Cautiousness greets Vatican decree to entice Anglicans
The Pope's decree has stunned millions.
Groups of Anglicans will be able to join the Roman Catholic Church but maintain a distinct religious identity under changes announced by Pope Benedict XVI last week. Ariadne Massa sought a local perspective on this historic move.
The Pope's momentous decree to entice thousands of Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church is being cautiously observed in Malta just days after its announcement.
Pope Benedict XVI approved an apostolic constitution, a form of papal decree, to allow Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, while retaining elements of their distinctive spiritual and liturgical patrimony.
Smaller groups of Anglicans joined the Catholic Church over the years, but through this bold move - which comes 450 years after King Henry VIII broke away from Rome and created the Church of England - the Pope is hoping to entice a huge wave of converts.
More than 400,000 Anglicans who quit over the women priests issue plan to convert, while others who are upset at the Church of England's liberal move towards women bishops, gay ordinations and same-sex partnerships, are expected to defect.
This could be a cause for concern, according to Fr Peter Serracino Inglott, who hopes such a move will not result in "strengthening the ultra conservative elements of the Church". He refrained from commenting further, however, saying he preferred to first analyse the document in depth.
This sentiment was echoed by former priest Vanni Xuereb who said he did not wish to see the Catholic Church ending up as a "refuge of conservative values".
Speaking as somebody who formed part of the Church and was now looking in from the outside, Dr Xuereb felt the Pope's decision would kindle several "respectful" debates, including the validity of celibacy, since Anglicans would now make the switch with their wives and children.
This was not an issue of faith or dogma, he said, but of Church discipline. But he cautioned against creating different classes to accommodate Christians from other churches.
The majority of traditionalist Anglicans who have spent years seeking closer links with the Catholic Church are enthused with the news. The Vatican, which has yet to release all the details, said in a statement it was responding to the many requests submitted from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world.
What is known from the Vatican's statement is that the apostolic constitution will offer a single canonical model for the universal Church and provide retraining and "ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy". It did clarify that "historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops".
This deal with the Church of England was sealed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Mgr Charles Scicluna, a Promoter of Justice within this influential section of the Church, described the move as a very important development.
"This is very good news for the hundreds of Anglicans who are really anxious to be part again of the greater Roman Catholic family," he said, adding he was bound not to comment further for the time being.
In its statement, the Vatican described these developments as another step towards a full, visible union in the Church of Christ. Anglicans will be able to convert through the introduction of a canonical structure of Personal Ordinariates that will provide the legal framework.
Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols described the apostolic constitution as "one consequence of ecumenical dialogue". In a joint statement they said it "nurtured hopes of new ways of embracing unity with the Catholic Church".
Bishop Nikol Cauchi welcomed the archbishops' joint statement, describing it as a step forward. Rather than create problems, he feels it will give those wishing to regularise their position a chance to do so.
"This is not a grope in the dark by the Holy See, but a well studied decision. I see it as a good move and believe it will have a future," he said, adding that he eagerly awaited the full details.
However, the National Secular Society in the UK described this move as "a mortal blow to Anglicanism, which will inevitably lead to the disestablishment" and dangerously weaken the Church of England's position.
Meanwhile, the British media expressed the opinion that the decree has dealt a blow to Dr Williams' attempts to save the Anglican Communion from further fragmentation and threatens to wreck decades of ecumenical dialogue. Commentators also said he was outmanoeuvred by the Pontiff.
Referring to critics' views that the move by the Pope could be a tactic to strengthen the intimidating masculine structures of authority in the Catholic hierarchy, Dr Xuereb emphasised the significance of collegiality.
Insisting he was not dismissing the Vatican's current hierarchical structure, Dr Xuereb felt more should be done to involve people in the leadership of the Christian community.
"The idea is that the clergy are still privileged. The Second Vatican Council did much to address this but more has to be done in terms of collegiality within the Church, which is not just top bottom," he said.
However, Dr Xuereb feels a more fundamental problem faced by Christian denominations today, including the Catholic Church, is the relevance of the Christian message to people's daily lives.
"I feel the Church, even in Malta, needs to be far more sensitive, yet aggressive, in practising the parable of the lost sheep where the shepherd leaves the 99 to look for the one that goes astray. The problem now is it's not just one lost sheep."
Archbishop Paul Cremona did not respond to questions sent by The Sunday Times, while Rev. Canon Simon Godfrey, chancellor of St Paul's Pro-Cathedral, Valletta, said he preferred not to comment since he still had to absorb the enormity of the Pope's announcement.
Roman Catholicism/Anglicanism - the difference
The Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church have many similar beliefs and teachings. The main difference lies with who is in authority.
While the Catholic Church looks to the Pope as its leader, the Anglican community disperse this absolute authority, and the British monarch is the head of the Church of England.
Women cannot be ordained within the Catholic Church, while Anglicans regard communion - the miraculous change of bread and wine into Christ's body and blood - as symbolic.
Belief in the Immaculate Conception is not a doctrine within Anglicanism, while the Roman Catholic Church believes the Virgin Mary was conceived free from Original Sin.
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Anthony Roberts
Oct 28th 2009, 11:03
I know that this is late in the day but I looked up the Anglicans approach to abortion and divorce and they agree with both. I still don't see how they can be invited to join our Religion when they accept abortion and divorce.
