Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham

The  Rev Msgr Andrew Burnham of the Personal Ordinariate in England has announced this June 1st that the Customary of Our Lady of Walsingham will be off the presses soon. The Customary is the liturgical book of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Some interesting points: The Customary will use the Coverdale Psalms, provides the Anglican offices of Evensong and Morning Prayer available to ALL Catholics (meaning these are authorized rites by Rome) and these offices will closely intertwine with the Roman Office since the readings for both complement each other.

Also Msgr Burnham reveals that Rome has decided on the use of Traditional English as used in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and also in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. Traditional English is prized by Anglicans in the US, England and in the Commonwealth. Before the US Episcopal Church decided to shift to the modern 1979 BCP, Episcopalians in the Philippines used the 1928 BCP. The Episcopal Church in the Philippines in the 1990s had its own BCP but it heavily borrowed from the 1979 American book. Similarly the American Book of Divine Worship as used by the US Anglican Use parishes and the American Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter adopted much of the American 1979 BCP modern language with a Traditional option. The Customary diverges from that in this respect by having Traditional English as the norm rather as an option.

Unlike traditional Anglican prayerbooks, The Customary uses the Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible since this merged the Catholic tradition of the Douay-Rheims and the Protestant King James translations. In 1966 this was the common Bible used by Protestants and Catholics in the UK. In the 1970s the Roman Church in England decided to use the Jerusalem translation but the Ordinariate believes the RSV is a better choice. I myself have the 1966 RSV with the Cardinal of Westminster's imprimatur.

It is understood that the Customary will be authorized for use in the English Ordinariate. Whether it will be authorized for use the the American and the soon to be erected Australian Ordinariate of Our Lady the Southern Cross remains to be seen. But the Customary is an example of Anglican liturgy enriching the Roman one vice versa as it was restored in the Catholic Church. The ecumenical significance of this cannot be understated.

The Customary can be ordered online at Amazon UK.

The American Ordinariate's teething pains

The US Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter is not even 15 days old and yet it appears that some problems have began to manifest themselves. This involves how the Anglican Use parishes established through Blessed Pope John Paul II's 1980 Pastoral Provision will transition from being under their local diocesan to the Ordinariate. The presence of these Anglican Use parishes and groups makes the US Ordinariate much different from the English one. In England, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham did not bring whole parishes from the Church of England but "groups of Anglicans" or in Latin Anglicanorum coetibus! Thus the Ordinary, the Rt Rev Monsignor Keith Newton need not worry about translating parishes from one ecclesial jurisdiction to another and getting the approval of the bishops. All the Ordinariate groups start from all at the same starting line. They don't have their own buildings save for one or two groups and most will have to share existing Roman Catholic church buildings with Roman parishes until they are financially capable of having their own. The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams was gracious and generous enough to offer church sharing arrangements with the departing Anglicans but the Anglican and English Roman Catholic hierarchies did not find this acceptable. Perhaps it is for the better. The English Ordinariate will be served well by becoming self financing as early as possible.

Money is the biggest problem of the English Ordinariate. There is a need to find stipends for the priests a majority of them married and with families. Many of the priests are supported by English dioceses since they do extra work for them. Some priests were received having long retired from the Church of England and they lost their pensions and the Ordinariate just like any Catholic diocese will have to provide for them. The English Ordinariate does not have its own cathedral since the Msgr Newton and the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols believe the Ordinariate does not have the means to maintain one at present.

In contrast the American Ordinariate has a cathedral from day one. This is the Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston TX, which is one of the more successful Anglican Use parishes in the US with a growing congregation. The other successful Anglican Use parish is the Our Lady of  the Atonement Church which has a growing congregation too and is financially viable that it runs its own parochial school. Some of the Anglican Use parishes (around 5 or 6) own their church buildings, some are Anglican Use groups which may have their own priests and some comprising of laypeople and ministered by a Roman Rite priest. One Anglican Use group is a former Episcopal religious order, the All Saints Sisters of the Poor in Maryland. One Anglican Use group is a Cathedral Parish of the Traditional Anglican Communion which is in the process of joining the Ordinariate. Some groups are using existing Catholic parish buildings or are renting or are in the process of building their own.

Whatever the stage of development of these groups or parishes are in, they attract a significant number of cradle Roman Catholics,  with not a few lapsed Catholics who are attracted to Anglican spirituality. And this has become a sticky problem when the groups or parishes transition to the Ordinariate. Anglicanorum coetibus makes it clear that the Apostolic Constitution is meant for those who were or are Anglican and they have to make their desire in writing if they wish to become part of the Ordinariate.

