Vatican Clarifies Celibacy Issue for Anglicans

The Vatican today clarified the issue of married Anglican clergy within the new structures to be set out in the forthcoming apostolic constitution.

In a lengthy statement, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi relayed an explanation of the situation given by Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Cardinal Levada stated that any future married Anglican clergy wishing to come into communion under the new provision will be examined on a "case-by-case basis" and that seminarians wishing to become priests in the Catholic Church within the new structures will have to remain celibate, in keeping with current Church practice. But he said their ordinary, together with their bishops’ conference, can petition the Holy See regarding individual cases, for example in cases of married seminarians already in preparation.

"With regard to future seminarians, it was considered purely speculative whether there might be some cases in which a dispensation from the celibacy rule might be petitioned," he said. "For this reason, objective criteria about any such possibilities (e.g. married seminarians already in preparation) are to be developed jointly by the Personal Ordinariate and the Episcopal Conference, and submitted for approval of the Holy See."

This morning’s statement came in response to speculation that the Church might, under the new provision, dispense with the celibacy rule for former Anglicans, and in particular for seminarians coming from the Anglican tradition. More recently, articles in the Italian press, claimed that the seminarian celibacy issue was delaying publication of the apostolic constitution. Cardinal Levada said there was “no substance to such speculation,” adding that the delay “is purely technical in the sense of ensuring consistency in canonical language and references.”

Here is Father Lombardi’s statement in full:

“There has been widespread speculation, based on supposedly knowledgeable remarks by an Italian correspondent Andrea Tornielli, that the delay in publication of the Apostolic Constitution regarding Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, announced on October 20, 2009, by Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is due to more than "technical" reasons. According to this speculation, there is a serious substantial issue at the basis of the delay, namely, disagreement about whether celibacy will be the norm for the future clergy of the Provision.

Cardinal Levada offered the following comments on this speculation: "Had I been asked I would happily have clarified any doubt about my remarks at the press conference. There is no substance to such speculation. No one at the Vatican has mentioned any such issue to me. The delay is purely technical in the sense of ensuring consistency in canonical language and references. The translation issues are secondary; the decision not to delay publication in order to wait for the ‘official’ Latin text to be published in Acta Apostolicae Sedis was made some time ago.

The drafts prepared by the working group, and submitted for study and approval through the usual process followed by the Congregation, have all included the following statement, currently Article VI of the Constitution:

§1 Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill the requisites established by canon law and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement "In June" are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.

§2. The Ordinary, in full observance of the discipline of celibate clergy in the Latin Church, as a rule (pro regula) will admit only celibate men to the order of presbyter. He may also petition the Roman Pontiff, as a derogation from can. 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.

This article is to be understood as consistent with the current practice of the Church, in which married former Anglican ministers may be admitted to priestly ministry in the Catholic Church on a case by case basis. With regard to future seminarians, it was considered purely speculative whether there might be some cases in which a dispensation from the celibacy rule might be petitioned. For this reason, objective criteria about any such possibilities (e.g. married seminarians already in preparation) are to be developed jointly by the Personal Ordinariate and the Episcopal Conference, and submitted for approval of the Holy See."

Cardinal Levada said he anticipates the technical work on the Constitution and Norms will be completed by the end of the first week of November.”

The Son of a Saint

Over the summer, I had the honour of interviewing Pierluigi Molla, the eldest child of St. Gianna Beretta Molla who was canonized by John Paul II in 2004.

An edited version has now been published in the Register. Below is the full interview:

Canonized in 2004, St. Gianna Beretta Molla is one of the Church’s very rare lay saints. She rejected the possibility of having an abortion and gave her life instead to save that of her fourth child, Gianna Emanuela. Her heroic example led her to become a patron saint of the unborn, and she has a growing devoted following worldwide – reports of miracles and graces granted through her intercession continue to this day.

An interview with St. Gianna’s first child, Pierluigi, a business consultant based in Milan, in which he reflects on his mother’s example, what it’s like to be the son of a saint, and what St. Gianna would make of the struggle against abortion in the world today.

Although you were only five when your mother died, could you tell us more about her character and faith, perhaps which you came to know through your father?

