Anglican Use in the Philippines is on Facebook

Anglican Use in the Philippines | Promote Your Page Too


Anglican Use in the Philippines is now on Facebook. We have both a Group and a Page. The Group is for open, wide-ranging discussions and will most likely be the most active, even enjoyable, of the two.  The Page allows us to do a few things, such as add a stream to this blog and make official announcements in the Anglican Use in the Philippines' name, that Facebook Groups do not allow us to do.

So, "join" the Group and "like" the Page, and tell your friends about it.

The Anglican Use in the Philippines Group can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/157877007620826/

The Anglian Use in the Philippines Page can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anglican-Use-in-the-Philippines/190662911000795

We're on the map, the Emerging Anglican Catholic Ordinariates Worldwide Google Map that is

View Emerging Anglican Catholic Ordinariates Worldwide in a larger map
 

Where is the closest Anglican Use or Anglican Ordinariate-bound group?  How do I contact them?  How many groups are there or will there be? Google Maps has the answer at the Emerging Anglican Catholic Ordinariates Worldwide Google Map run by Shane Schaetzel.  And we are on it!  Thanks Mr Schaetzel.  He also writes at the Anglican Catholics Blog.

"...the only group between the English Channel and Hawaii..."

At the moment, we are the only group between the English Channel and Hawaii to be plotted, but they are looking to rectify that situation and are seeking collaborators: "Currently we are seeking collaborators for the Australian and Pacific ordinariates. Interested persons should contact: shane.schaetzel@gmail.com"

Any group can be placed on the map, just email Mr. Schaetzel and provide "1. Name of your group, 2. Address where your group primarily meets, 3. phone number for your group, (and) 4. email and webpage for your group if applicable."

So, go and check it out if you want to visit a local group.  If you attend any service, remember that some of these groups are now in formal full communion with the Vatican while others have not completed the process and are still formally outside the Roman Catholic Church.


Some bloggers have taken the information provided by the map and did some number crunching.  Back in February 2011, Br. Stephen Treat, O.Cist. wrote on The AngloCatholic blog that, based on the then-current numbers, "an American Ordinariate—in a worst case scenario—(would be) larger than 21 of the domestic dioceses of The Episcopal Church (of the United States)" and that, "If an American Ordinariate were to grow to an (Average Sunday Attendance) of 5000, it would be either larger than or roughly the same size as 59 of the domestic dioceses of The Episcopal Church."  He concluded saying "These are still very small numbers in Catholic terms, but, in Anglican terms, I would say that an American Ordinariate looks quite credible."

Numbers are always tricky and the success or failure of any spiritual endeavor should not be measured in statistics, but I find it interesting to think about nonetheless. Some say that the Ordinariates will be too small to matter or to be sustainable.  Clearly even back in February neither was the case.

Update
I did a quick calculation.  As of today, August 22, 2011, 63 groups are listed in the United States. When Br. Treat did his calculations above there were 36 groups plotted on the map.

The Portal Magazine, "an independent review in the service of the Ordinariate"

The Portal is an online magazine for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Anglican Ordinariate of England and Wales (and Scotland).  It describes itself on its masthead as "an independent review in the service of the Ordinariate."  More fully, on its website they say:

Welcome to The Portal Magazine the free monthly on-line magazine
. . . for those in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
. . . those Anglicans who are interested in the Ordinariate
. . . and all Catholic friends of the Ordinariate

The Portal Magazine, is published on the first of every month.

It covers News, Events, Personalities, Catholic teaching, Letters, Features, Catholic and Anglican history, the Ordinary's Page and information about Ordinariate Parishes

You can either read it online or download a PDF of each issue.  They have been publishing since the Ordinariate was established in January of this year and are a good source of news about going-ons in the U.K. Go and read this month's issues, as well as past months'.  You can also sign up to receive an email when the new issues are published.


Some may be wondering why it is independent and not an "official" publication of the Ordinariate.  The short answer is that I don't know.  But more importantly, there is no need for it to be.  It being ofiicial would just complicate the work of the Ordinariate and the Ordinary at a time when they have much to do. Independent publications are just easier to administer and to raise funds for.  They also are more flexible and able to seize opportunities as they come up. And finally, independent publications have more credibility.  Indeed, many of the world's best religious publications–Catholic, Anglican and other denominations–are independent.

Decentralization and independence should be preferred unless there is a very good reason.  Catholic teaching talks of subsidiarity, which is defined by Wikipedia as "is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority."  The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Edition) discusses subsidiarity here. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace discusses the concept here in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.

Additional thoughts on Cardinal Wuerl's report to the USCCB

Last week, I posted about Cardinal Wuerl's report to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. I had some further thoughts, in random order:

• From the comments it appears that many of the bishops are unaware of the details of Anglicanorum Coetibus, which is exactly what one would expect from busy bishops. Despite the history being made and the subsequent news stories, the Anglican Ordinariates will always be a small part of the world-wide Roman Catholic Church. At the beginning, and for perhaps the first few years, the number of Catholics in an American Ordinariate will likely be fewer than the largest of Catholic parishes. Indeed, some of these bishops are responsible for more Christians than all of Anglicanism in the United States, of all stripes – Anglican Communion, Anglican Continuing Churches, and all the others – combined.

• There will be initially, roughly, 100 clergymen and 2,000 members of the American Anglican Ordinariate. That is a large number of priests and is probably due to Anglican congregations being much smaller than Catholic (a few dozen to a few hundred versus a few thousand) and to clergyman being further along in their discernment process. Religion is their full-time job. Many interested laymen may have taken a wait-and-see approach, not wanting to leave a church they value for a (current) hypothetical. Once there is a place to go on Sunday morning, that will change.

• The historical importance of Anglicanorum Coetibus is out of proportion to its size, as is evidenced by the attention paid to it by the Vatican and the various bishops conferences.

• Some of the questions asked were clearly part of ongoing conversations among the bishops, conversations that have been going on for years and in both formal and informal settings, that I am not familiar with.

• The openness and transparency demonstrated by the live broadcast of speech and Q&A is wonderful and should be duplicated and expanded by conferences worldwide. Through the broadcast, we can see what bishops are discussing and how, and that strengthens the church by:

• Having more of the universal church involved in the conversation;
• Reducing the secrecy that plagues all such large bureaucracies, thereby increasing trust
• Modeling open, transparent decision-making for other institutions–religious, governmental, voluntary, profit-making, etc.; and
• Providing a teaching moment, a chance for them to be pastors, by allowing those interested to learn more about the Catholic Church.

• I wonder if the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines also records and shares their meetings. If they don't, I hope that they will start soon. It would be a great opportunity for them to teach interested Catholics a bit more and to model transparency in a culture that needs more openness.

Cardinal Wuerl: An American Ordinariate "would in fact be workable"

While I was on vacation, some news was made.  Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl (Washington, D.C.) who is tasked with overseeing the creation of an Anglican Ordinariate in America reported on his thoughts and progress to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at their meeting in Bellevue, Washington State from June 15 to 17.  It was a positive report.

Below are highlights taken from the written report and an article from the Catholic News Service. Above is a video of his oral report to the USCCB which includes some details not in the written sources.

The highlights:*

• An Anglican Ordinariate in the United States "would in fact be workable."
• "(T)he Holy See has indicated its wish to establish an Ordinariate in the United States this Fall."
• "(E)very Anglican group and individual who has written has received an acknowledgement of their statement of intention. Anglican groups were sent a "Community Profile" questionnaire, based upon established criteria for assessing Anglican communities. Anglican clergy not associated with a larger group were sent a "Clergy Profile" questionnaire. Finally, Anglican laity not associated with a larger group were sent an acknowledgement to their letter, instructing them to await further instructions, should an Ordinariate be established."
• "In mid-April, Anglican clergy seeking ordination in an Ordinariate were directed as part of the process to submit dossiers to me by May 16 for eventual review by the CDF (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). Since that time, completed dossiers have been sent to Rome for evaluation," reported the Cardinal.  Additional information will be requested "includ(ing) the results of criminal background checks, a psychological evaluation, a letter of resignation from their Anglican entity" as well as letters from Cardinal Wuerl, the Catholic bishop in whose diocese that the clergyman lives, and if possible his Anglican bishop.
• When that dossier is submitted the clergy "will cease celebrating the Anglican Eucharist" and begin leading his congregants in preparation and study for their reception into the Roman Catholic Church.
• St. Mary's Seminary in Houston has developed an intensive nine-month program of priestly formation for Anglican clergy wishing to become Catholic.  Instrumental in this has been Father Jeffrey Steenson, a former Episcopal bishop who is on the seminary's faculty.
• "When a rescript has been issued and received, he may be ordained to the diaconate immediately, with the intention that his subsequent priestly ordination would coincide with the reception of his parish group into full communion."

*Here are my sources for this information and for the Cardinal's quotes.  Read them for more details:

• "Here Come the Anglicans: Cardinal Wuerl's Report on U.S. Ordinariate," Catholic Online, June 18, 2011
• "Cardinal reports on progress toward US ordinariate for ex-Anglicans," Catholic News Service, June 16, 2011

Update

In the video, at about the 20 minute mark, Cardinal Wuerl completes his remarks and the floor is opened to questions from the other bishops present. Many of the questions asked are the same questions many of use have.

Join us for Evening Prayer

From Wikipedia

Beginning this week, on Friday evening, we will begin to meet privately, quietly, and regularly for Evening Prayer according to Anglican Use and for fellowship. We will probably meet monthly, towards the end of each month, on the UP Diliman campus. This is not a large public event but is rather a time for us to pray together and to get to know each other better.  If you would like to join us, please drop us a note.  You can send us email at AnglicanUsePhilippines@gmail.com  You are more than welcome to join our prayer group.

In the near future, we hope to hold some larger, public Evening Prayer services, and sometime down the line maybe even other services.  We will keep you all informed.

"It's Actually Happening!"...English Anglican Bishops join Catholic Church, soon the priesthood

"It's Actually Happening!" is how Fr. Christopher Phillips, Our Lady of Atonement Anglican Use parish, titled his blog post on The Anglo-Catholic about the reception into the Catholic Church of three former Church of England bishops, two of their wives, and three Anglican nuns. You can read about it here, here, here, and here. The lede from The Telegraph of London was: "Priests and worshippers from around 20 Church of England parishes converted to Catholicism on Saturday at a ceremony in Westminster Cathedral."

A Reluctant Sinner was there (the photograph above is his): "As ever, my photographic skills let me down today, but I did manage to take these three discreet images of the event. They show the rite of reception and the sacrament of Confirmation being administered by Bishop Alan Hopes - himself a former Anglican priest, and de facto spiritual guide for those wishing to join the Ordinariate." Another eyewitness account, by Fr. Seán Finnegan, can be found on The Anglo-Catholic.

This is the first step towards creating an Ordinariate in England and Wales (Scotland is in a different Catholic Bishops Conference). The second step happens January 13th and 15th when the former bishops will be ordained to the deaconate and then to the priesthood respectively. The latter will be at Westminster Cathedral in London and is open to anyone to attend. Go, if you are in London. See Friends of the Ordinariate for more information (h/t The Anglo Catholic).

Succeeding steps will happen in rapid order before Easter and Pentacost. The BBC reports, "Catholic Bishop Alan Hopes said up to 50 Anglican clergy could convert before Easter."

The photograph is from a personal report on A Reluctant Sinner blog which can be found here.

Anglican Use Philippines Chapter meets at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice

The Anglican Use Chapter of the Philippines met at the Parish of the Holy Sacrifice, Sunday, 12 September 2010 at University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, Quezon City. In the picture are from left to right, Mr Bruce Hall, lecturer of history at the UP Visayas in Iloilo, the Rev Father Joseph P Frary of the Episcopal Church of the Philippines and professor of systematic theology at St Andrew's Theological Seminary, the Rev Father Raymond Arre, Parish Priest of Holy Sacrifice, UP Diliman, Mr Ren Aguila MA, of Ateneo de Manila University, and yours truly, Dr Ben Vallejo Jr of the UP College of Science.

The meeting begins the task of organizing the AU Philippines Chapter in pastoral, liturgical, organizational and financial matters. The tasks ahead include organizing the AU Evening Prayers, getting the local Catholic bishop's endorsement and getting funding support for AU Philippines activities.

We would like to thank all the people who have remembered our intentions in their prayers. The following have to be mentioned, our respective families, the Rev. Father Nonong Belarmino of the Opus Dei, Mr Pinoy Catholic, friends from the Ateneo de Manila, friends from the Episcopal and Anglican Churches in the Philippines and overseas, Mr Joe Blake, President of the Anglican Use Society, USA, the Rev Father Eric Bergman, chaplain of the AU Society in the USA, the Rev Father Christopher Phillips and the Parish of Our Lady of the Atonement, San Antonio, Texas and Mr Christian Campbell. If we forgot someone, we ask for your dispensation.

The work still has a long way to go. We still ask readers for your prayers. We are only five workers in the vineyard but the harvest is great!

Our Lady under the titles of the Philippines and Walsingham

Pray for us

Sts Thomas More and John Fisher

Pray for us

St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury

Pray for us

St Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila and Blessed Pedro Calungsod, Laymen-Missionaries and Martyrs

Pray for us

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, Theologian

Pray for us

Blessed John XXIII, Pope

Pray for us


Amen!