Paper given at Forward in Faith Meeting, All Saints, East St Kilda, Melbourne,

February  11, 2006.

FACING REALITIES, LOOKING AT OPTIONS

Rev. Msgr Peter J. Elliott

While I do not speak officially, I am pleased to be with you today, because I hope my presence as a Catholic priest who cherishes his Anglican background, will be of Christian comfort at a time tinged by that strange sadness of inevitability. Our hearts are heavy this week due to the recent developments regarding women bishops. But sadness is not an invitation to misery, or self-pity which, alas, has characterised these final phases of the Oxford Movement, rather I believe you are called to hope based on realism.

You are all asking: where do we go now? This question calls for realism and surely abandoning that recurring Anglo-Catholic tendency, grasping at fantasies and dreams.

The False Options

The timely warnings of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor and Cardinal Walter Kaspar, should remind all concerned Anglicans of certain realities. But facing reality means first shooting down fantasies that have emerged in recent decades, what I call the false options.

First of all, let us dismiss the concept of “flying bishops” and an “alternative jurisdiction” with “limited communion” This is a theological and canonical absurdity.  At best this merely describes a pro-tem arrangement for the sake of distressed Catholic-minded clergy and laity in a time of transition and decision, and many of our friends in England regard it as such.  At worst it is a recipe for bitterness, delusion and division. It raises ‘hope against hope’, another way of sliding back into fantasies and dreams.

So let me say at the outset, that I believe there is nothing to be said for attempting some kind of independent jurisdiction within an Anglican Communion which ordains women bishops, or condones this practice. Some people will strive to persuade you to “hang on” and find an oasis. That simply ends up as a retreat into congregationalism. 

Those who would persuade you that this “flying bishop” structure has some future are usually the Affirming Catholics or well-disposed liberals. I wonder about their motives. I respect their right as liberal Christians, with or without Catholic opinions, to hold their own views, but I suspect that any effort on their part to secure “flying bishops” as a viable option may be mainly a salve to their own consciences. They can assure themselves that they have “looked after the extremists”, and can present this to the public as “concern”. They may be quite sincere about this, but as they lack a Catholic mind on the essential nature of the Church and Holy Orders, one cannot take their proposals seriously, even if they are well meant.

The question of Anglicans becoming Eastern Orthodox is an interesting option. I respect those Anglicans who have done this, their trail blazed by the remarkable Archbishop Kallistos Ware, who was an influence during my Oxford years. But this is a difficult journey. It involves a total cultural “makeover”, and few of us are capable of that, especially in mid-life or sunset years. So I would dismiss this as, if not a false option, at least a burdensome and unnecessary one. 

What then remains, apart from trying, and this will be futile in Australia, to seal yourself up in a parish or small group?  There is only one real option  - what you call “Rome” and what I call “home”; what some of your still call “Auntie”, but many millions call “Mother”.

Looking at the Roman Option

The Roman option takes three forms, which I will explore.

1. The reconciliation of individuals with the Church. That has been going on for over four centuries and the statistics are higher in certain eras than many Anglicans imagine. However, focussing on clergy, at his first meeting with “interested” Anglican clergy in Westminster Cardinal Basil Hume made it clear that Apostolicae Curae still stands, that there can be no bargaining about Orders. Whatever scholarly arguments may be raised about Anglican Orders, and the question is admittedly more complex than it was in 1896, the fact that women are deemed to be priests by most Anglicans and that within a few years some of these will be deemed to be bishops, has made the question of Anglican Orders academic, even irrelevant. In some instances, as in the case of Monsignor Graham Leonard, former Bishop of London, conditional ordination would be feasible, but that is a detail. Anglican clergy who are reconciled to Rome, who seek Orders, and succeed in their petition, are ordained absolutely.

2. The “corporate reunion” model of an ‘Anglican Rite”.  This is apparently what is being sought by the Traditional Anglican Communion. I am not privy to negotiations, and Archbishop Hepworth who is here today would know more about this. In no way do I wish to “put him on the spot”, because there seems to be much hope around that this might be possible. But a “corporate reunion” model logically applies only to an existing body, like the TAC, hence to clergy and laity who have chosen to join that body in the past and any clergy and laity who choose to join that body with a view to benefiting from a corporate reunion arrangement. However, there is a third option which involves smaller groups.

3. The reconciliation of a parish or group. Ever since the Caldey affair, nearly a century ago, there has been reticence among Catholic bishops about groups of persons being reconciled together. But, putting to one side cases like the parish of Bethnal Green,  the reconciliation of an Anglican parish, so that it retains its identity, is already an accomplished fact in the United States, in several instances.  Moreover, this has included a recognition of some Anglican liturgical usages, what is popularly termed an “Anglican rite”, although it seems more “Sarum” than Anglican to this liturgist!  Strictly speaking this concession involves a specific indult. A “rite” spelt with a small “r”, should not be confused with the formal establishment of a Rite in terms of a structure, involving a distinct hierarchy and ecclesial autonomy, as in the case of the existing Catholic Eastern Rite Churches.

Possibilities and Problems

Looking at the options and returning to option 2. Would it be possible for those involved in a larger act of corporate reunion to become a distinct Rite in the Church, ie a Catholic Western Rite Church?

The cautious answer I offer is Italianate – a “no”, but with a carefully qualified “yes” or “maybe” – in that order.  If you mean Anglicans becoming a Rite within the Universal Church having a distinct hierarchy structured like the Ukrainians or Maronites, I would say “no”.  There is no precedent for a body of Christians from the Reformation era forming a new Rite in the Universal Church. Moreover, the history of Eastern Rites is complex. Some, like the Maronites, can argue that they never left Roman communion and jurisdiction.  However, the other communities returned to full communion as fully constituted Churches, and are recognised as such within the Universal Church.

I used the expression “a body of Christians from the Reformation era”. At present, as our most recent Roman directives indicate, strictly speaking we cannot apply the term “Church” to any Anglican body, within the current Anglican Communion or derived recently from it.  That is one of the “hard sayings” I have to add today, a touch of unpalatable realism. But let me hasten to pour some oil into any wound I may have caused and add that qualified “yes” or “maybe”, which of course only suggests a speculative possibility. Could some special structure be formed within the Catholic Church that would maintain the human cherished connections, the good pastoral care, gracious spirituality, noble heritage and culture of all that is best in Anglicanism 

With his profound understanding of ecclesiology, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will, I believe, do all that is possible to assist those Anglican Catholics who seek peace and unity in the Universal Church at this time.  We may hope and pray that he will make it possible for option 3. to continue, for smaller groups, and for option 2 to develop in terms of some existing hierarchical structure being reconstituted within the Church. Being the Supreme Pontiff and ultimate lawmaker, with full and immediate jurisdiction, he can modify my initial “no”.

Furthermore, there is a new canonical precedent for a body that is not a full Rite, but which has its own bishop within the wider Church. This is the personal prelature. At present there is only one, the Prelature of the Holy Cross, Opus Dei.  The Prelate of Opus Dei is a bishop without territorial jurisdiction, but he has spiritual jurisdiction over the members of “The Work”.  This may well provide a model for coherent pastoral care and the spiritual flourishing of Anglicans who have been formally reconciled to the Universal Church but who want to retain a corporate identity.

Some will say, “But that Roman ‘personal prelate’ sounds much the same as one of our Anglican ‘flying bishops’?”  That may seem to be so, but look very carefully at the context.  The personal prelature is a distinct structure that has arisen within the Catholic Church, in no way contrary to her doctrines and canonical polity. A “flying bishop”, on the other hand, is an attempt to keep a kind of Catholic prelate operating within a wider ecclesial community which has in fact abandoned him, a body now without any serious claim to apostolic succession because it ordains women. The “flying bishop” is an anomaly. He contradicts the very raison d’etre of the structure within which he is expected to operate – and that will become clearer when there are Anglican women bishops in Australia and England.

Other Local Considerations

What is not widely appreciated beyond these shores is the distinct make up and structure of the Anglican Church in Australia, very different from the Provinces of Canterbury and York.  This is why you need to anticipate and watch what the Diocese of Sydney, and its affiliated dioceses, will do in the event of approval for and the consecration of women bishops. Will Sydney break away? But surely that is already happening. The Diocese of Sydney and its affiliates already constitute a distinct body, and Evangelical parish “plantings” are happening in various guises beyond the geographical confines of Sydney, even in this city. Moreover, do not be surprised if some existing Evangelical parishes take legal steps to separate from the local diocese and unite themselves to Sydney or to a bishop derived from Sydney, when the women bishops appear on the scene.  

Therefore let us end this fatuous talk of maintaining “limited communion” etc.  Sydney rightly reminds you that you are either in communion or not in communion. And if you want an even clearer statement of that reality talk to the Eastern Orthodox about the meaning of apostolic communion and read Vatican II, the Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium.

The Ministry of Former Anglican Clergy

 What then can we Catholics of the Roman Rite offer Anglican clergy who seek reconciliation with the See of Peter? In practical terms, celibates of stable life can be incorporated easily into the Catholic presbyterium, or fellowship of diocesan clergy. 

In the case of married clergy we are discovering that they can be incorporated into the particular church, the diocese, even if there are difficulties. At present the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith places statistical limits on how many married priests can work in each diocese.  That restricts what bishops may want to do, but the policy may change with the new circumstances that are unfolding. I hope that wider pastoral options will emerge, such as former Anglican married priests working in parishes, and already we see this well established in Perth and Adelaide, and beginning in Melbourne.  

One practical warning is needed here, and again I must be blunt. There is a wide cultural difference between a Catholic parish and an Anglican parish, not merely because most Catholic parishes are multi-ethnic etc., but because they are usually big and busy. Sixty people were at Mass this morning, on a Saturday, in my small “quiet parish” (well, it was the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes!), but approximately 340 will come to the Sunday Masses.  So, Anglican clergy who are not prepared to work hard, should not contemplate seeking priestly ministry within the Catholic Church in Australia. Having grown up in a vicarage, I can assure you that the quiet pace of a good vicarage and focused ministry to a small group of wonderfully committed people is an option not usually available in Australian Catholic parishes.

 Words of Welcome

Let me conclude simply by welcoming you, by daring to welcome you, not with blaring triumphalism or earnest convert challenges, rather by quoting a wise Parish Priest I know. He is currently based in Birmingham. Like me, he worked for some years in the Roman Curia, but in a different department. This man of deep ecumenical commitment and experience put the realistic option in this human way and I address his words to you: “Brothers and Sisters, the door is open, the table is set and the kettle is on….”

Mgr Peter Elliott is Parish Priest of St Mary the Immaculate Conception, East Malvern, the Director of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family, Melbourne and Episcopal Vicar for Religious Education, Archdiocese of Melbourne. He is a Consulter to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and a member of the International Council for Catechesis, Congregation for the Clergy.  He worked in the Roman Curia as an Official of the Pontifical Council for the Family, 1987-1997.  He was appointed an Auditor at the 2005 World Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. Mgr Elliott is well known for his liturgical manuals, Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite and Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year.  His late father, Rev. Leslie Llewelyn Elliott, was President of the Australian Church Union, approx. 1958-1961.