Existing Anglican Use parishes have to apply as a corporate body to join the Ordinariate and the oldest and if not the most successful, the Atonement parish has applied but permission has not been received. This has generated a lot of exchanges in the Anglican Use yahoo group which I believe is an example of impatience on the part of Anglican Use people. People have speculated that there is a difficulty since a majority of the parish are cradle Roman Catholic! This lead its curate the Rev Fr Christopher Phillips to respond with

"Yes, we certainly have a large number of people from non-Anglican backgrounds
who attend OLA; however, when the total number of families is considered, that
number is far from overwhelming. A fact which seems to be forgotten is that our
parish has been in existence for more than a generation. A very large number of
our young families are people who actually grew up in the parish. Are they
"cradle Catholics"? Yes, but they are "cradle Anglican Use Catholics." Also,
there many families in which one of the spouses was Episcopalian, and a
spiritual home has been able to be found in which the former Episcopalian is
very happy, along with the whole family. We have a steady stream of people being
prepared to be received into full communion -- in fact, our inquirers' classes
are offered throughout the year, with a new series beginning as soon as the
previous one is finished, and these classes always have an excellent enrollment.
Many who complete the classes are incoming Anglicans; others are from other
protestant denominations, but who have found a home in the Catholic Church
through our parish. Over these past few weeks I have received four new families
into the Catholic Church, and I have several others who are nearly ready.

Yes, there are Catholics in the parish who have no Anglican or protestant
background in either spouse, and who are here only because they were searching
for a more formal and dignified celebration of the Mass -- and they are all
welcome. I am happy to have them in our parish family. But they are not the
overwhelming majority, by any means."

The Atonement parish I believe is a preview of the future Roman Catholic Church with the Anglican Communion restored in and with her. This future is being created in our own seeing! Of course the Ordinariate will attract cradle Catholics. Will the Ordinariate refuse them complete association? I hope not for that will be a pastoral disaster! Also there will be non Catholics and even non believers who will ask to be baptized in the Ordinariate and so their children will be cradle Anglican Roman Catholics.

The pastoral situation on the ground is that there are a number of cradle Roman Catholics who have an Anglican parent or even grandparents and they received the Catholic faith through their prayer life and witness. Are they not cradle Anglicans too?

This is so true in the Philippines on both the Episcopal Church and Roman Catholic Church sides. There are Episcopalians who worship in Roman Catholic parishes and there are Catholics who worship in Episcopal parishes. None of them would wish to formally convert and this is a pastoral issue that has to be approached with good sense, charity and sensitivity. The Episcopal National Cathedral of St Mary and St John reports that many Roman Catholics support the cathedral's ministry especially to the poor. Many Episcopalians support Catholic ministries to the poor and especially on environmental issues.

And exactly here we find the Anglican Use Society of the Philippines. We will be linked in some ways with the American Ordinariate for historical reasons but we will be within our Roman Catholic dioceses.

As the Catholic Bishop of Cubao, the Most Rev Honesto Ongtioco told the Anglican Use Society of the Philippines "We cannot stop the Holy Spirit in these matters!"

The American Ordinary, Fr Jeffrey Steenson has huge task ahead of him. Also we have to pray also for the Rt Rev Msgr Keith Newton of the English Ordinariate. The two ordinaries are the few men in the vineyard whose crop is ready for the harvest.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for the ordinaries and us. Amen.

The Ordinariate as a new way being a church, problems and opportunities.

The Anglican Ordinariate is like a baby. In England it is an 11 month old baby and like a child entering its ones and twos, it will have to learn how to stand and to toddle and walk. Thus as the Catholic Herald observed, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is in its most crucial time in its history. We have to give laud to the Ordinary, the Rt Rev Msgr Keith Newton for being a good shepherd of the Ordinariate.  Many Ordinariate groups have been received with their pastors and they are sharing Roman Catholic churches in England but they have no buildings of their own. While the Archbishop of Canterbury was supportive of church sharing arrangements with Anglican congregations, other Anglican bishops were not supportive and Msgr Newton has made sure that conflicts with the Anglican church were avoided.