As you said, when she died I was only five, but I do remember some episodes: she taught me how to ski and also I remember going with her when she went on visits as a doctor. My mother was close to the family and to her profession. At that time in the 1950s it was not common for women to have a family and also be involved in a profession, to be a doctor, and to be active helping people in associations such as Azione Cattolica [Catholic Action] and San Vincenzo [St. Vincent de Paul Society]. But at the same time, she was someone modern who liked to go skiing in the mountains, and liked music.

She lived a very full life?

A full life and also a modern one compared to the average way of life at that time. So these are my memories of my mother. Also I learned from her the faith that she transmitted to us - a trust in Providence, that you have to be committed to the values you hold. These things my father also passed on to us. Also I was able to learn about her life through the documents she left us. She left a lot of documents about her work with Azione Cattolica, and through these documents you can really understand her.

Quotes from your mother have been remembered for posterity, such as "The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day." "God's Providence is in all things, it's always present." What’s the most important thing we can learn from her?

As Catholics we need to learn how to be coherent with our values and beliefs. My mother grew up in a family where she received the faith and values from her father and mother, and how to live life in a correct way. She was coherent in these values which she learned in the first years of her life, and she was coherent to the end. The second thing is to be coherent with your vocation. She once thought of leaving Italy to work in Brazil with my aunt. But she understood that her vocation was to be a mother. And, as well as being coherent with her values in her role as a mother, she also strived to be coherent in work as a doctor, and as a volunteer.

In many ways she addresses how important upbringing is, and how vital it is to be brought up properly and the faith

Yes definitely, but not only as a mother. During her time working for Azione Cattolica, a colleague of hers said she rarely did not practice what she preached. My mother would not just say you have to do this or that, she really did it. It was the same in the family and in her choice to be a mother. She was an example for us; consistent in what she believed and what she passed on to the family. She said she wanted to have a holy family and she did everything she could to be lead this holy family towards being coherent in its faith.

What is it like to be the son of a saint?

It is an extraordinary experience. Hard to imagine. What happened to the family during all the beatification and canonization processes wasn’t easy because one has to constantly recall each time the pain of her death. The beatification process meant coming back to a painful moment in my life. As you can imagine, I was only five years old and when you lose your mother at that age, it’s about the worst kind of pain that any child can experience. But at the end of the beatification process in 1994 I was compensated by seeing my mother elevated to the altars. The same thing happened in 2004 at the canonization. Now I am 53 years old. But it really was an extraordinary experience and now I feel very happy that, through the Church, I can celebrate my mother on All Saints Day instead of being sad for her the day after, on All Souls Day. So the transformation to being a saint means that now, if you remember her life, you have a feeling of happiness instead of sadness.

For me and for my sister it’s been extraordinary because what happened to us is not common. I don’t know if we are the first, but it’s really an uncommon experience to see this happen when alive, also for my father. My father is still alive and aged 97. He was with us in St. Peter’s in 2004 for the canonization of his wife. So it’s been an extraordinary experience but probably we’re not the first and only ones. We hope not, because this is a contemporary message, a really great message for the Church: how contemporary people living everyday lives can become saints. Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini said my mother is the saint of everyday life. She shows that saints can be people living ordinary lives, not extraordinary ones. For this reason, we are all ordinary people. Admittedly, my mother was an extraordinary and heroic woman, but in every ordinary things of her life she showed herself just to be living an ordinary life. My father had an extraordinary relationship with my mother. They were together for just five years but are still together.

It must be very consoling for you to have your mother as a saint because you know for sure that she is alive, that she lives on, showing it through interceding in miracles after she died.

Definitely yes, this is a great consolation. It’s also really wonderful to see how the knowledge of my mother is spreading around the world, and how many messages we’ve received from all over the globe testifying to what she’s doing today. Because she’s mediating a lot of graces. Miracles are something recognized by the Church, but these are graces and they’re really extraordinary. Two years ago I received an email from the United States. A woman had problems conceiving a child, and at the end she had two wonderful children. One of them is called Gianna because she said a prayer to my mother. So this is extraordinary; it’s like she is with us and working for the whole world.

It may be the same person, but I also know a couple in America who were trying to have children but couldn’t and then together with their priest at the time, they prayed to your mother and now they have two young children.

