Tag Archive for 'catholic'

The New Zealand solution to Missal translation

Published on September 3, 2010 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

From New Zealand’s Roman Catholic National Liturgy Office:

On 30 April 2010 the major English-speaking countries were informed that Rome had granted the recognitio (approval) for the new Mass texts of the universal edition of the Roman Missal (Third Edition). The Conferences of Bishops in those countries have been awaiting delivery of these texts, so that they could in turn complete the process of seeking approval for their respective national editions of the Roman Missal.

On 20 August 2010 we received a digital copy of these universal texts, but still await approval for the local amendments to the Missal that will enable us to go ahead and publish the Roman Missal for use in New Zealand.

Originally we had hoped to launch our national edition of the Roman Missal on the First Sunday of Advent this year (28 November 2010). Rome’s unforeseen delay now makes this impossible. While, for the present, we are unable to publish the complete Roman Missal on the First Sunday of Advent as hoped, we nonetheless recognise the pastoral importance of implementing some of the new texts on that date.

Accordingly, the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference has decided to introduce the new translations of the following parts of the Mass:
‣ the greetings and responses at the beginning of Mass.
‣ the texts of the Penitential Act.
‣ the Gloria.
‣ the Creed.
‣ the prayers and responses during the Liturgy of the Word.
‣ all the dialogues between the Priest and the Assembly during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
‣ the Holy,Holy.
‣ the Memorial Acclamations.
‣ the Doxology.
‣ all the prayers and responses of the Priest, Deacon and Assembly from the Communion Rite to the Concluding Rites.
‣ those gestures and postures required by the accompanying rubrics and/or the relevant sections of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.

To assist in a smooth transition, the Conference will be making available, free of charge, an interim missalette containing those texts mentioned above. Also, a music resource will be available at the end of September 2010 offering two musical settings for the Mass: the setting of the Missal chants and a new composition by Douglas Mews.

The current Propers of the Mass, the Prefaces and the Eucharistic Prayers as provided for in the present Missal will still be in force until such time as the complete New Zealand edition of the Roman Missal can be published. In the meantime, we recommend that priests use either the present Missal or the current CPC “Prayers of the Mass”.

Start here for further reflections, on this site, in relation to the Missal translation.

Proper Ordinary Time

Published on May 28, 2010 in liturgy. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

I am receiving a lot of questions: why is this the 8th week in Ordinary Time? Why is my church using Proper 3 for the office? (from someone in TEC USA). The answer is not simple.

There are 52 or 53 Sundays in a year, depending on the year. 4 are for Advent, 1 or 2 for Christmas (depending on the year), 6 for Lent, 8 for Easter = a total of at least 19 Sundays. In a year of 53 Sundays we would need another 34 Sundays – that’s the maximum number we need. Sometimes we won’t need 34 – where do we drop a Sunday not needed? The contemporary lectionary system has decided to drop such a Sunday in the moving Lent-Easter period, so that the Church Year always ends on the 34th Sunday. Do the maths and you’ll find the Sunday before Advent, the Last Sunday of the Church Year (#34), is always between November 20 and 26. It is also the Sunday closest to November 23. Counting backwards #33 is always between November 13 and 19. It is also the Sunday closest to November 16. And so on backwards.

Ordinary Time numbering:

(used, for example by the Roman Catholic Church. The Canadian BAS calls them “propers” ie. the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time BAS calls “Proper 7”)

There is nothing “ordinary” about “Ordinary Time”. Ordinary Time is not about common, regular, mundane, or run of the mill. Ordinary Time comes from the word “ordinal” as in “ordinal numbers”. Remember your Maths: Cardinal numbers answer “how many?” “Ordinal Numbers” tell the rank, they answer “what position?” Ordinal Numbers are first, second, third, fourth, etc.

