As many of you are already aware, the Vatican has announced new Personal Ordinariates to accommodate groups of Anglicans who wish to enter full communion with Rome. The provisions are quite generous, including retention of much Anglican liturgy and ordination of married clergy.
Although, the Archbishop of Canterbury is exercising a stiff upper lip in receiving this development with the RC Archbishop of Westminster, one can read between the lines and see His Grace is not pleased with this being sprung on him. By his own admission, he was not informed of the announcement until “a very late stage.” His letter to Bishops of the CofE and to Primates of the Anglican Communion may be found here along with a letter from the Bishops of Ebbsfleet and Richborough. The two Anglo-Catholic bishops are pleased along with Forward in Faith UK.
I intend to follow this development with interest. Initially I have mixed feelings about it. Pope Benedict is to be commended for his efforts to accommodate Anglo-Catholics. And I rejoice for those Anglo-Catholics eager to swim the Tiber. But I am afraid one result will be that Anglo-Catholics, such as Texanglican, who can not in good conscience submit to RC dogmas such as Papal Infallibility and certain Marian doctrines will find themselves more and more alone.
MORE: Unbiased headline from the Times: “Vatican moves to poach traditional Anglicans”.
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