Personal Ordinariates and UK Property Issues

I have been hoping that property issues surrounding Church of England Anglo-Catholic parishes that decide to cross the Tiber would be handled in a gentlemanly manner. But I am now afraid “hope” is the operative word.

[R.C. Archbishop Vincent Nichols] added that Dr Williams had already ruled out the purchase of Church of England buildings as "impossible".



. . .

Forward in Faith, the largest Anglo-Catholic group, has estimated that 450 parishes are considering the Pope's offer and as many as 200 of them might accept it.



Anglican Bishop John Broadhurst of Fulham, chairman of Forward in Faith, said: "We have 1,000 priest members in my organisation and there are many others who agree with us. The main issue for many Anglican priests is now the ownership of parish churches.

"

Understanding the attachment of Anglo-Catholics to their church buildings, many of which are listed or historic, the Catholic commission is expected to look at the possibility of church-sharing and also the chances of taking out 100-year leases of some Anglican parishes, including a commitment to maintain and repair them.



Fr Anthony Symondson, a former Anglo-Catholic vicar who became a Jesuit priest, doubted however whether mass conversion was inevitable. He predicted that if an English Ordinariate relies on "shared churches and temporary buildings" he felt it would "represent a very small number of people with a very limited future".



"None of us really know how the Church of England is going to respond to it and how the Church Commissioners are going to respond to it in terms of letting property go," he said. Congregations are likely to be split by the decision and may be tempted to experiment with parish-sharing, he said, but he explained that when this was tried at a church in west London in the 1990s it was soon halted by Cardinal Basil Hume because of divisions between Catholic converts and the resident Anglican congregation.

I do not want to comment too much on this as I am not expert on peculiar CofE property laws and the like. Nevertheless, I am puzzled as to why the sale of some CofE buildings is “impossible”. Doesn’t the Church of England need the money to put it bluntly? Aren’t many of these buildings very expensive to maintain?

Surely, accommodations can be made that would benefit both the Church of England and departing parishes. Surely, the ugliness exhibited by The Episcopal Church won’t at all be practiced in the Church of England.

Right?

Hat tip to Jeffrey Steel.

Audio from Forward in Faith UK Conference

I haven’t read or listened to enough to comment, but much audio from the aforementioned Forward in Faith UK Conference is already posted here.

Readers may find this presentation particularly interesting and timely.

More Reaction to Vatican Anglican Announcement (with sordid BDS!)

In discussions of the Vatican announcement of provisions for Anglicans, count Christopher Johnson among those who have nailed it. He, too, thinks the Archbishop of Canterbury has only himself to blame:

Consider the irony. Benedict XVI, confronted with a problem (or an opportunity, however you want to look at it), comes up with a bold, innovative and, one might even say, audacious plan for dealing with it.

Rowan Williams, confronted by a problem, constantly falls back on what the “instruments of unity” will or will not permit him to do. Then whenever the current crisis abates for a while, he issues delphic responses that can be interpreted according to the political position of the reader.

What could Dr. Williams have done, Johnson? Quite a bit. He could have not invited the Americans to Lambeth (and that’s when I think the Pope finally made up his mind). He could declare that ACNA recognition is inevitable and that therefore, he was going to be begin inviting Bob Duncan to primates meetings.

He could have insisted that the Americans observe the terms of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué rather than completely cutting the ground out from under it after the New Orleans TEO bishops meeting. At least once, he could have acted as if Katharine Jefferts Schori was not the actual Archbishop of Canterbury.

But he didn’t do any of that. So if thousands of Anglicans in Great Britain and around the world take the Pope up on his offer, he only has himself to blame.

The Bovina Bloviator is even more to the point:

Well, your Grace, you had six-and-a-half years to do something about this mess and dithered all the while. The Pope, who isn't getting any younger, heard a cry for help and helped. It really should not come as a surprise.

Meanwhile, there’s been an outbreak of Benedict Derangement Syndrome. Here’s a predictably virulent case from a uberEpiscopalian. It begins:

There came in this morning's mail an announcement from Lambeth Palace concerning the "special and different" set up of the pseudo-Church that Pope Bennie has set up for "disaffected Anglicans.

More feminista BDS here with this comical headline:

Vatican to Anglicans: Come be bigots with us!

Feel free to post other cases of BDS. Or heck, if you have BDS, vomit away in the comments. Laughter is the best medicine, you know.

Kendall Harmon (and moi) on Vatican Anglican Announcement

In short, Kendall Harmon nails it.

If the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury want to find someone to blame for the Vatican’s announcement of provisions for Anglo-Catholics, they need only look in the mirror.

I will give one break to Dr. Rowan Williams, however. He advocated for adequately providing for orthodox Anglo-Catholics as the CofE moves toward women bishops. But, sadly, those who don’t give a damn about traditionalists prevailed.

What amazes me is that those who have worked the hardest to push Anglo-Catholics out, such as Christina Rees, now fault the Vatican for welcoming them:

Christina Rees, of the pro-women group Watch, described the Vatican’s move as poaching. She said: “It is one thing to offer a welcome, but this seems to be a particularly effusive welcome where people are almost being encouraged. In the Anglican Church we like to operate with transparency. If this has not been done here that will add to the sense of this being a predatory move.”

Wolves complaining about all the predators around here. . . . I’ve got nothing to say.

Vatican Announces New Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans

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”.