Fantastic. It’s not only a rare occurrence; it happens frequently. There is a church close to Genoa with an old and famous shrine, Madonna della Guardia. A priest there put up a picture of my mother in the shrine 15 years ago, and it’s incredible how now it’s now completely full of pink and blue ribbons. This is an Italian tradition – to hang up these ribbons on the outside a house when a new child is born. This shrine is full of these kinds of messages, of graces received through my mother.

Could you tell us a little about Gianna Emanuela?

Gianna is a doctor and studied medicine like my mother. She is a geriatric specialist not a pediatric doctor like my mother. Now she is taking care of my father. Up until 6 years ago he was completely active, but six years ago he started having problems. So Gianna decided to leave her job in a public hospital to take care of him. She also helps to run my mother’s foundation. My father founded the foundation which is a family charity in honor of my mother, and various people write to it from all around the world, giving materials or asking for help. So Gianna is working for that. This is a good way I think to honor my mother and father. Up until six years ago all this was done by my father. He had been completely absorbed in this work over the past 15 years. Once he retired from his job he took care of all the necessities relating to the beatification and canonization causes. As you can imagine, and as I sad before, to be a family, to be a witness to a beatification is not only important but it also involves an immense amount of work. Traditionally, saints come from priestly orders or convents and so they have a lot of people working on these causes for free. But in a family we have to work hard, and also for free.

So it’s been a bit of a burden but a happy one?

Yes.

How does your sister Gianna Emanuela look upon what your mother did for her?

It is amazing. She was only with my mother six days but she received through us and my father a sense of what really happened. And yes, she’s completely grateful to my mother because through giving her life, she is here. But what my mother did for Gianna she would have done for me or my other sisters, because for my mother, Gianna has every right to live as we have.

When Sarah Palin was chosen to run as Vice President of the United States, some referred to your mother as an example of someone who could bring up her relatively large family in the Catholic faith and yet live a very professional and busy life. Are you happy with that comparison?

I didn’t know about this, about the comparison with Sarah Palin. I only know what I read in the papers. I think my mother showed at that time in the 1950s that it was possible for a woman to be coherent with her values and to do well in her life in terms of her profession and family. This is the example of my mother, but I don’t know if it’s really consistent with the life of Sarah Palin. It’s not only Sarah Palin but I think there are a lot of women and many other great saints of the Church who have shown how life can be sanctified through a profession. There’s St. Josemaria Escriva, for instance, who said you can be a good father, and also be sanctified through your profession. So my mother isn’t the only example in the Church of this kind of coherence and commitment to family and professional life. There are many examples.

It also depends on the person?

Yes, and on their experience and history. In my mother’s case, she was completely happy in her family and professional life. She was coherent with this principle and applied it to everything she wanted to do. One of my mother’s favorite expressions was to do everything in depth, not superficially, and not to stop and only do 50 percent. She wasn’t an extraordinary intellectual and at school she got average results. She was not a champion, but she tried her best.

Relaxed abortion laws mostly came into force in the western world after your mother died. Do you think she’d be campaigning against these laws if she were alive today?

She probably would be, as someone who was committed to Azione Cattolica. As someone who had to give a good example, who tried to be coherent in her commitment to her faith, she would have done everything she could to prevent an abortion from taking place. I think she would have also been committed to this in her job, to be coherent with this aspect of her faith. I saw in yesterday’s Corriere della Sera two pages devoted to a meeting between the Pope and Obama. The main aspect discussed was abortion, so it shows the real value these issues have at the highest level. Because if you agree with this kind of value, you must also be coherent in the policies you make. I was really surprised that Obama wanted to reduce abortion. In the last 10 years of presidential campaigns in the US, abortion has figured highly, so it is of real value.

Certainly my mother represented this value. My mother was a person who lived in the 1950s, died in 1962 and yet the message she left is still very current and topical. Not only in bioethics and abortion, but also in matters relating to the economy and moral values. If we agree on these values and every leader applies these principles to daily life, we can change the general situation.

Seminarian Issue Delaying Apostolic Constitution

The delay in publishing the Apostolic Constitution is due not so much to translation problems as the more weighty issue of priestly celibacy.

According to two reliably informed Italian newspapers, Il Giornale and Il Foglio, canon lawyers are continuing to define what has been a particularly unclear aspect of the new provision: whether married Anglicans could train as seminarians.

Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale reports that over the last few days, the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts has been working to clarify this point. He writes that “everything suggests” seminarians in these future Anglo-Catholic communities “will have to be celibate like all their colleagues in the Latin Catholic Church.”

Both newspapers also report the Holy Father would have preferred the publication of the Apostolic Constitution to have taken place at the same time as last week’s press conference, mainly to avoid any repeat of the mishandling of his decision to lift the excommunications on four Lefebvrist bishops earlier this year.

But as Cardinal William Levada had already informed the bishops of England and Wales and the Archbishop of Canterbury of the provision, and the date for their joint press conference in London had already been disclosed, it would have been impossible to keep the matter under wraps, Tornielli writes. The Vatican therefore decided to go ahead with the press conference, even though the precise canonical details of the Constitution hadn’t yet been worked out.

Cardinal Kasper To Be Replaced Soon?

Word around the Vatican is that Cardinal Walter Kasper is to retire and be replaced by Mons. Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, the Bishop of Regensburg, Germany.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to make the announcement on Saturday, according to one source.

If true, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity will have had two German presidents in succession.

Bishop Mueller is known as a traditionalist and doctrinally conservative.

However, he criticized the Pope for lifting the excommunications on the four Lefebvrite bishops in January this year, one of whom was Bishop Richard Williamson who denied the extent of the Holocaust.

Archbishop Mueller criticized the Pope for extending "both hands to a marginal group" and later banned Bishop Williamson from his diocesan churches and facilities.

The Holy Father was unaware of Williamson's anti-Semitic views until after he had made his decision.

UPDATE: The diocese of Regensburg has denied the rumours, which originally started in the German media, saying as far as they know, no decision has yet been taken. However, Cardinal Kasper is expected to be replaced in the next few months having passed the retirement age of cardinals.

More on the Anglican Apostolic Constitution

“My broad vision is to see the end of the Reformation of the 16th century," Archbishop John Hepworth, head of the Traditional Anglican Communion, a breakaway Anglican group, told me back in 2005.

Together with his bishops, all of whom left the Anglican Communion over the issue of women priests, he was determined to blaze a trail back to Rome and take like-minded Anglicans with him.

After much discussion and head-banging, a significant step was made towards that goal last week after Pope Benedict XVI announced he was preparing a provision which would facilitate large groups of disaffected Anglicans (Episcopalians in the U.S.) to come into communion with Rome.

Such an initiative has been under consideration for at least four years, but only in the past year has the Holy See, strongly backed by the Pope, seriously taken it forward as requests for some kind of structure sharply increased. It’s true that the Vatican only informed Dr. Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, about the precise nature of this provision only two weeks before last Monday’s announcement.

What was not said, however, was that Dr. Williams has known this was on the cards for at least two years. He was said to be implacably opposed to it, but really had no choice but to give it his blessing. This new provision breaks with traditional ecumenical dialogue that has taken place over the past 40 years. Instead, it is a kind of “ecumenism through the back door” or, as some might prefer to see it, a fast track to corporate union with the Catholic Church without vacuous theological discussions.

It may even become the only viable form of ecumenical dialogue between the two confessions in the future. Past dialogue helped build cordiality and friendship, but as worldwide Anglicanism drifted further and further away from Catholic doctrine, it did little more than comfort the Anglican Communion as it has continued towards its demise.

It’s still not clear how many traditionalist Anglicans will want to cross the Tiber and be received into the Catholic Church under this new structure. The Traditional Anglican Communion alone is said to have 400,000 members and is growing. It has a province stretching from Guatemala to Argentina, with a large presence in Colombia and Chile formerly made up of Episcopalian missionaries. It is also regularly welcoming new parishes and dioceses in southern India. Numbers of traditionalist Anglicans from groups such as Forward in Faith in the U.K. are said to be in their hundreds.

Once these structures are in place, these numbers are likely to grow, especially if the Anglican Communion continues to be largely led and controlled by theological liberals. Forward in Faith has just been having a meeting in London to discuss the Pope’s provision. Hepworth, meanwhile, is having each of his national synods vote on the Pope’s plan, and expects all his bishops to unanimously approve it. He is delighted with the new provision. “Everyone thought it would be a minimal deal,” he said. “But it’s a maximal deal, a glorious deal.”