Ordinary weeks count forward from The Baptism of the Lord. After the Day of Pentecost, however, they are checked backwards from the last week of the Church’s Year which is always the 34th week of Ordinary Time. So sometimes a week is dropped out – as in 2010. In 2010 the week prior to Lent was the 6th week in Ordinary Time. The week following the Day of Pentecost is the 8th week in Ordinary Time. Next week (following Trinity Sunday) is the 9th week in Ordinary Time. Hence, one can see why Sunday 13 June is the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time (actually technically the Sunday in the 11th week of Ordinary Time).

The Episcopal Church:

has decided not to title the earlier Sundays in Ordinary Time like that. They are numbering the earlier ones Sundays after Epiphany. They realize that the earliest the Day of Pentecost can be is May 10. So they number “Propers” from the Sunday “closest to May 11”. But the readings are actually the same as above. ie. you either use the readings before Lent, or after Pentecost. Hence for TEC the readings for Proper 1 are just the same as the readings set for the 6th Sunday after Epiphany; Proper 2 is identical with the seventh Sunday after Epiphany. This continues to the ninth Sunday after Epiphany, the greatest number of Sundays possible after Epiphany. (TEC has a “Last Sunday after Epiphany). [TEC's proper number plus 5 = the Ordinary Sunday number which is the same as BAS proper number].

Common Worship CofE:

essentially follows the same lectionary system as the above two. But whereas the above two systems link a collect/opening prayer to the readings, Common Worship acknowledges that there is no theme to the readings and so the collect is independent of the readings. The collect for Common Worship is found by counting Sundays after Trinity Sunday.

The New Zealand Lectionary (of the Anglican Church of Or)

won’t make its mind up. Sunday 6 June is given as “Te Pouhere Sunday” (“Designated by General Synod to celebrate our life as a three Tikanga Church.” complete with its own set of readings including four options for a gospel reading, and two options each for other readings. It calls the Acts of the Apostles an “epistle”). The lectionary also calls this the Second Sunday after Pentecost, the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Te Ratapu Tekau ma tahi o He wa ano, and Proper 5 with its own RCL readings. No one will be told off if they call it the First Sunday after Trinity. And there will be a number of communities that will celebrate Corpus Christi on this Sunday with its own readings and collect. Of course if you have a particular thing about St Boniface and want to celebrate him this day, or this year you have a family service on the first Sunday of the month focusing on each of the twelve apostles in turn – no one will be at all surprised…

Further to our current week, the suggestion in the New Zealand Lectionary that the collect for the Day of Pentecost be used during the week following is confused and confusing. I cannot locate the formulary that would have this as advised by the lectionary. Nor can I see any logic in this. Nor can I understand the liturgical purpose of following its suggestion to have two collects.

The Day of Pentecost ends the fifty day season of Easter (that’s what the Greek word “Pentecost” means!) It does not begin a “Pentecost Season”. In the Nicene canons we are forbidden to kneel on Sundays and the Bishops at the Council of Nicaea were horrified to hear of people kneeling during Pentecost – by which they meant the fifty days of what we now call the Easter Season (Council of Nicaea, Canon 20).

During the week following the Day of Pentecost, the collect is that of the eigth week in Ordinary Time. During the week following Trinity Sunday the collect is that of the ninth week in Ordinary Time. Trinity Sunday also is a feast, not the start of a season (except possibly in the Church of England).

Have an extraordinary Ordinary Time.

Resources Trinity Sunday

Published on May 24, 2010 in liturgy. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

trinidad06

This week is the eighth week in Ordinary Time (Counting Time). Sunday, May 30, Trinity Sunday takes precedence and hence replaces the Sunday in the ninth week in Ordinary Time.

Here is a reflection on the collect/opening prayer for Trinity Sunday.

