of These Days, we felt that it would be appropriate to share with you this particular "Act" of this particular "Play".
FIRST E-MAIL - The Opus Dei/Cardinal Law context of the Vatican's outreach to Anglicans
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The recent appointment of Archbishop John J. Myers, of Newark, as
Ecclesiastical Delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for what has come to be
known as the “Pastoral Provision,” is a good time to examine this pastoral
work.
In July 1980 the President of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops, Archbishop John Quinn, received a letter from the Prefect of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Franjo Seper, indicating that the Holy Father,
Pope John Paul II, responding to requests received from some priests and laity formerly or
actually belonging to the Episcopal Church in the United States, had decided to make a special
pastoral provision for their reception into full communion with the Catholic Church. In general
terms the decision provided for the ordination of married, former priests coming from the
Episcopal Church, and for the creation of personal worship communities which would be allowed to
retain elements of the Anglican liturgy. Cardinal Seper’s letter asked the Conference
of Bishops to propose a Bishop to the Congregation for appointment as its “Ecclesiastical
Delegate” for this work. Bishop Bernard Law, of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, later
Cardinal Archbishop of Boston, was appointed to this position in 1981. Since
moving to Rome he has been succeeded by Archbishop John Myers, of
Newark.
The decision announced in 1980 was the result of requests addressed to the Holy
See from two separate groups of members of the Episcopal Church in the United States: The
American Church Union, headed by the late Canon Albert Dubois; and the Society of the Holy Cross,
a priestly fraternity whose superior in the United States was at the time Father James Parker.
Canon Dubois represented a small group of Episcopal priests and lay people who had already
separated themselves from the Episcopal Church following the 1976 decision of the Episcopal Church
to ordain women. Even before the decision to ordain women the American Church Union had as its
goal union with Rome for its members and the parishes (grouped in a body called the Pro-Diocese of
St. Augustine of Canterbury) that they had created. They sought to retain the Anglican liturgical
heritage. The more broadly based Society of the Holy Cross also had as one of its goals union with
Rome.
In 1977 Father Parker, on behalf of some members of the Society of
the Holy Cross presented to Rome through the good offices of Bishop
Law, then the chairman of the Bishops Committee
Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs, and the Apostolic Delegate in the United States,
Archbishop Jean Jadot, the petition to be allowed to be ordained to the Catholic
priesthood with a dispensation from the law of celibacy following entry into full
communion. They asked for special consideration regarding the studies required for
ordination. In the same year Canon Dubois, accompanied by two other former Episcopal
priests Father W.T. St. John Brown and Father John Barker, traveled to Rome where they met with
Cardinal Franjo Seper, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
(whose English secretary at the time was Msgr. William
Levada). They presented Cardinal Seper their request for ordination as
Catholic priests and the establishment of their parishes with special liturgical practices
deriving from the Anglican tradition.
The initial reaction of the Congregation, though rejecting the idea of any kind
of “ritual diocese” was basically favorable. Before reaching a definitive decision,
however, Cardinal Seper requested the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ opinion regarding the
question of allowing the ordination of married men. The Conference, at its May meeting in 1978
voted affirmatively and so informed the Holy See. There the matter stood when Paul VI died in
August and later John Paul I in September. Finally in 1980 the entire matter was
presented to John Paul II and he gave his assent to the decision that was communicated to the
president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishop in the United
States.
At his appointment as Ecclesiastical Delegate Bishop Law was directed to
develop a proposal containing elements for the pastoral provision for submission to the Holy See,
to oversee its implementation and to deal with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in
questions pertaining to the admission of former Episcopalian clergy unto the Catholic
Priesthood. With the help of a number of consulters (among which were the
then rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas, now Archbishop Michael Sheehan, of Santa Fe and
myself) Bishop Law defined the process by which married, former Episcopal ministers could become
priests sponsored by a diocesan bishop. The process includes the gathering of information
by the candidate and his sponsoring bishop concerning his suitability for ordination. This
information is then submitted to the Holy See through the Ecclesiastical Delegate. To this is
added the academic assessment and certification of each candidate by a body of theologians
established by the Ecclesiastical Delegate. This process (in which I have been involved
from the beginning) was approved by the Congregation and has led to the ordination in the Catholic
Church of over eighty former Episcopal clergymen. Presently, due to the confusion in the
Episcopal Church the number of inquiries from Catholic bishops on behalf of Episcopal clergymen,
has seen a considerable increase.
On the question of the liturgy, the 1980 decision specified that “the group
may retain certain elements of the Anglican liturgy; these are to be determined by a commission of
the Congregation set up for this purpose.” Such a commission was set up in conjunction
with the Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship in 1983. The work of this commission
resulted in the approval of the Book of Divine Worship to be used in the parishes and worship
communities of former Episcopalians. In 1983 a commission of canonists, including Cardinal Anthony
Bevilacqua established the guidelines for the creation by diocesan bishops of personal parishes
and worship communities of former Episcopalians in which the special liturgy may be used. Seven
such parishes/communities are presently functioning in different areas of the United
States.
