An interesting ecumenical link on the IFI

The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) is the church founded as a result of the nationalist movement of Filipinizing the Roman Catholic Church in the late 19th century. This movement can be said to have started when the first Filipino priests were ordained in the 1600s but when Filipino priests began receiving advanced theological and pastoral formation, they realized that they were discriminated by the Spanish clergy. Foremost in the list of Filipino priests were Rev. Pedro Pelaez (who became Dean of the Manila Cathedral and for a while administered the archdiocese) and Rev. Jose Burgos, who was executed in 1872.  Filipinizing meant that Filipino priests should lead their particular churches (e.g. dioceses and parishes in the Philippines). How this history unfolded and why the IFI seceded from Rome is well covered by the Aglipayan blog in its posts on historical documents especially on its theological position which differentiates it from the Roman Catholic Church. The Aglipayan blog also has recent posts on events in the IFI and ecumenical relations with the Roman Catholic Church. Anglican Use Philippines is featuring this so that readers get to know more of the church which has been described as  "the only living link with the Philippine Revolution of 1896". We also hope readers will get acquainted with efforts to heal the more than a century old schism. The IFI is in full communion with the Anglican Communion.

From an email: Benedict XVI has set the spirit of authentic ecumenism free

"The most surprising is that I have received several messages saying "I have had an Anglican orientation even if I wasn't an Anglican" "I have had this when I was 7 and I am a Roman Catholic" "I realized I was praying the Anglican way and I haven't seen a Book of Common Prayer ever"!

In some mysterious way, Anglican spirituality is found in people who never had stepped in an Anglican church or even heard of the Anglican church, until very recently. Many are Roman Catholics. All are Filipinos. Now that they know about Anglicanorum coetibus, they believe that God has shown them the way. And that is the reason that with your kind permission, I will write Monsignor Keith Newton of the Ordinariate to tell him of this wonderful news (which I think he is aware of, but I think not from far off Philippines). Msgr Newton can bring this up to Rome.

Rome has to know that it has caused unintended consequences with Anglicanorum coetibus. With the apostolic constitution, Rome has set free the spirit that drives authentic ecumenism. Holy Father Benedict XVI knows this but the Curia and the bishops haven't  realized what they really have in their hands!

Our Lady of Walsingham, Pray for us to God!"

Talks on Anglicans and the Catholic Church at UP

Please keep posted on a series of talks on the ecumenical developments between Anglicans and Roman Catholics at the University of the Philippines. Coming soon!

And at the end of each talk will be a service of Evensong!

Talks on the Anglican Use and the Ordinariate

The Anglican Use in the Philippines is currently hosted by the University of the Philippines Parish of the Holy Sacrifice through the kindness and generosity of the curate Fr Raymond Arre, the assisting clergy and the parish council. As such we have the obligation to contribute to the parish and student ministry's spiritual activities and formation.

We are considering holding talks on Anglicanism, the Anglican Use, Anglicanorum coetibus and the Ordinariate. The talks will give students a wider appreciation of the diversity in liturgical expressions in the Catholic Church, why there is a need for an Ordinariate and the current ecumenical environment and pastoral approaches of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI.

The talks will be in the first semester of next academic year, most likely in July. Please keep posted for details on this blog.

The 950th year anniversary of the Visions of Lady Richeldis at Walsingham

Father-Ordinary Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has made the announcement that this year will be the 950th anniversary of the visions of Lady Richeldis. It is believed that the Virgin Mary appeared to the Lady Richeldis in 1061, at Walsingham, England. In her visions, the Lady Richeldis received a message from the Holy Virgin under the title of the Annunciation. She was instructed to build a Holy House for the Virgin and was given the grace of a vision of Mary's home in Nazareth. You can read more about Our Lady of Walsingham in an earlier blog post here.

Celebrations for the 950th anniversary start on March 26, when the Archbishop of Westminster will celebrate an opening Mass in his London cathedral. The celebrations will reach its climax on September 24, when a Mass will be celebrated at the Walsingham Catholic Shrine. In the opening Mass, the image of Our Lady from the Slipper Chapel will be brought to Westminster Cathedral by three former Anglican nuns now with the Ordinariate together with the Anglican Guardians at the Walsingham Anglican Shrine. Our Lady of Walsingham may be considered as the Mother of Christian Unity. Prayers for her intercession always have an ecumenical dimension. She is venerated under this title in the Anglican and Catholic churches.

We plan to celebrate the event in our own little way in the Philippines. Please keep note on this blog for more announcements!

ARCIC III

The third phase of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) will meet on May 17 to 27, 2011 at the Monastery of Bose in northern Italy. According to Vatican Radio, the theme for ARCIC III is on Church and Communion. ARCIC has been meeting since 1970 as a result of ecumenical declarations from Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Michael Ramsey.

The first ARCIC focused on the Eucharist and how Catholics and Anglicans understood this. The resulting statement was broadly Catholic but the Vatican sent its reservations. The second ARCIC came out with statements on the ministry of the Roman Pontiff as a universal primate and the role of the Virgin Mary. However the Anglican difficulties on the Marian dogmas and Anglican rejection of papal authority came to the fore.  As for the universal primacy of the Bishop of Rome, ARCIC suggested that Anglicans and Roman Catholics receive this primacy even before corporate reunion is achieved. Pope John Paul II told the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Robert Runcie that this primacy now exists over the Anglican Church even if the Anglicans refuse to receive it.

When Anglicans decided to ordain women as priests, this signified a departure from Apostolic order as the Eastern Churches (Orthodox and Oriental) never ordained women. The Orthodox prelates have always told the Anglicans that the ordination of women will result in an impaired communion. And in this they have been proven correct. The Roman Church strongly concurred much later in Cardinal Walter Kasper's address to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.

Women's ordination as priests led to the Anglican communion considering ordaining women as bishops. This is considered by the Orthodox and Roman Catholics as even a further departure from Apostolic order and tradition. Women's ordination has effectively stopped  Orthodox theological and ecumenical discussion with the Anglicans. The Roman Church continued with ARCIC II while  recognizing that corporate reunion was impossible.  When the American Episcopal Church ordained an openly practicing homosexual as bishop, Pope John Paul II suspended ARCIC meetings. The Orthodox have stuck to their original decision.

Thus ARCIC III meets in a ecumenical landscape that is vastly changed. For instance I believe that there is no Anglican Communion to speak of but rather two Anglican Communions. The Anglican Ordinariatres remains as a talking point in ARCIC III even if the Roman Catholics and Anglicans say they won't talk about it!

These statements from the Roman Catholic side by Msgr Mark Langham tells us really the limits of institutional ecumenism

How will this work be received by the rest of the Church?
This is an important question. Ecumenical dialogues have never seen themselves as an end in themselves but part of a bigger process which involves reception at grass roots level, at leadership level and in the way the two churches work and pray together. 

How will the new Ordinariate affect your work?
We’ve always said the path of traditional ecumenical dialogue is different from that of individual or group conversion.


My take is that ecumenism at the grass roots level will be heard and that is at the root of the Ordinariate. Rome just took years to respond! The quote of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman remains loud and clear. "The voice of the faithful will be heard!"

Wither "the Branch Theory"?

Over the years as the Industrial Revolution took hold and the world's population traveled and communicated more and more across boundaries, the world and the Catholic Church have become much more aware of its diversity.

Intellectually awareness hasn't changed. Intellectually people have always understood diversity. But seeing it is a different matter. Now diversity is a personal experience thanks to jumbo jets whizzing people and television and computer screens beaming images.

The Catholic Church as a group -- its bishops, priests and laymen in all the far-flung dioceses -- have also become much more aware of its diversity. Pope John Paul II was the first jet-setting Pope, visiting countries, meeting with strangely vested Catholics from other countries, all live on CNN. And at his funeral, 24-hour cable channels showed worldwide those same differently dressed Catholics worshiping and grieving next to their white Western European co-religionists.

This recognition of diversity has led the Church's bishops and priests to be much more aware of approved liturgies. Satellites, telephones, and now the internet has made it much easier for these grassroots Catholics to learn about and allow all the different diverse approved liturgies.

These changes have helped make Anglicanorum Coetibus possible. Catholics far away from Rome are much more aware of who is and who is not in communion with Peter.