As of this writing, the Ordinariate doesn't still have a "principal church" which is essentially a cathedral. Several op ed writes like Damian Thompson have written about it. As the Herald notes, the principal church is needed in establishing the Ordinariate's identity as a church.  The Herald suggests that the Ordinariate has to do something and not wait for the Catholic bishops of England and Wales to act.

One major problem of the Ordinariate is financial. Just like with any Roman Catholic diocese, it is responsible for supporting its clergy. The main difference is that all of the Ordinariate's clergy were former Anglican priests many of which are married and have families (like Msgr Newton himself) or are retired and in need of pensions.  Many of the clergy have to be housed and have to be given dispensations to find secular jobs to support themselves after they have lost their Church of England entitlements. This should be an eye opener for Roman Catholics who want Rome to dispense with the vow of celibacy for all Latin Catholic priests.  If the Ordinariate whose laity are small are having problems, the wider Roman Church whose parish laity numbers in the thousands will have more problems on this matter. It is very likely that more Anglicans and Anglican oriented Roman Catholics will join and worship with the Ordinariate and thus the Ordinary will have to address the financial problem soon. The Ordinariate is not short of supporters who have contributed some "seed money" but they cannot be expected to contribute for the long run. The Ordinariate must be self financing.

We are just awaiting the erection of the American Ordinariate and this will be much of interest for Anglican Use Catholics, Roman Catholics and Episcopalians in the Philippines. However like in England, the American Ordinariate will face similar problems that what the English Ordinariate now faces. But there is a major difference. The Pastoral Provision allowed the establishment of Anglican Use personal parishes in the last 30 years with their married clergy. Some parishes have grown well like the Atonement parish in Texas. Thus there has been experience in making sure that the Anglican patrimony is conserved in the Roman Catholic Church.

In England as in the US unless the Anglican congregations own their church buildings by title, they are are unlikely to bring their church buildings with them when they leave the Episcopal Church since under that church's canons, the buildings and real estate are held in trust for the Episcopal diocese. Like the Atonement congregration, they will have to build their own churches. In one case the Episcopal diocese and the departing Episcopal congregation have reached an agreement on leasing their church building with an option to purchase. But this likely to be an exception rather than the rule.

The Ordinariate is thus a new way of being an old church. We say new since Anglicanorum coetibus is really a radical way of uniting a separated church. But those separated are returning to Tradition which while old is forever new. The Ordinariates need our prayers!

The Ordinariate preserves the Latin liturgy but it isn't traddie

Unbeknownst to many Roman Catholics especially those of the Latin traditional persuasion, Anglicanism has preserved  Latin in the Western Church and now hands it back to the 21st century  Church. Professor Diarmaid McCullough credits the Anglicans for preserving what he calls things of beauty the post Vatican II Roman Church threw out.

The Book of Common Prayer has a beautiful psalmody and it is likely that this would be included in the liturgical books of the Ordinariates. The psalms are still introduced by their first Latin verse. Example Psalm 137 is still introduced by its first Latin verse as "Super flumina". Now which Roman Catholic prayerbook still has that?

In three minutes we can see the Mass of St Theresa of Avila in the Anglican Use celebrated by the Rt Rev Msgr Andrew Burnham in St Mary Magdalene, Brighton. No one can confuse this Mass as a Novus Ordo or the Tridentine Mass. It is the Mass of the Anglican Use of the Roman Rite. This Mass does not claim to be the "Mass of the Ages". All Masses are, irrespective of rite or use.

But we do not detect a defiant traddie attitude in this Mass. It is a Mass celebrated in the 21st century but preserves the Catholic ethos of Anglicanism. It is Catholic in an Anglican expression.

The Ordinariate is not a particular church separated and exclusive from the rest of the Catholic Church. It is living a tradition that has restored and preserves  a spirituality that has animated the faithful over the centuries.

How are the Anglican prayer expressions being preserved in the Catholic Church?

The Rt Rev Msgr Andrew Burnham of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham gives readers an update here.

We doff our hats to the AngloCatholic!

The Rt Rev Msgr Keith Newton on "What is the Ordinariate?"

The Ordinary of Our Lady of Walsingham has approved a transcript of his lecture delivered last January on "What is the Ordinariate?" You can read it in the Catholic League blog here.

2011 Anglican Use Conference held in July

Back in July the Anglican Use Society held its annual conference.  This annual conference is always well attended by many of the key leaders in "the Anglican Use movement", if you will, and this year was no exception. Many of the key movers and shakers were there.  These are the leaders that will shape the future of Anglican Use, the Anglican Ordinariate, and even the Catholic Church as a whole.

Videos of many of the talks and services are online at Anglicanorum Channel on UStream.  Included there are videos of the Mass and Evening Prayer according to Anglican Use and of the address by Msgr. Keith Newton, the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Anglican Ordinariate of England and Wales.

For a schedule of the conference go to the Anglican Use Society's website.

The conference was hosted by Saint Mary the Virgin, an Anglican Use parish in Arlington, Texas.

Our Lady of Walsingham, an AU parish in Houston, Texas, has posted photos.

The Anglican Use Society was founded in 2003.  From its website:

On February 23, 2003 a group of people met at St. Luke’s Church in Whitestone, New York, under the leadership of Father Joseph Wilson, a Catholic priest who is a long-time devotee of the Anglican Use.  The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the formation of an Anglican Use Congregation in New York City.  Out of those discussions came the sense that there might be many people in various other parts of the country wishing to do the same thing, and that they needed a vehicle by which to do it.  Father Joseph Wilson celebrated Mass, and the participants signed a document forming the Anglican Use Confraternity.  Joseph Blake was elected President pro tempore.  Since that time the name has been changed to Anglican Use Society, and has been incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania. 

I have had the pleasure of only attending one conference, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was a memorable experience, simply one of the best conferences that I have ever attended.  I urge you to go and watch the videos.

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.

Scottish Anglican Clergyman Ordained a Catholic Priest

On July 17, 2011, a Scottish Anglican clergyman was ordained a Catholic priest and this is of interest to me here in the Philippines.

As reported in the Scottish Catholic Observer, Fr. Len Black, formerly of St Michael of All Angels Episcopal Church in Inverness, was ordained at a mass presided over by Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley.  Interestingly, Fr. Black was ordained into the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, not into his local territorial diocese.

This is interesting because Scotland is not part of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales,* the bishops' conference of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and usually the jurisdiction of an Anglican Personal Ordinariate is limited to the geographical area covered by its bishops' conference (e.g. England and Wales, the United States, the Philippines).

This is good news to our effort in the Philippines for two reasons.

First, this means that the bishops are being generous and charitable in the implementation of Anglicanorum Coetibus.  Many critics of the Anglicanorum Coetibus said that established Catholic bishops wouldn't be.  I am thrilled that the bishops are proving the critics wrong.

Second, this means that we here in the Philippines if given permission can join an Anglican Ordinariate even if that Ordinariate is not under the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines but is rather part of the bishops' conference of Australia, the United States, or maybe even the United Kingdom.  A Filipino Anglican priest can become an Anglican Ordinariate priest and stay here in the Philippines ministering to Filipinos.  It is possible. This is precedent.  This is a possible road map to follow.

Of course, we should not get ahead of ourselves.  There is no prospect – yet – for such an ordination.  And there would be much work, prayer and discernment to do before that.  However now we know that such an outcome would be permissible under Anglicanorum Coetibus and acceptable to bishops and the Vatican.



For more information on the Ordinariate in Scotland, you can visit the Scottish Ordinariate group's webpage here: http://www.scotlandordinariate.com/

Here is the webpage for the group in Inverness, Scotland: http://www.ordinariate.org.uk/inverness.htm When you go to say hi to the Loch Ness Monster, stop by and join them for mass.


*Note: While the United Kingdom is a unitary, not a federal, state, the formerly separate Kingdoms of Scotland and of England (which includes Wales) still maintain many separate and distinct institutions.  Having different Catholic bishops' conferences is just one example. Other include having a different legal system and different established churches.


The two kingdoms were unified in a personal union in 1603 when Scottish King James VI also became King of England, James I.  The kingdoms were merged and became the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created in 1807 with the addition of Ireland, which lasted until 1922 and Irish Independence.  In recent decades, during the time of Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Scottish Parliament was re-established, along with the Welsh Parliament, but despite this the United Kingdom remains a unitary state.

Monsignor Andrew Burnham on what the Anglican patrimony is all about

Msgr Andrew Burnham of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and former Anglican Bishop of Ebbsfleet writes about what the Ordinariate liturgy would look like here. My comments on what he wrote  will be in a later post. His essay was distributed to attendees of the 2011 Anglican Use conference in Texas, USA.

The new English translation of the Mass may yet revive English in our isles

So much has been written about the decline of the English language in the Philippines. While the nation remains the 3rd largest Anglophone nation on the planet with 57% of the 92 million Filipino population  functional in it. However literacy in the language is declining. Literacy would mean that being Filipino can be expressed in the English language. When a Filipino uses the language, another English speaker should see, hear and fell the Filipino speaking or writing and not just a poor imitation of the former American colonial master.

Of course many people are using English for specific purposes (e.g. for call center jobs, employment abroad, for tourism and hospitality jobs etc) but the use of the language to build the nation, its culture and, its ethos is declining. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has decided to implement the new translation of the Mass in English starting Advent 2012. This would give the parish priests one year or so to orient their congregations.

I just listened via live streaming the Ordinary of Our Lady of Walsingham, Monsignor Keith Newton deliver his keynote address to the 2011 Anglican Use Conference in Texas, USA. While on the subject of the Ordinariate liturgy, Mgr Newton said that the Ordinariate has decided to stick with traditional English in its future liturgy now aborning. The reason is that this English usage will preserve the Anglican  patrimony in the Roman Catholic Church and enrich the culture of today's multicultural England. Mgr Newton admits and we have to agree that the Anglican patrimony is extremely hard to define even in England. The use of the traditional  will make it easier. This is unlike in the USA, where the Anglican Use has options for contemporary English use. This insistence on traditional English struck me since as Mgr Newton says many of the Ordinariate groups when they were in the Church of England used the Roman Novus Ordo with its more to be desired English translation. The shift to the traditional use will require adjustment from these congregations. Mgr Newton also said that the Ordinariate prefers the Revised Standard Version (RSV) Bible to be used at Mass and the prayers. The Catholic Church in England has long opted for the Jerusalem Bible but the RSV represents continuity from the Anglican tradition. (Rome has used the Jerusalem Bible since 1966 in its English liturgies) I myself have been reared and nurtured in the Oxford Anglican and Catholic versions of the RSV with the Catholic one having Cardinal Heenan's imprimatur. The RSV has nurtured me in my study of English. While the Jerusalem Bible is good, I learned my English from English language teachers taught by Episcopalians, thus the partiality to English language translations made in England.

The CBCP is rightly concerned about  Filipinos being habituated to the English 1973 Mass translation and that a sudden shift to the more literal new translation will be a shocker.  But I believe it is a necessary shift since the new English translation will help recover tradition (although the new translation is in contemporary English) and Catholic faith among our people. Also it would help revive the English language in the country. Why do I say so?

Mgr Newton points out that the language used in worship enriches the use of that language in daily life. The good monsignor believes that the Ordinariate may preserve and conserve something good and beautiful in the English language. This does not preempt the fact that the English language evolves and coins new terms. English is a dynamic language which borrows and innovates, but it is not a good idea to throw what is good in the past.

The English language was brought to the Philippines by the American colonizers and not a few of the teachers were Episcopalian. In a real sense English in the Philippines is an Anglican/Episcopal patrimony which needs to be conserved and promoted. The ECP has been completely Filipinized but it has an obligation to celebrate the English language it received more than a century ago. But English is not just an Episcopal inheritance. Irish and American Roman Catholic priests also taught the language and by the late 1920s the Ateneo de Manila had garnered the reputation of being a good school to learn excellent English.

The old Roman Missals were an example of good traditional English. The Latin of the Mass was on the left page and the correct English (traditional) translation on the right.

Was Mgr Newton correct in saying that the language used in worship builds the culture of the nation? Your thoughts please.

The new English translation of the Roman Missal, Ordinariate liturgy

Will the new translation cause Mass confusion?

The Catholic Bishops of Conference of the Philippines will implement the new English translation of the Mass starting Advent 2012. This will give enough time for the bishops to familiarize their flocks on the new translation. A catechetical guide has been published authored by liturgist Fr Anscar Chupungco to help priests familiarize their congregations.

The new translation has been in the works since 2000 when Pope John Paul II ordered a new translation that corrects errors in the 1973 translation. The 1973 translation was a "sense" translation while the new one is a more literal translation from the Latin. The US Catholic Bishops conference has published sample texts here.

The new translation is more faithful to the original Latin. For example in the words of consecration it uses the word "Chalice" instead of "Cup" which the 1973 translation uses and which all editions and versions of the Book of Common Prayer use. The 1549 BCP translates "calix" as "cuppe".  This is more faithful since the meaning of "cup" has changed since 1549. While "calix" literally translates to "cup", the nuance has changed since when Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer translated the Latin of the Mass into English. "Cup" now is so banal and we can expect to get one at Starbucks or any coffee shop!

Nonetheless the new English translation is in contemporary English. The Roman Catholic Church never had a public English Mass liturgy in what Anglicans still call as "Traditional Language". The closest Anglophone Roman Catholics ever had were the English translations in their Latin Roman Missals. The left pane of each page (often beautifully illustrated) had the Latin said at Mass and the right pane had the English in traditional usage.  These pre Vatican II Missals often used a traditional language similar to what Anglicans used. The English used is quite close to equivalent BCP texts. But Vatican II reforms did away with all of these. Traditional English almost disappeared from the Anglophone Roman Catholic's mindset. This made Anglophone Roman Catholicism culturally poorer.

Anglicans on the other hand struggled with the issue of Traditional and Contemporary English that use of either is an option in the liturgy. The contemporary use as much as possible tries to be faithful to the traditional one.

Filipino bishops are worried that since for over 40 years, Filipino Catholics have been used to the 1973 translations, a quick shift to the new translation may confuse. But this can be overcome by effective catechism. I hope parish priests are up to the challenge. But some traditionalists are much concerned that Fr Chupungco is the author of the prescribed catechism. They note that Fr Chupungco is liturgically trendy!

The proof of the pudding is if people will respond to "The Lord be with you" with "And with your spirit" which is  faithful to the Latin and was first translated into this form by Cranmer in 1549.

The Ordinariate liturgy

Father Aidan Nichols' essay on the Ordinariate liturgy continues here. Fr Nichols gives a historical survey which is required reading for those into Liturgy. What is interesting is that he writes that the Ordinariate liturgy has taken much from really Anglican sources

"There were no comparable difficulties attached to the other texts in the proposed English book: the daily Offices of Mattins and Evensong (to which, following the example of the 1928 proposed Prayer Book, an Office of Compline and a Day Hour were added; the Litany; the Lectionary (for the Office as well as for the Mass), and rites for marriage and funerals – though the inclusion in the latter of explicit prayer for the departed (and not simply for the bereaved) was strengthened by the addition of the Sarum rites for the commendation of the dead person which followed on the Requiem Mass. The calendar proposed was the current seasonal calendar of the Church of England, itself of Sarum origin, together with the cycle of festivals as found in the 1970 General Calendar of the Roman rite, and a number of English or British commemorations, in excess of those in the National Calendar for England and Wales (though not necessarily exceeding the total number if saints in the local calendars of English and Welsh [and Scottish] dioceses were to be added together). There was one unusual feature of the Office of Mattins. Following contemporary Church of England precedent, the second reading at Mattins could be drawn from post-biblical sources. In the context of the Latin church, the Roman rite Office of Readings is an obvious source for these, but the book drafted for the English Ordinariate contains an alternative cycle for Sundays and feasts taken from insular sources. A number of these are taken from patristic writers (Bede, Aldhelm), mediaeval sources (John of Ford, Mother Julian, Nicholas Love), and English Catholic martyrs (Fisher, More, Campion), but the larger number derive from the Anglican patrimony (the Caroline divines and their Restoration successors, the Tractarians with particular reference to Newman, and a selection of later Anglo-Catholic writers). It is, as it were, a testimony to what might have been had the English Reformation proceeded on Catholic lines, as did the Catholic Reformation in much of Continental Europe. No Baptismal liturgy or liturgy for Confirmation has been provided, on the twofold ground that Anglicanism has not produced a version of such a liturgy which has endeared itself to its faithful, and also that there is something especially fitting about the use in an Ordinariate of the rites of the Roman liturgy for Christian initiation, as a sign of belonging to the wider Latin church (and thus to the Catholic Church as a whole). The same congruence might well be ascribed to the use of the Ordination rites of the mainstream Latin church."

The question is whether the Mass books of other Ordinariates will be similar to the English one. What happens to the American Anglican Use? We have to keep posted on these developments.

What the Pope did to the BCP, TEC parish swims the Tiber and the Photoshop argument

What the Pope did to the BCP

Dr William Oddie has written something that makes for interesting reading at the Catholic Herald. Dr Oddie writes that the Pope has made the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) (well much of it) into a Catholic liturgy! This was something no one would have thought possible as late as 30 years ago.