How might we assess the success of the Pastoral Provision after its 25
year History? The answer is quite well, according to a survey of Catholic Bishops and former
Episcopal priests, done at the request of Cardinal Law two years ago. Does that
mean that its work could not be improved? Two anecdotes may help to see some of the problems
inherent in the “cultural difference” between the two situations. When asked the difference
between being an Episcopalian priest and a Catholic priest, one former Episcopalian priest
answered, “about twenty thousand dollars.” The financial arrangements for
Catholic clergy are not suited to the needs of married men. This is a topic that needs
further study and on which bishops sponsoring candidates need guidance.
Another difference brings additional challenges to the married priest in the
Catholic Church, that is the size of the flock. The average parish in the Episcopal Church might
have less than 200 families; in the Catholic Church parishes of over a thousand are common.
Even though the married priest is prohibited from having the ordinary care of souls in a
parochial setting nevertheless his work load as a Catholic priest will usually be much greater,
whether as a hospital chaplain or campus minister. Indeed, helping in a parish on the weekend, as
most of them do, can be very time intensive. This can, and has, led to serious repercussions on
married life. The pastoral care of priests’ wives is a new topic for the Catholic diocesan
bishop.
There are other “cultural” issues that have to be taken into consideration.
Such might be the “integration” of the priest’s wife into his relationship with the diocesan
presbyterate and his pastoral assignment; the “integration” of a personal parish using the
Anglican tradition liturgy into the diocesan community; the length of term for the pastors of the
“common identity” parishes (the phrase Anglican Use, though frequently employed is not an
approved usage) These are some of the ones that occur to me from my years of
experience.
We might end by asking where the “Pastoral Provision” is likely to go from
where it is now. From the beginning the Holy See and the bishops of the United States view the
“Pastoral Provision” as a pastoral response to the needs of a category of Christian faithful
seeking full communion with the See of Peter. The ordination of married men is an exception
granted on a case by case basis to former clergymen of the Episcopal Church (an exception now also
extended to non-Episcopal ministers, although not through the “Pastoral Provision.) It is clear
in everyone’s mind that this is not a proving ground for optional celibacy in the Catholic
Church. In fact, the special challenges of a married clergy mentioned above and recently
pointed out by bishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches show the value of the norm of celibacy for
the sake of the kingdom in the Western Church. More importantly, the growing crisis of theological
and moral authority both in the Episcopal Church and in other Protestant denominations is likely
to result in a new wave of priests, ministers and lay people seeking the sure home of the Catholic
Church. They will bring to the Catholic Church the sound Christian traditions that have
sustained them since the Protestant Reformation: a love for Sacred Scripture; joy in singing to
the Lord; eagerness to spread the Word of God; and from the Anglicans a long and rich history of
English in the liturgy. Perhaps the Pastoral Provision has served till now as the
harbinger of this new springtime for Christianity in the United
States.
Reverend William H. Stetson,
JCD
Secretary to the Ecclesiastical
Delegate
for the Pastoral Provision
Source:
History
Appoinments
By decree of the Prelate, the following appointments have been made:
Member of the Council of the Delegation of Rome;
September 11, 2007 Rev. William Hamsphire Stetson
Secretary Vicar of the Delegation of Texas;
William H. Stetson is a Roman Catholic priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei ordained in 1962. He is an honorary prelate of the Pope with the title of Reverend Monsignor. He presently lives in Houston, TX.
Msgr. Stetson is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, during which time he became a numerary of the Prelature of Opus Dei. He later earned a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. He taught for several years on the faculty of Canon Law at the University of Navarre, where he also was involved in establishing the School of Liberal Arts. For seventeen years, Msgr. Stetson was the vicar of Opus Dei in Chicago , during which time priests of the Prelature of Opus Dei were entrusted with operating a parish of the Archdiocese of Chicago, St. Mary of the Angels, and renovating one of the Archdiocese's largest church buildings.
Msgr. Stetson was appointed Director of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, DC, by Theodore Cardinal McCarrick in 2004. He succeeded Fr. C. John McCloskey who had been director since 1998. The operation of the Center has been entrusted to priests of the Prelature of Opus Dei since 1993. In fall of 2007, Msgr. Stetson left as head of the Catholic Information Center. It is now under the direction of Fr. Arne A. Panula, S.T.D.
Since 1983 Monsignor Stetson has also served as consultant and later secretary to the Ecclesiastical Delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the Pastoral Provision[1] for former Episcopal priests, by means of which over a hundred men have been ordained for priestly service in the Roman Catholic Church. He maintains a Pastoral Provision Office at Our Lady of Walsingham parish, an Anglican Use congregation in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. He also assists at the Holy Cross Chapel in downtown Houston, and resides at Chaucer Drive Study Center in Rice Village.
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This is, perhaps, yet another strategy for dealing with the shortage of Roman Catholic priests.
Seems that +Rowan and +Vincent have put their seal of approval on the deal. Read and weep - or, rejoice, as the case may be:
The "close cooperation" is that married Anglican priests may now become Roman priests, but not bishops. They seem to be saving that particular office for closeted, gay, Anglo-Catholic men.
THIRD E-MAIL- Evidence of unusual haste in the Vatican/Anglican initiative
Here is the whole thing, with some bolding to emphasize the haste with which this seems to have been announced:
Vatican moves to poach traditional Anglicans
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It is now in your hands to do so!
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