Friday, May 13, 2011

It aint over till...now

(The Google Blogger people lost posts from Wednesday until now. I am forced to try to recreate this last item from scratch. Your comments were lost by Google Blogger; but, I have them in my email. So, I will restore them to the best degree I can. I see I must keep a copy of everything from now on)

On May 11th, Virtue Online had this headline (and the opening is quoted here as well): 
Exclusive Report

By David W. Virtue 

May 11, 2011


The Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) Archbishop John Hepworth has written a letter to Melbourne Catholic Bishop Peter Elliott blasting Canadian Roman Catholic Archbishop Thomas Collins for derailing Ordinariate discussions and has put talks "on hold" indefinitely.

In a letter VOL has obtained, Hepworth described the situation in Canada as "deteriorating" and said the precipitating issue is the impending visit by Catholic priests appointed by Archbishop Collins to Traditional Anglican Communion parishes in Canada in the next two weeks.

"These priests are to announce, on behalf of Archbishop Collins, that the parishes will close forthwith, that the laity and clergy will attend a Catholic parish for from four to six months, that they will not receive the sacraments during this time, that they will be catechised adequately during this time since any catechesis from the Catechism of the Catholic Church done by the Traditional Anglican Communion is inadequate because only Catholics understand the Catechism, that the dossiers submitted by Traditional Anglican Communion clergy show an inadequate training since they have not attended Anglican Communion Theological Colleges, and therefore those selected by the Ordinary and approved by the CDF will have to attend a Catholic Seminary for an as yet unspecified time, at the end of this process, new parishes for Anglicans along the lines of the Anglican Use in the United States may be established, but not necessarily in the former Traditional Anglican Communion churches, and that during this process the Traditional Anglican Communion must cede its property to the Ordinariate," lamented Hepworth.

As I commented before, one cannot tell if Abp. John Hepworth is simply trying to save face, or  if he has believed his own propaganda. What he "laments" is not a change of the terms or conditions at all. For those who are neither canonically illiterate nor dishonest, it has been clear ever since the initial publication of Anglicanorum Coetibus that this was inevitable. This is what it always was about. The oft misquoted (by way of redaction) article vi of that constitution contained several references to existing Roman Catholic canon law, and repeated the exact conditions of the existing Pastoral Provisions. The spin has finally been exposed. That is all that has happened. It makes Hepworth and the several voices that echoed his spin, look very bad.

They should have listened to our analysis from Day One. Our archives show that we understood it well enough from the beginning. Hepworth, the Orlando bloggers, et al, are simply finding out that what we have been saying was correct.

The VOL report goes on to say:


Hepworth opined, "It is just on thirty years since these Canadian Anglicans left the Anglican Church of Canada in support of Catholic teaching and the continuation of the ARCIC dream. After so many years of sacrificial work, the wonton destruction of their communities, the absolute disregard for their ecclesial integrity, and the brutish manner in which these edicts are being communicated, are powerful disincentives to unity, in stark contrast to the clear language and intent of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus".

No, Abp. Hepworth. They did not leave to follow the dream of ARCIC, nor your pipe dreams that are now up in smoke. They left for all of the reasons stated in The Affirmation of St. Louis - a document you have yet to understand, written with ideals you have never shared.
___   
Reconstructed comments


David Harris has left a new comment on your post "It ain't over till ... now": 

A bombshell perhaps but what a smart move by Bishop Collins. By presenting the ACCC with such obviously and intentionally unacceptable conditions he has forced it's rejection of them to simultaneously voice its abandonment of establishing a Canadian Ordinariate. Hence, the record will now show that Rome has not refused admittance but, rather, the ACCC publicly backed away from its original comittment and acceptance of its terms. A clever piece of statecraft by someone who saw that the numbers were never there to begin with and that any such pursuit would prove too costly for the meagre results. 



Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "It ain't over till ... now": 

Perhaps now is the time to stop, take note and build. We are all Christian men and women, lay or clergy, that should be working and praying together, not pulling each other apart, or gloating at who has got it right or wrong. 
Why perpetuate our Lords suffering on the Cross, we need to build the Church together and forget our petty ways in dealing with each other. 
Perhaps you forget, we are all sinners and therefore we need each other to bring those sins to God in Charity and support. 



Colin Chattan has left a new comment on your post "It ain't over till ... now": 

In fairness to Archbishop Collins, I'd be surprised if he were acting on his own here. He must have at least the tacit approval of the CDF. And he has administered a sharp dose of reality to the members of the ACCC and the TAC farther afield - something sorely lacking in this opera up until now (the chief aria in which has been "ut unum sint"!). I presume that few of them still have their rose-coloured glasses on. Hopefully they'll now also be able to see clearly the real worth of their TRUE "patrimony" and return to it: their heritage in the classical Anglican faith.

The sad thing is that, in embarking on their Anglicanorum Coetibus adventure, the TAC bishops have, in the end, achieved what? The division and destruction of their own churches and humiliation, all for, basically, not much more than they could have had if they'd simply, quietly surrendered their episcopates and converted to Rome in the traditional fashion.

Some well known words come to mind:

"Be careful what you wish for - you might actually get it!" and

"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown."



 "No, Abp. Hepworth; they did not leave the Anglican Church of Canada to pursue the ARCIC dream; they left it to Continue orthodox Anglicanism."

Spot on Fr. Hart. And I am sure that the ACCC's founding bishop, Carmino de Catanzaro, would concur. At the time of the formation of continuing Anglicanism in Canada the then Anglican Church of Canada Primate, the, for want of a better word, ineffable Ted Scott, urged us to go to Rome. Bishop de Catanzaro didn't oblige - though his loyalty to traditional Anglicanism cost him his health and, eventually, his life.

 

AFS1970 has left a new comment on your post "It ain't over till ... now": 

I actually only found one thing unexpected in that letter, but since it is not from the RCC, it may not be entirely accurate. The idea that the parishes will be given to the ordinariate, then close, the reopen possibly at a new location seems odd, but without more credible information I can't really say much more. 



I Think that is it. If you made a comment and I have not restored it, please feel free to repeat it. This was what I could find.

12 comments:

Colin Chattan said...

What a bombshell!

I can't, however, say that I'm surprised at Bishop Collins' lack of, shall we say, sensitivity towards the Canadian TAC. While Bishop of Edmonton he personally, expressly ordered the sisters of the convent at whose chapel the TAC parish there - then called the Mission of the Resurrection - was holding services to expel their guests - much, I have been told, to the dismay of the nuns. Fr. Skelton (a highly qualified and trained priest and physician who has taught at university Faculties of Medicine) and his people (all good and wonderful people - pray for them!) were then welcomed by a local Missouri Synod Lutheran church - who were amazed to encounter a group of, mirabile dictu, "confessing Anglicans" (a juxtaposition they would have considered an oxymoron up to that point!). The good people of Redeemer Lutheran allowed them to hold services in their church. The Anglicans, now called the church of Our Lady and St. Michael, continue happily worshipping there. I know they'll be terribly disappointed, but I doubt they'll be very surprised, to find that Bishop Collins still has his knuckle-dusters on. I hope and pray that this development will awaken them fully to the "truth" of Anglicanorum Coetibus and the Roman Catholic Church - and help them to rediscover the truth and value of their Anglican identity, so that they will return to us - and find true peace and fulfilment in the best and purest form of Catholicism - classical Anglicanism.

Timeo Romanos et dona ferentes.

Colin Chattan said...

"No, Abp. Hepworth; they did not leave the Anglican Church of Canada to pursue the ARCIC dream; they left it to Continue orthodox Anglicanism."

Spot on Fr. Hart. And I am sure that the ACCC's founding bishop, Carmino de Catanzaro, would concur. At the time of the formation of continuing Anglicanism in Canada the then Anglican Church of Canada Primate, the, for want of a better word, ineffable Ted Scott, urged us to go to Rome. Bishop de Catanzaro didn't oblige - though his loyalty to traditional Anglicanism cost him his health and, eventually, his life.

Fr. Spaeth said...

You probably want to update your article; David Virtue corrected a few things: namely that it was actually written by Hepworth to a RC Archbishop in Australia.

No need to post/approve this comment; I just wanted to point that out.

David Harris said...

A bombshell perhaps but what a smart move by Bishop Collins. By presenting the ACCC with such obviously and intentionally unacceptable conditions he has forced it's rejection of them to simultaneously voice its abandonment of establishing a Canadian Ordinariate. Hence, the record will now show that Rome has not refused admittance but, rather, the ACCC publicly backed away from its original comittment and acceptance of its terms. A clever piece of statecraft by someone who saw that the numbers were never there to begin with and that any such pursuit would prove too costly for the meagre results.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps now is the time to stop, take note and build. We are all Christian men and women, lay or clergy, that should be working and praying together, not pulling each other apart, or gloating at who has got it right or wrong.
Why perpetuate our Lords suffering on the Cross, we need to build the Church together and forget our petty ways in dealing with each other.
Perhaps you forget, we are all sinners and therefore we need each other to bring those sins to God in Charity and support.

Colin Chattan said...

In fairness to Archbishop Collins, I'd be surprised if he were acting on his own here. He must have at least the tacit approval of the CDF. And he has administered a sharp dose of reality to the members of the ACCC and the TAC farther afield - something sorely lacking in this opera up until now (the chief aria in which has been "ut unum sint"!). I presume that few of them still have their rose-coloured glasses on. Hopefully they'll now also be able to see clearly the real worth of their TRUE "patrimony" and return to it: their heritage in the classical Anglican faith.

The sad thing is that, in embarking on their Anglicanorum Coetibus adventure, the TAC bishops have, in the end, achieved what? The division and destruction of their own churches and humiliation, all for, basically, not much more than they could have had if they'd simply, quietly surrendered their episcopates and converted to Rome in the traditional fashion.

Some well known words come to mind:

"Be careful what you wish for - you might actually get it!" and

"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown."

AFS1970 said...

I actually only found one thing unexpected in that letter, but since it is not from the RCC, it may not be entirely accurate. The idea that the parishes will be given to the ordinariate, then close, the reopen possibly at a new location seems odd, but without more credible information I can't really say much more.

Fr. Robert Hart said...

Thank you Fr. Spaeth. I do not report, but comment, so a good heads up is always useful. The Australian Bp. Elliot (of Melbourne) has been one of the RC individuals who either does not understand Anglicanorum Coetibus, or who wants to rewrite it. He has participated shamelessly in the spin.

Fr. Wells said...

"The Former Anglican" blog has published a kind of response to the VOL story, curiously titled "The Straight Story." It is a minor masterpiece of evasiveness and remarkable mainly for the number of questions it fails to answer. What Bb Bp Reid say or do in his Toronto cathedral which got everyone so upset? Are the "mentor priests" allowed to come to ACCC parishes or not? And why did Abp Hepworth write an ugly letter about BpCollins? The stone-walling on the part of Ordinariate True Believers only serves to make the VOL account highly credible.
LKW

Colin Chattan said...

I had a long-winded disquisition to the effect that the good people of the TAC's Edmonton parish, then known as the Mission of the Resurrection, now Our Lady and St. Michael, personally experienced Bishop Collins' warm, avuncular manner when he gave them the bum's rush from the RC convent chapel where they were holding services.

As for the current brouhaha one can only invoke Alice: curiouser and curiouser! Fr. Phillips' "Straight Story" just doesn't add up with the letter attributed by VOL and the Catholic Herald to Archbishop Hepworth. They can't both be right. The only other "fact" that we appear to have is that the ACCC has apparently put their interaction with their RC Church minders - I mean mentors - on hold, which is at least consistent with the letter attributed to Archbishop Hepworth. This is all starting to sound as confusing as "Who's on first?" Who knows how it's all going to shake down?

One thing remains certain, however: any member of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada who wants to join an Ordinariate, if and when one is set up, is going to have to convert to Roman Catholicism hook, line, and sinker, which will involve repudiating much of what they have believed and received as Anglicans, including at least 5 of the 7 sacraments, and swallowing all the RC unbiblical, man-made, and thus unCatholic dogmas and practices. They will cease to be Anglicans and become Roman Catholics. The rest is all fluff and distraction.

Visibilium said...

The "Coetibus" in Anglicanorum Coetibus sounds too much like "coitus" for anyone to mistake Old Rome's intention.

FrEdBakker said...

Dear Father Hart et al,
Yes, I do recall this post quite well. At that time I did make any comments. I dont think that Bishop Peter Elliott does not understand the AC, but I feel that due to the lack of interest in this country of Australia, he adopted a very arrogant attitude, like during his Perth visit, where he lectured everyone that there is no future for continuing Anglicans, however I do beg to differ. In Australia the AC split the TAC and clergy were fleeing into various directions, there is virtually no interest from the Anglican Church of Australa. TAC Clergy who still wish to go to Rome are now being told to study the Roman cathachism and to find an RC Priest as a mentor and then perhaps in February 2012 there might be an ordinarate. With some many different continuing Anglicans in this country and with a futuristic Ordinariate we will be soon running out finding Traditional Anglicans. I for one am all for Unity between the members of the Continiuum and welcomed the meeting of Bishops Marsh and Haverland and other parties to look at the way forward. Personalities such as Abp Hepworth and Bp.Michaelson have their own political agenda and have contributed to more bitterness and division of the Church of God. Lets pray that they fade away from us in the past and that we can really get on with the work that God has set out for us to do.

Father Ed Bakker
Bendigo
Australia