On the top of this page is Rublev’s icon of the Trinity reflection 1 reflection 2

In the New Zealand Anglican Church there is no requirement to use a creed at a Eucharist. My suggestion is that Trinity Sunday be one Sunday when the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed be said by all. Just to stir things along a bit, it might be said as per the original, ie, omitting the Filioque (”and the Son” – added at the non-ecumenical 3rd Council of Toledo, 589). Some provinces have restored the original. Others of us in communities that use the Filioque might find ourselves suddenly pausing for a breath at that point and so find ourselves proclaiming: “… who proceeds from the Father <sudden need to draw breath> with the Father and the Son…” Who knows, a majority in a community, may suddenly all find themselves needing to draw breath at this point…

Lambeth Conference 1978 passed “that all member Churches of the Anglican Communion should consider omitting the Filioque from the Nicene Creed, and that the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission through the Anglican Consultative Council should assist them in presenting the theological issues to their appropriate synodical bodies and should be responsible for any necessary consultation with other Churches of the Western tradition.”

Lambeth Conference 1988 passed “that further thought be given to the Filioque clause, recognising it to be a major point of disagreement (with the Orthodox) … recommending to the provinces of the Anglican Communion that in future liturgical revisions the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed be printed without the Filioque clause.”

The General Convention of The Episcopal Church (USA) in 1985 recommended that the Filoque clause should be removed from the Nicene Creed, if this were endorsed by the 1988 Lambeth Conference. This has not been implemented. The Anglican Church of Canada conforms to the Lambeth resolution.

Shield-Trinity-Scutum-Fidei-English.svgSome relate Trinity Sunday to the Athanasian Creed. This is not the most popular of creeds nowadays. From a liturgical perspective, it may be worth highlighting “the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship” – this is the universal Christian faith: worship. On Trinity Sunday, of course, it is worth continuing: “the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity”. Some other parts of the Athanasian Creed may be harder work to explain (not that explaining the Trinity will be particularly an easy task…).

The Church of England has used the Athanasian Creed as a source for:

We proclaim the Church’s faith in Jesus Christ.
All
 We believe and declare that our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, is both divine and human.
God, of the being of the Father,
the only Son from before time began;
human from the being of his mother, born in the world;
All
 fully God and fully human;
human in both mind and body.
As God he is equal to the Father,
as human he is less than the Father.
All
 Although he is both divine and human
he is not two beings but one Christ.
One, not by turning God into flesh,
but by taking humanity into God;
All
 truly one, not by mixing humanity with Godhead,
but by being one person.
For as mind and body form one human being
so the one Christ is both divine and human.
All
 The Word became flesh and lived among us;
we have seen his glory,
the glory of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.

I am not, however, suggesting that this replace the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Symbol/Creed, nor do I think it is helpful to have a second credal declaration in one service. One creed and a solid Eucharistic Prayer (our Christian Shema) I think is quite sufficient.

In with the comments, please also remember to feel free to add links and suggestions for hymns, prayers, etc. for Trinity Sunday. The week following Trinity Sunday, of course, is the ninth week in Ordinary Time. One, of course, does not use the collect for Trinity Sunday in the week following.

is priesthood a career?

Published on May 15, 2010 in liturgy. 16 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

On Monday I will talk to over 650 young people about priesthood and how I got to be a priest.

Last Monday about 130 of these young men aged about 16 years old went to a careers expo. In the past the Anglican Diocese has had a stall there with an attractive brochure about priesthood and other full-time leadership in the church as a careers option. Not this year. Should it? Is priesthood, is full-time work in the church a career?

Where was the presence of the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, etc. at the careers expo? Yes about 17% of those running the booths at the expo will identify themselves as Anglican, about 14% will identify themselves as Roman Catholic – and I am a very strong advocate for seeing all careers as being expressions of baptismal ministry and mission, and vocations – so any way that can be reinforced is great. But Vision College was the only explicitly Christian organisation represented at the careers expo, with excellent-quality hand-outs. IMO: well done Vision College (attractive website, by the way).

“Young leaders” is one of the 3 priorities of our diocesan Strategic Plan 2009-12 (the other two being Christ-centred mission and faithful stewardship). How do young people explore vocations to priesthood, religious life, other leadership within the church? Should there be a section on the diocesan website where priesthood as a career is outlined, and the process involved? There is not. We have three different Religious Orders in our province, I can only find one with a website – it has a section on how to join. I happen to think that is appropriate and useful – but others may think differently?