David Wirrich
Oct 26th 2009, 12:06
With respect to all those commenting on the difference between Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism, you are all correct when talking about Anglican beliefs in the middle to lower Church of England. However the Anglicans the Pope is encouraging to convert are not those parts of the Anglican faith, but the "High" Church or Anglo-Catholic Anglicans. These worshippers believe in the Virgin Birth;Transubstantiation etc etc etc..in fact exactly what the Roman Catholics believe in.. I speak with authority after having been an Anglo-Cathloic all my life until I "returned home" by converting to Rome last Easter. Have no fear those Anglicans who are not High Church Anglicans would rather have their hands cut off than join our church. They will regroup as Protestants.
Fr Ivan Aquilina
Oct 25th 2009, 19:12
I write as a married Anglo-Catholic priest in full communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury. I am grateful to Ms Massa for putting the matter in front of the Maltese public. It is judicious to examine facts before commenting in public - for both Anglicans and Roman Catholics Prudence is a virtue. The Church of England has since its incepotion embraced various shades of theological positions, from Calvinist to my Anglo-Catholic constiuency. As Anglo-Catholics we believe in the Immaculate Conception, in Transubstantiation and in Papal Infallibility. Our churches are shrines of devotion in which liturgy is celebrated as God deserves. The vast majority of us use the Roman liturgical books as we are Latin Christians, Western Catholics, sadly not in communion with the Pope. The Pope is trying to redress this. Like him and those in communion with him we hold that the truths of revelation are non negotiable and that is why we stand with Jesus against relativistic attitudes in both our communions. However, CofE members will agree on this thing: Her Majesty the Queen is NOT the head of the Church, that is Jesus, she is the Supreme Governor. That is very different indeed.
D Vella
Oct 25th 2009, 17:54
Mr Grima If the Caravaggio you are referring to is the one hanging in St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta(or is it Valette?) then,that belongs to the State and not to the Church
A. Muscat
Oct 25th 2009, 17:44
So close, yet 1500 years far! Since the split occurred more than 500 years ago (Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wives), many changes have grow up (including female pastors in the Anglican Church), but the services and beliefs are much alike. The Roman Catholics tie membership in their church to the person and authority of the pope, they do not ordinarily allow intercommunion. In the most recent document of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Consultation , entitled The Gift of Authority, Anglicans are asked to consider the role of the Bishop of Rome in the life of their churches, while Roman Catholics are asked to begin to take seriously the collegiality of synods called for in Vatican II. Perhaps this too emphasizes in a nutshell the differences between these two churches, both branches of the early church, so close and yet so far. I am too much in favor of gender equality as far as religion is concerned and I sincerely wish the RCC consider having female pastors The fact is this, with the too many fundamental U-Turns one can never predict what the RCC would come up with after another 456 years!
Joe Grima
Oct 25th 2009, 17:34
I am not qualfiied to discuss religious affairs. I recall one lenghty discussion with an Anglican prelate in my life, in England, when we sought refuge in an Anglican church from a sudden downpour, an interesting conversation about differences between our two Churches. While recognising the ecumenical importance of the Pope's message to Anglicans, I feel that His Holiness is now creating an "animal farm" situation within Catholicism with Anglican members of the Catholic Church more equal than others -married Anglican prelates for one. What about the strict celibacy demanded of Catholic priests, with thousands of dissenting former priests embracing marriage? Anglicans welcome divorced, cohabitating, same-sex couples and women priests. Is our conservative Pope turning liberal by recognising the religious rights of these special interests and will he now allow priests to marry? Anglican churches are bare. They have no statues encased in gold, no Rembrandts or Caravaggios. Will the Catholic Church now donate all its riches to the world's poor? Which other areas from its harsh code that has lost it hundreds of thousands of faithful is the Church ready to compromise on in order to harmonise itself ecumenically with other faiths and with the needs of its faithful?
Timothy R. Chilvers
Oct 25th 2009, 16:43
For differences between the Church of England and that of Rome, reference should be made to the 39 Articles of Religion printed in the Book of Common Prayer. Main points of difference: only 2 Sacraments, Baptism and Communion; priests can marry, Communion in both sorts (bread and wine) for laymen, no belief in transubstantiation, the doctrine of purgatory, pardons, worshipping of images and relics, and calling upon Saintly intercession "is a fond thing, vainly invented". Article XIX equates the errors of the Church of Rome with those of Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch. These are just samples - but you see there is a long way to go, and I would be interested to hear how these differences can be overcome.
Anthony Roberts
Oct 25th 2009, 16:24
The main difference between The Church of England is not just those that the Times has stipulated. The most important difference is that they do not believe in the Eucharist as Roman Catholics do. We Catholics believe that each time Mass is said Bread and Wine is transformed into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Church of England believe that the Eucharist is only a sign of the Body and Blood. This should have been noted in your paper and not just the fact that we do not accept women priests and the other points made.
In fact in my old Parish in the UK a Church of England vicar was accepted into the Catholic Church and was made the Parish Priest. He has since retired due to the enormous strain he was put under as he had a wife the MS
M Attard
Oct 25th 2009, 15:50
He's wiley that Pope,but not much good will come out of it. It's underhanded,going behind the back of people you have been negotiating with for forty years in the hope of breaking up the Anglican Communion. I guess it's what Pope's always do.
victor pulis
Oct 25th 2009, 14:43
Anglicans regard communion - the miraculous change of bread and wine into Christ's body and blood - as symbolic.
Belief in the Immaculate Conception is not a doctrine within Anglicanism, while the Roman Catholic Church believes the Virgin Mary was conceived free from Original Sin.
Will these new 'converts' have to renounce these beliefs or can they retain them and still form part of the catholic church?
victor caruana
Oct 25th 2009, 12:18
The church accepts the principle of married priests as currently in practice in south america and Africa and now wherever the Anglicans decide to return to catholism. Inform the faithful accordingly please!!!
Please choose the reason of your report below: