Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Pope's Apostolic Constitituion Anglicanorum Coetibus - The Need For Patience

Canterbury Tales has a good post on this at Interpretation of the Pope's Apostolic Constitituion Anglicanorum Coetibus.

He also brings up this point :

The ordinary will be appointed directly by the Pope and will be a member of the national conference of bishops--again nothing surprising there. It seems also that this ordinary, whether a bishop or not will be granted the ability to "pontificate" liturgically (in lay terms: vest and preside as if a bishop).I'm personally very excited to learn who the Holy Father will appoint to this new post in the United States. We should begin to pray for him, whomever he will be. I'm sure that the Holy Spirit is preparing him for this.

I am too!!! This will be a huge and important post. There are a lot minefield from with and outside the Catholic Church this person will have to navigate. He will have to be no nonsense but have a huge Pastoral flair and outlook.

The Catholic Key also has a good post from a Former Anglican Priest now Catholic in a Anglican Use Parish. See Anglicanorum Coetibus is Not Anglican First and Catholic When It Suits. THis is a very good read. He says in part:

Based on what I have been reading and hearing, at least some Anglicans who asked for union with Rome hoped unity with Rome might be something like what I described. Now, faced with the offer of an Anglican Ordinariate in the Catholic Church, Anglicans are faced with an invitation to be Catholic, and the reaction of some seems to be, "But I don't want to be Catholic! I don't want to convert!"
I hope my fellow Catholics will not be dismissive of such reactions. I think it is absolutely necessary for Anglicans to wrestle with real issues and express the emotions related to them. Newman's entry into the Catholic Church did not happen in one day. Nor did he just think himself through the process, although thinking was absolutely necessary. Newman helps us realize that we reason not only mentally, but physically, emotionally and socially as well. If we try to shut down the process and demand instant gratitude for a gracious offer, then we demean those for whom this is almost a life and death issue involving one's core identity
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