Since the mid-1970s, the Episcopal Church in the United States has faced serious internal turmoil. In 1976, women were ordained as priests, and more recently women have been ordained as bishops. In 1979, the Episcopalian Church revised the Book of Common Prayer using contemporary language as well as adding various liturgical options. Now there is the celebration of same-sex marriages and the ordination of practicing homosexuals, showing a further distancing from the word of God. (Please note that I am simply citing events and not being nosey about another church’s affairs.) All of these incidents have caused heated debate and even schism, resulting in more than 20 separate Anglican jurisdictions in the United States.
These issues prompted some Episcopal clergy and laity — even whole congregations — to consider entering the Roman Catholic Church. Most of these individuals have viewed themselves as “Anglo-Catholic” or “high church Episcopal,” meaning that their beliefs and liturgical practices were very much “Roman” with the major contention being over the authority of the Holy Father. For example, when I was studying at St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia, St. Clement’s Episcopal Church advertised having Masses, confessions, Benediction and vespers; to attend one of their services was — I hate to say it — at least aesthetically more “Catholic” and reverential than some of the Catholic parishes I have visited in my lifetime.
Nevertheless, various requests about possible admission into the Catholic Church were made to Catholic bishops in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, who in turn contacted the Holy Father. Following the initial invitation made by Pope John Paul II in June 1980 (“The Pastoral Provision”) whereby Episcopal ministers could become diocesan priests, Pope Benedict XVI in November 2009 issued “Anglicanorum coetibus,” which established ordinariates, i.e., special jurisdictions,within the Catholic Church. In accord with the “Decree on Ecumenism” of the Second Vatican Council, these actions desire a “reconciliation of those individuals who wish for full Catholic communion.”
Accordingly, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established in January 2011 in England and Wales, comprising about 60 clergy and 1,200 lay faithful who are in full communion with the Catholic Church. On Jan. 1, 2012, the pope established the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter for the United States and Canada, and in June, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross for Australia.
Some of the particular provisions governing the ordinariate include the following:
First, the Book of Divine Worship (the Roman Missal for the ordinariate) is described as “being elements of the Book of Common Prayer revised and adapted according to the Roman rite for use by Roman Catholics coming from the Anglican tradition.” The holy sacrifice of the Mass remains fundamentally the same with allowance for the traditional Anglican-style language and customs. (Note the third edition of the Roman Missal also may be used.)
Second, concerning married Episcopal clergy becoming Catholic priests, the Holy See grants a dispensation to the discipline of celibacy on a case-by-case basis. Such a dispensation does not imply any change in the church’s conviction on the value of priestly celibacy; moreover, celibacy will remain the rule for future candidates for the priesthood of the Anglican ordinariate. For example, an ordained Episcopal minister desiring to become a Catholic priest and serve in the ordinariate would make a profession of faith and be received into the Catholic Church, and thereupon receive the sacrament of confirmation. He would then take appropriate courses that would enable him to minister as a Catholic priest. After proper examination and with the permission of the Holy Father, he would then be ordained first as a Catholic transitional deacon and then as a priest.
If the former Episcopal minister were single at the time of his ordination as a Catholic deacon and then priest, he would indeed take the vow of celibacy. If the married former Episcopal minister were ordained as a Catholic deacon and then priest, the Holy Father would grant a dispensation from the promise of celibacy; however, if the now Catholic priest later became a widower, then he would be bound to a celibate lifestyle and could not remarry. In the future, if a lay member of one of the ordinariate parishes wants to become a Catholic priest, he must take the promise of celibacy.
The former Episcopal minister (or bishop) must receive the sacrament of holy orders, meaning he must be ordained as a deacon and priest by a Catholic bishop. After Henry VIII rejected the authority of the Holy Father, broke with the Catholic Church and established himself as head of the Church of England, his successors Edward VI and Elizabeth I changed the ordination ritual, specifically denying a sacrificial priesthood. Essentially, this change impeded the handing on of apostolic succession and the priesthood Christ had entrusted to the apostles and His church. As a result, Pope Julius III (1554) and Pope Paul IV (1555) considered the ordinations of the Church of England as invalid. Moreover, the monarchy’s deposition or execution of the validly ordained Catholic bishops further eliminated any chance of continuing apostolic succession.
Later, in 1896, the Church of England asked Pope Leo XIII whether or not their holy orders were valid and had apostolic succession. Pope Leo, in his bull “Apostolicae Curae,” responded, “We pronounce and declare that ordinations performed according to the Anglican rite have been and are absolutely null and utterly void,” lacking validity and apostolic succession. Therefore, former Episcopal minsters must be ordained as Catholic deacons and priests.
As a pastor, I have had several individuals ask about these special circumstances. We must remember that the Holy Father earnestly desires to bring healing to our church. To do so requires some special, albeit temporary, exceptions. The goal is to fulfill the prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper, “That all may be one” (Jn 17:21).