Evensong is now sung at Roman Catholic places of worship in England, the United States, Canada and Australia, and soon, the Philippines. We prayed this office at the University of the Philippines.  What was considered quite Protestant is now wedded with a traditional Roman Catholic devotion, the Benediction. Evensong is now the Ordinariate's evening office .  Dr Oddie sums up what I have consistently reminded my Anglican/Episcopal friends. Anglicans will restore to the Roman Catholic Church what has been lost or forgotten.

Reformation historian Diarmid MacCulloch was more blunt. He was quoted saying that "The Anglican Communion preserved much of what the post Vatican II Catholic Church threw out"

And here writes Dr Oddie "these Anglican converts are bringing with them derives from Catholic sources that we have lost or at least temporarily mislaid"


Well that is what it really is. The BCP is as everyone knows was influenced by older Catholic liturgies such as the Sarum Use and the reforms of the Roman Breviary by Cardinal Quiñones of Spain.  While Archbishop Thomas Cranmer made sure that the denial of Catholic belief in the Mass was explicit, this was placed in a liturgical setting that resembled the Mass, but really wasn't. And only the theologically astute among the churchgoers could detect the difference. Thus the Anglican Eucharist could be celebrated with Tridentine panoply, or even in the most Protestant way of celebrating the valid Catholic mass called the Novus Ordo, which the present Pope calls the "Ordinary Form". While the former may impress 21st century Tridentine traddies, the latter does give them apoplexy!


Thus this are Anglican treasures being shared to the Catholics. I wonder if the Catholics will appreciate these?


This we will have to see. In the meantime I was shocked to hear from a Filipino cradle Catholic that he thought the Evening Prayer  we were saying was a Protestant invention!


Episcopal Parish swims the Tiber


St Luke's Episcopal Parish near Washington DC in Blandensburg, Maryland has decided to join the Catholic Church. The parish becomes the second Episcopal parish after Mt Calvary Parish in Baltimore to join the Catholic Church after Anglicanorum coetibus was published. St Luke's is now under the pastoral care of the Archbishop of Washington Cardinal Wuerl.  The parish was under the Episcopal Bishop of Washington John Chane who graciously supported (with the Catholic Archbishop of Washington), the parish discernment process. The parish will continue to worship in their church building, which will be leased to them by the Episcopal diocese with an option to purchase.


Both St Luke's and Mt Calvary will be Ordinariate bound and they will undergo a formation program before formally being received in the Church.


Why women cannot be priests: An image processing analogy!


Both the Catholic and Evangelical wings of the Anglican Communion are against the ordination of women as priests since it has no Scriptural basis and is not in accordance with the ancient tradition of the undivided Church.


Women's ordination is a very divisive issue in the Anglican Communion. However a majority of provinces allow it, with some provinces providing "alternative episcopal oversight" to parishes who don't agree with it.


The consecration of women bishops (which naturally follows if women become priests) has ignited more discord in the Church of England and threatens an irreparable Anglican split if no arrangements are made to protect the conscience of people who can't accept this.


Catholics and the Orthodox hold on to the "alter Christus" argument why women can't be priests. They believe that the Christ who sacrificed himself for us was a man, therefore the priest who offers the same sacrifice on the altar should be a man. The Evangelicals hold on to the "headship of the family" argument which says that the head of a natural order such as the family is a man and by extension, the church should be headed by a man.


Nonetheless I received an email from an Anglican who tends to accept the Catholic argument. He says that since the priest images Christ at the altar, a woman simply can't do. Then he gives the Photoshop argument. If we image process a man, and we expect him to look or do things like a man, then we don't do much to the image. But if we image process a woman and we expect him to look or do things like a man, then we have to tweak the image!


And no wonder why some people are never comfortable with the sight of a woman priest or bishop. She in those vestments made for men, will look male!

Ordinariate Mass books are now ready, Deacon appointed as Lateran Professor

The Tablet reports that the English Ordinariate's Mass and prayer books are now ready and are awaiting Rome's approval. It is hoped that approval will be had just in time for Pentecost, when most of the former Anglican clergy and now transitional deacons, are ordained priests. The Mass books will have an "Anglican flavour". How Anglican this will be is something we await!

One of these deacons is the Reverend Professor Allen Brent DD who is considered as an authority on early Christianity. He was recently appointed as professare invitato at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. Reverend Professor Brent was formerly with my alma mater, James Cook University, where he was associate professor of history from 1980-1995. He was a priest incardinated with the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland during that time.

For those interested in heraldry, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham's coat of arms are here together with its heraldic description.

The Ordinariate in England grows and grows!

The Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham last January 1 just started out with 3 former Anglican bishops and 2 religious sisters which makes five. They were all received in the Catholic Church in that month. A fortnight later, the former bishops were ordained Catholic priests with one, Fr Keith Newton appointed as the first Ordinary. Later on the  Pope bestowed the honor of being monsignori to the three priests.

This Easter season we read that many groups of Anglicans are now being received in the Church, many with their pastors. It is expected that their pastors will be ordained within the latter half of the year.


The Ordinariate may be likened to a tree with just five small branches at the start. However as the year progresses, we see many more branches grafted to the tree. In order for the graft to prosper, the branch must be of like constitution to the trunk.

The Ordinariate is the logical conclusion of Anglicanism's branch theory. The theory is partially correct as the Catholic Church acknowledges, but if the branch is separated from the trunk, it will wither and die. Here is an Orthodox priest's view of the theory. The One Holy Catholic Church may have branches true, but it can only be one if one realizes that the branches are attached to the trunk! If the branch is separated from the trunk, the branch may develop on its own and may fall into theological innovations.

But as the Ordinariates will show and I believe it will, it doesn't mean that if you have a branch, it is within the trunk! Similarly the Eastern Catholic Churches have shown this throughout the centuries.

Holy Week news, Episcopal Church in the Philippines in Synod, papal interview

Some Holy Week updates. First from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England. The first former Anglican congregations will be received into the Catholic Church beginning this week. Some pictures from the reception of the first congregation from London (South) are here. Monsignor Keith Newton, the Ordinary received the congregation. While the reception is very low key media-wise, it is of major importance in the history of the Church.

Our brothers and sisters from the Episcopal Church in the Philippines will meet in Provincial Synod at historic St Mary the Virgin in Sagada from May 3-6. This link has articles on the accomplishments of the ECP since its last Synod as well as proposed amendments to the constitutions and canons of the church. Filipino Episcopalians ask the prayers of all, especially from our readers here, so that their synod will be successful.

As a Holy Week reading, we suggest "Benedict XVI, Light of the World: A Conversation with Peter Seewald" Ignatius Press, Distributed in the Philippines by National Bookstore at PhP 395.00. His Holiness celebrated his 84th birthday last April 16 and marks 6 years of his pontificate on April 19.

It is very rare for a Pope to give interviews with journalists, It is even rarer to read about his views on many issues in one tome. Pope John Paul II gave interviews and much of his were on theological, philosophical, ecumenical, political and social issues that came out in the best selling "Crossing the Threshold of Hope"(1994) But the interviewer did not ask the Pope questions of a personal nature. In "Light of the World" Mr Seewald asks a variety of questions on challenges facing the Church some of which are personal.

Benedict XVI surprises all by being very candid and true to form, razor sharp. Reading the book, one can imagine a conversation with a literate professor, which Benedict XVI really is.

Some excerpts:
On knowledge:
 B16: "Knowledge is power. That means if I know, then I can also control. Knowledge brought power, but in such a way that with our own we can also now destroy the world that we think we have figured out intellectually. ....an essential perspective is lacking, namely the aspect of the good. What is good?"

On the Anglican Ordinariates: 
B16:"The initiative did not come from us, but from Anglican bishops who entered into dialogue with the CDF.... But it is at any rate a sign, you might say, of the flexibility of the Catholic Church. We don't want to create new uniate churches, but we do want to offer ways for local church traditions that have evolved outside the Roman Church to be brought into communion with the Pope."

On personally meeting victims of priest sex abusers:
B16: "Actually I couldn't say anything special at all to them. I was able to tell them that it affects me very deeply. That I suffer with them. And that was not just an expression, but it really touches my heart. And I was able to tell them that the Church will do everything possible so that this does not happen again."

About using an exercise bike as prescribed by his doctor:
B16: No, I don't get to it at all... thank God!

The Pope gives his thoughts more on the engagement of Catholicism with Islam, the Orthodox, secularism, ecumenism, papal infallibility, clerical celibacy, a Third Vatican Council and the SSPX schism.

The interviews allow us to get a closer look at Benedict's papal program and the future direction of the Roman Church.

Pictures please!

Pictures from the recent activities of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham can be seen on this Flickr page.


Happy viewing