I thought of all this when reading the post about the Branch Theory on Anglican Patrimony. The Branch Theory was developed back when grassroots Anglicans and Catholics were far less aware of the diversity of the Catholic Church, and therefore Catholics in particular were much less willing to accept deviation from their local norm. How could they be sure that this strange practice was licit? With technology, came more knowledge and acceptance of diversity, and a better understanding of what the Catholic Church teaches in all parts of the Church.

I suspect that as the diversity of the Catholic Church becomes even better known by those in the pews in Anglican and Catholic parishes, the attractiveness of the Branch Theory will lessen. The intellectual, theological arguments have not changed and will still be debated among intellectuals and theologians, but the meaning of those arguments, the images in one's brain that those words elicit, has changed for those in the pews. Fewer and fewer in Western countries when hearing the words "the Catholic Church" today think only of white European bishops dressed in European vestments.

Addendum

The particular passage that led to these thoughts is this one:

This is strikingly evident in the two prevailing interpretations of the Portsmouth Statement (from which Bp Strawn quotes selections) and Anglicanorum Coetibus and its Complementary Norms. Those who still hold to some form of Branch Theory interpret it as Bishop Strawn did. Those who have rejected the Branch Theory interpret these documents understanding that there is no separating submission to the See of Peter from being in communion with the See of Peter. Thus key words and phrases like "absorption," "in communion," "Catholic," "Roman Catholic," etc., mean different things to the two parties.

Words have meanings at a deeper level than the intellectual. When words are used, images are associated. The two sides, as discussed in this post, have competing images. When they close their eyes and mediate on "the Catholic Church" and "the Roman Catholic Church", competing visions are seen. This is not just an intellectual disagreement that can be solved by appeals to scripture, tradition or reason. Technology has changed those visions and has changed, and will change, the debate and the outcome.

When an Anglican steps across the threshold..

I told the Reverend Father Raymond Arre of the University of the Philippines Catholic parish of the Holy Sacrifice that I could not connect with the "Crossing the Tiber" thingy. After all, to cross a river means one gets wet from swimming. I never crossed the Tiber. I just went into the adjacent room of the same house. It is more like crossing the threshold rather than swimming across a river!  The Philippines is a majority Roman Catholic country and even non-Catholics have to be understanding of Catholic practices and in the fullest extent possible without compromising one's non-Catholicness, Catholic practices may be accepted.

A clear example is that some Protestant churches have adopted the uniquely Filipino Catholic practice of "Simbang Gabi" or in Spanish "Misa de Gallo" or "Mass of the Rooster's Crowing". Back in the Spanish colonial period, farmers had to attend Mass at 4 AM so they can set to work on their fields by 6 AM. The Simbang Gabi marks the traditional liturgical season of Christmas in the Philippines as it starts on December 16 and runs for nine days. A local customary belief is that if one attends all the novena masses, he/she will be blessed for the coming New Year. But in an urbanized society, fulfilling this pledge becomes hard. I for instance only fulfilled the dawn mass series in an unlikely place as northern Australia!

It is because that when there are Filipinos around anywhere on the planet and if they are served by a Filipino priest, this custom is followed. Thus there are dawn masses in LA, London, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney etc. Now why would there be a dawn mass in outback Australia? Answer: There was a small Filipino community and there was missionary Filipino priest. I was able to finish the dawn mass series since that town in Australia was so rural and quiet. One is easily able to get up at 3 AM!


As I mentioned earlier this beautiful tradition has been adopted by non Catholics. The Philippine Independent Church which traces its origin from Catholicism has preserved the tradition. Some Methodists, Presbyterians and United Church congregations have adopted the custom. The Episcopal Church in the Philippines has too and the rite is in the ECP Book of Common Prayer.


For this reason and that Filipinos appreciate the value of some Catholic practices, sometimes crossing over to Catholicism in the Philippines is akin to crossing the threshold doorway of another room in the same house. Filipinos are an ecumenical people. While we hold many faith traditions, we don't use this as a point of disagreement. We feel we belong to one house. We are in one house, the Father's! When a Muslim was treated with injustice in another land, many Filipinos  protested, not because a Muslim had been treated badly, but because a person has been treated badly and this offends Allah, our God.

The Philippines has been fortunate to have been spared from religious conflict. But the nation has not been spared from ALL conflict. Our being a sort of ecumenical people may be the key to resolving the conflicts that have cost lives. We have a long way to go. Can Filipinos live up to this vocation which in no doubt comes from God?

I know only of one painting that shows in art this unique Filipino ecumenism. This is the  mural honouring Father John Delaney at Delaney Hall of the University of the Philippines parish where one sees the Protestant Church of the Risen Lord figuring prominently with the Protestants meeting the Catholics in another uniquely Filipino custom of the Easter "Salubong" or encounter. The Salubong celebrates the meeting of the Risen Jesus and His Mother.  How appropriate that the Protestants from Risen Lord meet the Catholics of the Holy Sacrifice at Easter!

In this reflection, I read with great interest the sermon of  Reverend Father Giles Pinnock, the curate of the Church of England parish of Saint Mary the Virgin in Kenton, England. Father Pinnock resigned his curacy in order to be received into the Catholic Church in the soonest possible time. The good priest told his flock of his decision and we don't see the rashness of the decision. He did not even wait for the English Anglican Ordinariates to be set up!

In England and other countries like the USA or Australia, many Anglicans who live the Catholic faith in their communities know that they are Catholic but some don't see the need to cross the threshold, some agonize at the step. Perhaps they think they will be entering another house. But for those who have crossed the threshold, they have suddenly realized they have entered another room of the same house in a much peaceful setting. Father Pinnock hopes for the day when the Anglicans' and the Catholics' path converge. Perhaps that is nearer than he thinks. But only when people realize they are now in the same house. Will Filipinos be able to share that vocation?

Charles Henry Brent, Episcopal Bishop of the Philippines and Witness for Ecumenism

Bishop Charles Henry Brent (1862-1929) was the first Episcopal bishop of the Philippines. Just a few years after American sovereignty was established in the country, he arrived on the same ship with Governor-General William H Taft as a missionary bishop. Thus the Episcopal mission in the Philippines from the start carried the prestige of American rule.

However Brent who prior to his consecration ministered to slums in Boston, was acutely aware of the poverty situation in the Philippines. He noted that Filipinos were not food secure and this was compounded that the majority of Filipinos did not have access to technical education. Brent also was a firm supporter of the University of the Philippines which was established in 1908. He believed the University will be an excellent institution for the nation.

Brent broke from the Protestant approach of dividing the archipelago for their missions in order to convert the Filipinos. He recognized that the Roman Catholic Church (which commanded the religious affiliation of the majority) was a Christian church. Thus he desisted in building "an altar over another". The Episcopal Church thus focused its missionary work on non-Christians and the expatriate community.

For this Brent is remembered as one of the first witnesses of ecumenism. He supported the work of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila and was ready to cooperate with him. He promoted harmony among the Protestant missions.

He declined to be named to any American see until 1918 when he assumed the bishopric of Western New York. He helped organize the World Conference on Faith and Order in Lausanne, Switzerland. This organization later became the World Council of Churches. Also he campaigned against substance abuse and asked the British government to stop the production of opium. In this he was unsuccessful as the British made money from the trade. But he continued to protest until his death on March 27, 1929.

Filipinos today know Brent as the man who gave the name to Brent School. But little do they know that  the good bishop was far ahead of his time in addressing social issues and in his ecumenism. What Brent rallied against are still our problems in the 21st century; poverty, an insensitive elite class, substance abuse, access to quality education and most of all corruption in government. In a New York Times interview published on December 4, 1910 he noted that the Philippine government "was practically free from graft". But that was the government run by Americans like Taft and like heaven according to upcoming politician Manuel Quezon, which later on became first President of the Philippine Commonwealth. These Americans like Brent were progressive.

Brent noted too the hostility showed by the elite class to the Americans and their reforms in government.  But the elite were hostile because the Americans conquered the Philippines.

The Episcopal Church in the United States commemorates Bishop Brent on March 27 while the Episcopal Church in the Philippines commemorates him on August 25.