Symbolically, and with sweet irony for Australian Hepworth, the first such synod likely to approve it will be England’s, the birthplace of Anglicanism, at a meeting on Thursday.

The Apostolic Constitution and the Reconversion of England

Could the Apostolic Constitution signify the re-conversion of England has begun in earnest?

Blogger Scott P. Richert interestingly points out on the website About.com that it may well do, given its timing.

Richert writes:

“Pope Benedict XVI is very sensitive to the message that certain dates send. Summorum Pontificum for instance, was signed on June 29, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, when the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch sends representatives to Rome each year to take part in the celebration of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (and sometimes comes himself). The Orthodox have long been concerned about the decline of the liturgy in the Western Church, and the revival of the Traditional Latin Mass was seen as a major step in the right direction."

Richerts continues: “October 20 is the feast day of Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775), the founder of the Passionists. Though Saint Paul spent his life in Italy, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes that "For fifty years he prayed for the conversion of England, and left the devotion as a legacy to his [spiritual] sons." Almost 65 years after his death, the Passionists were first introduced into England, and the Catholic Encyclopedia declares that "They came in the spirit of Apostles without gold or silver, without scrip or staff or shoes or two coats," yet they "soon revived without commotion several Catholic customs and practices which had died out since the Reformation. They were the first to adopt strict community life, to wear their habit in public, to give missions and retreats to the people, and to hold public religious processions."”

He concludes: “All of this may simply be a coincidence. But considering Pope Benedict's sensitivity to the symbolism of dates, I don't think so. In any case, on this historic day, we can join Saint Paul of the Cross in praying for the conversion of England.”

Backing up Richert’s theory is that Monday’s press conference surprisingly went ahead despite the Apostolic Constitution not being ready. Cardinal William Levada said the date had long been set for the announcement. The Register was told back in July that a date had already been fixed to publicize the new structures, but few, even those closely involved in the process, knew exactly when it would be.

Britain, and particularly England, has been considered mission territory for some time, particularly over the past decade, as it suffers from social breakdown, policies which disregard the sacredness of all human life, and widespread ignorance of its Christian – and particularly Catholic – roots.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Archbishop emeritus of Westminster, famously said in 2001 that Christianity in Britain “has now almost been vanquished.”

Photo: Cambridgeshire countryside

Pope Helps Disaffected Anglicans to Cross the Tiber

Pope Benedict XVI today historically approved canonical structures to allow Anglican clergy and faithful to be received into the Church while retaining elements of their distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony.

Although I've known an announcement was in the works, it wasn't expected so soon and came as a surprise. The suddenness of the news is possibly part of an attempt to allay possible fallout ahead of the Pope's visit to Britain, and to help future consultation. It also comes in response to an increasing number of requests from groups of traditionalist Anglicans to come into communion.

The new structures would be open to members of the Episcopal Church in the United States, otherwise known as TEC (formerly ECUSA); the TEC is the main American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. They will also help regularize John Paul II's 1982 Pastoral Provision which allowed former Anglicans in the U.S. to come into communion while retaining their Anglican liturgies.

At a Vatican press conference this morning, American Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced that an Apostolic Constitution has been prepared in response to “many requests” from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful wanting to enter into full communion with the Church.

The Apostolic Constitution, which Cardinal Levada said “provides a reasonable and even necessary response to a world-wide phenomenon”, will be a “single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application.”

The new canonical structure, which aims to “preserve elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony,” will be made up of ‘Personal Ordinariates’. This means groups of Anglicans won’t be received as a bloc, en masse, but rather that bishops' conferences around the world will be able to create a special, supra-territorial, structure to accept Anglicans under the leadership of a former Anglican minister who would be designated a bishop.

The new structure will allow for married former Anglican clergy to be ordained. However, in common with Catholic and Eastern Rite Churches, married clergy will not be allowed to be ordained to the episcopate. Former married Anglican bishops will also not be allowed to be bishops in the new structure.

These ‘Personal Ordinariates’ will be formed, “as needed, in consultation with local Conferences of Bishops, and their structure will be similar in some ways to that of the Military Ordinariates which have been established in most countries to provide pastoral care for members of the armed forces and their dependents throughout the world”, the cardinal prefect said.

He added: “The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of Christian Unity.”

Archbishop Augustine DiNoia, former under-secretary at the CDF who helped draft the new structure, said: “We’ve been praying for unity for forty years. Prayers are being answered in ways we did not anticipate and the Holy See cannot not respond to this movement of the Holy Spirit for those who wish communion and whose tradition is to be valued.” He said there has been a “tremendous shift” in the ecumenical movement and “these possibilities weren’t seen as they are now”.

Technical details still need to be worked out, and these Personal Ordinariates may vary in their final form, Archbishop DiNoia said. Full details of the Apostolic Constitution will be released in a few weeks but today’s press conference went ahead today because it had been planned sometime ago, Cardinal Levada said.

The Vatican’s note on the Constitution can be found here: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/24513.php?index=24513&lang=en
The archbishops’ joint statement can be found here:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/bulletin/news/24514.php?index=24514&lang=en

To underline the importance of this decision, and to perhaps lessen tensions, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, held a joint press conference in London today.
“The Apostolic Constitution is further recognition of the substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality between the Catholic Church and the Anglican tradition,” they said in a joint statement. “Without the dialogues of the past forty years, this recognition would not have been possible, nor would hopes for full visible unity have been nurtured. In this sense, this Apostolic Constitution is one consequence of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.”

The two leaders said they hoped “this close cooperation will continue as we grow together in unity and mission, in witness to the Gospel in our country, and in the Church at large.”

Last week, Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said “there is agreement” between Williams and the Vatican that anyone who wishes to be received must have their conscience respected. But Cardinal Kasper stressed “we are not fishing in the Anglican lake” and that ecumenical dialogue “is not aiming to proselytize.”

Breakaway Anglican groups who will benefit from the new structure include the Traditional Anglican Communion, an ecclesial body which claims to have 400,000 members worldwide. Its membership has swelled in the past couple of years, its leadership says, as the Anglican Communion has been torn by issues over homosexual clergy and bishops and the Church of England’s decision to ordain women as bishops.

The TAC broke from the Anglican Communion in 1991 over the decision of the Church of England to ordain women as priests. As well as other breakaway groups of traditionalist Anglicans, it has been hoping for such a canonical structure ever since.

The TAC formally made a request two years ago, after all its bishops symbolically signed a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church at a ceremony in England. The discussions that followed were protracted owing to the unique nature of such a structure, in particular over whether Anglicans should have their own rite.

Archbishop John Hepworth, the TAC’s primate, has played a key role in trying to bring the matter to a conclusion. He will no longer be allowed to be bishop in the new structure, but he has always said he is willing to step aside and let others lead the ecclesial body if such a structure would oblige him to do so.

The Apostolic Constitution will no doubt be discussed when Archbishop Williams visits the Holy Father and the Vatican next month. The visit was supposed to be routine and low-key, but that’s now unlikely after today’s announcement.

Pope to Visit Rome Synagogue in January

From the Register's blog:

The Vatican announced today that Pope Benedict XVI will visit Rome's synagogue slightly later than the expected, in the afternoon of 17th January next year.

According to a statement, the visit will coincide with the 21st Day of Deepening and Development of Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, as well as a Jewish festival.

The visit has been on the cards for sometime: papal spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed it to the Register back in July but no date had then been fixed.

The Holy Father's visit will come after recent controversies such as the Good Friday prayer in the extraordinary form that calls for the conversion of Jews, and the lifting of the excommunication of Bishop Richard Willamson. The Pope has been trying to steer relations back on track, making a special point of thanking some Jewish leaders for their understanding following the controversy over Williamson who denies the extent of the Holocaust. He also condemned anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial during his trip to the Holy Land.

The Jewish place of worship belongs to the oldest Judaic community in Europe and one of the oldest continuous Jewish settlements in the world, dating back to 161 B.C. It was also the venue for John Paul II’s historic visit in 1986, when he became the first Pope ever to set foot inside a synagogue. His gesture helped confirm a path of friendship between Christians and Jews, in the conciliar spirit of Nostra Aetate (In Our Time), the Second Vatican Council’s declaration on relations between the Church and non-Christians.

The Vatican also announced today that the Holy Father will visit the Rome headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for the opening of the World Summit on Food Security on November 16.

Why Are You Only a Spectator?

I received this powerful message through the group 'Europe4Christ'. Ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Britain, what this Nigerian seminarian has to say seems especially relevant. As nasty articles and falsehoods begin to appear in the British media before the Holy Father's arrival next year, now is as good a time as any to respond by proclaiming the truth of the Church's teaching. It also appropriately coincides with the Synod on Africa which is now underway here in Rome.

Why are you only a spectator?

Why don’t you get involved?

Why are you not proclaiming the truth?

An African Christian registers with horror the Anti-Christian climate in Europe and is astonished with what passivity European Christians accept that.

"In Western Europe, there has been a storm of critique on Christianity for a long time, an Anti-Christian trend. To have faith is seen as a pitiful situation. To say it gently, the majority of Christians waits helplessly and inactively for the total destruction of already wounded Christianity. I am not worried that the Church would not survive difficult situations (Mt 16:18) or that Christ would abandon his Church (Mt 28:20). But I worry about the degree of carelessness and apathy that Christians in Europe show in this difficult situation.

Christians meet the increasing wave of Anti-Christianity with total passivity. Because of the media, daily newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, people are on a daily basis confronted with ideologies that only deep faith and clear discernment can withstand. The question is: How do Christians react to this? What did they do until now?

I read daily newspapers and I am bewildered because of the eagerness with which journalists and editors make arbitrary statements, leap to illogical conclusions and criticize the Church in a hostile way. The passivity with which Christians react on these assaults is alarming.

Why do you observe instead of argue, defend and proclaim the truth from a rational point of view? Why not react on negative developments, especially when they turn into a dangerous ideology?

Now it is time to wake up, everyone in their way and in their environment! Let’s write! Let’s speak loudly! We have to prepare ourselves, because as Christ has already warned us: “...for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light...” (Lk 16:8)

It is not enough to wait for a miracle! We could not impede this development by waiting for a wonder from God. Why should He perform a miracle, when he already gave us the ability to act through faith and common sense?

Prayer is undeniably the first step that we have to make, but it is not enough. We have to act. We owe that to our descendants. People leave the church because they receive wrong answers to their questions. And they get these wrong answers from the wrong people.

An average European who reads daily newspapers probably will tend to lose their faith than remain a believer. It is time to let Christ lead us. Let everyone around you notice that there is a Christian. Where are you? What do you see? What do you hear? What do you know? Speak aloud! Our silence is our pain."

Kizito Chinedu Nweke

Nweke Kizito Chinedu is a seminarian originally from Nigeria and currently studying at the Pontifical University Heiligenkreuz near Vienna.

http://www.europe4christ.net/

Pope to Visit Cyprus in 2010

Pope Benedict XVI is to visit Cyprus in June 2010, principally because of the synod on the Middle East, scheduled for October next year.

For the full story, see our post at Terrasanta.net.

Ecumenists Worry about Vatican and Traditionalist Anglicans

There is some concern among ecumenists that Pope Benedict XVI will announce a new structure for the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) to come into communion with Rome next year.

They fear the Church is poaching Anglicans at a time when they are suffering from deep divisions and possible schism.

And speaking with one prominent Anglican in Rome yesterday, there is also the fear that announcing the move will take place close to, or even at the same time, as the Pope comes to Britain. It'll be a case of another Vatican PR blunder, they say, and must be avoided.

Benedict XVI is known to be fully supportive of the new structure, which will bring 400,000 TAC members into communion with Rome in one fell swoop. Talks have also been progressing well in recent months, according to sources.

But it seems odd there should be any concern when 1) the TAC is a breakaway group no longer part of the Anglican Communion (despite their name) and 2) the Vatican is not poaching TAC members but carefully and as sensitively as possible responding to their desire for full communion. Their desire for communion also is said to have the blessing of Archbishop Rowan Williams.

Still, seeing that these concerns exist, it would be wise for the CDF - the dicastery in talks with the TAC - to consult Cardinal Kasper at the council for Christian unity. Perhaps then any unnecessary damage to relations, not to mention unwanted bad press, can be mitigated.

Photo: Archbishop John Hepworth, Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion.