This good news is from Damien Thompson of the UK Telegraph and will lead some who think Pope Francis would undo all tha Benedict initiated to become apoplectic which is good news too!
Pope Francis embraces the Ordinariate – and increases its power to evangelise
By Damian Thompson
Opponents of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, set up by Benedict XVI to allow ex-Anglicans to worship together with their own liturgy, were so excited when it was reported that Pope Francis, when Archbishop of Buenos Aires, wasn't keen on the initiative. But if that were ever the case, then he has changed his mind.
This week it emerged that Francis has widened the remit of the Ordinariates in Britain, America and Australia. Until now, only ex-Anglicans and their family members could join the new body. But, thanks to a new paragraph inserted into the Ordinariate's constitution by Francis, nominal Catholics who were baptised but not confirmed can join the structure. Indeed, the Holy Father wants the Ordinariates to go out and evangelise such people. Put bluntly, this suggests that English bishops who wanted to squash the body – and whose allies were rushing to get to the new Pope in order to brief against it – have been thwarted.
Here's the fine print, from the Ordinariate's website:
Pope Francis has approved a significant amendment to the Complementary Norms which govern the life of the Personal Ordinariates established under the auspices of Anglicanorum Coetibus.
On 31 May 2013, the Holy Father made a modification to Article 5 of the Norms, in order to make clear the contribution of the Personal Ordinariates in the work of the New Evangelisation.
This paragraph has been inserted into the Complementary Norms as Article 5 §2:
A person who has been baptised in the Catholic Church but who has not completed the Sacraments of Initiation, and subsequently returns to the faith and practice of the Church as a result of the evangelising mission of the Ordinariate, may be admitted to membership in the Ordinariate and receive the Sacrament of Confirmation or the Sacrament of the Eucharist or both.
This confirms the place of the Personal Ordinariates within the mission of the wider Catholic Church, not simply as a jurisdiction for those from the Anglican tradition, but as a contributor to the urgent work of the New Evangelisation.
As noted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, enrolment into a Personal Ordinariate remains linked to an objective criterion of incomplete initiation (i.e. baptism, eucharist, or confirmation are lacking), meaning that Catholics may not become members of a Personal Ordinariate ‘for purely subjective motives or personal preference’
So there you have it: a ringing affirmation of the Ordinariate's mission from a supposedly sceptical pontiff. Now what the new body needs is money and perhaps a little more courage to stick its head above the parapet. The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have so far declined to organise a nationwide second collection at Mass to help their new brethren. They should do so without delay.
Tags: Personal Ordinariate, Pope Francis
5 comments:
I hit delete instead of publish for this comment which I copy and print from the email. I have no idea what will happen, other than the Ordinariate' is under its own authority and not the Latin Rite bishop.
Will they be doing mission parishes?
I am a member of the ordinariate due to my conversion from Anglicanism. It is my understanding that there are more priest coming into the ordinariate than there are parishes for them, does this mean they will start new parishes?
Speaking of expansive, Summorum Pontificum is as broad an expansion as can be, and yet it is far from implemented. PFI can't extend SP further, but he can enforce it better. Something similar can be said regarding the privileges of the ordinariate.
Sorry, "...far from fully implemented..."
In contrast with Ecclesia Dei (1988), Summorum Pontificum depends for its fuller implementation on the initiative of individual priests, particularly parish pastors, rather than upon bishops. So the pace of its implementation must depend upon the gradual replacement of older pastors with younger priests not carrying the ideological baggage of the troubled post-Vatican II decades.
Henry is right, and I would add that if a stable group of the faithful requests the EF Mass and sacraments from a Parish Priest, but he neglects to fulfill their rightful request, then the bishop is obliged to find a remedy. The Holy See (not the SSPX!) is the final resort.
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