Only yesterday was I reading, in a book by Thomas Merton, a commentary on a religious order’s constitution by Dom Lemasson against any human attempt to attract vocations – “God alone can make monks and [nuns], and that human expedients to increase the number of … vocations would only end in the ruin of the Order.” Some may argue the same for priesthood?

Older readers here in our province will remember there was a province-wide standard for ordination including examinations – akin to other careers. I do not know when the province formally abandoned both – anyone? But I know this is still the case in other provinces. There was a swing against clericalism, and an increasing of opportunities for lay study, training, and formation. Standards for priesthood were lost in the process, but the pendulum is swinging again. 25 years ago if one wanted to follow priesthood as a career there was an intense process and then three years at the national seminary, St John’s College. Basically everyone training at St John’s College was preparing for priesthood. Our province keeps no provincial statistics – so I have no idea of the study and training of ordinands currently. The best guess I have heard is that only 7-10% of current ordinands spend any time at all at St John’s. ie about 93% are trained and formed elsewhere. St John’s can take 60 students, currently, I understand 15 are there training for the priesthood – living there anywhere from a short period up to 3 years. Only one of those there is from the South Island.

Very many current excellent priests I know became priests after an earlier career in something else. The province has no idea statistically what proportion. Nor what the qualification spread is of currently clergy. Nor their age distribution. Nor the demographics of our worshipping communities and projected future needs for leadership. Is the approach to attracting people to priesthood after a first career to be different to attracting people directly from school? This may also be behind not having a presence at a careers expo targeting school students. Do we leave it all up to God? Or does God work through our careful planning?

The “world” still thinks of priesthood as a career. Interestingly it came up in the ordination of the new bishop of Auckland:

“It’s amazing to think that just over two years ago Ross was effectively a village vicar, albeit an outstanding one. Now he’s one of the most senior clergymen in New Zealand. Who ever said going into the Church was not a career path?”

[Using "going into the church" to mean "ordination" is, of course, part of the very clericalism that the church has moved on from. We enter the church through baptism, not ordination. Similarly I hope we see "vocation" as including being a good shopkeeper, mother, lawyer, barista...]

So my primary question is: is priesthood a career? Is it helpful to promote priesthood in similar ways to other careers, including information on the web, at careers expos, etc.? Or is priesthood something quite distinct from other careers and the process towards ordination becomes understood by individuals as they individually explore their inner sense of call?

pope gives approval to new English Mass translation

Published on May 6, 2010 in liturgy. 9 Comments Tags: , , , .

Last week the Vatican approved a new English translation of the Mass and its associated prayers and texts.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke to Vox Clara, chaired by Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, the special committee of Catholic bishops and consultants from English-speaking countries convened to assist with the translation. The pope said, “I welcome the news that the English translation of the Roman Missal will soon be ready for publication, so that the texts you have worked so hard to prepare may be proclaimed in the liturgy that is celebrated across the anglophone world. Through these sacred texts and the actions that accompany them, Christ will be made present and active in the midst of his people,” Benedict told them.

He also realised, “many will find it hard to adjust to unfamiliar texts after nearly 40 years of continuous use of the previous translation. The change will need to be introduced with due sensitivity, and the opportunity for catechesis that it presents will need to be firmly grasped.” The new translation could provoke “confusion or bewilderment” among worshippers if not “introduced with due sensitivity,” the Pope warned.

It appears that the changes will not be implemented this year.

Two months ago I wrote this about the impending change.

Mary MacKillop’s canonisation

Published on February 22, 2010 in lectionary and liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .
Mary MacKillop

Mary MacKillop

Pope Benedict XVI announced on Friday that Mother Mary MacKillop would be one of six canonised at a Vatican ceremony on October 17.

Together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. She was for a while excommunicated, but now there are more than a thousand Sisters in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Peru.

This Australian has strong associations with New Zealand. She visited here on several occasions. The first school run by her sisters in New Zealand was opened in Temuka in 1883. Other schools and institutions followed and the work continues into the present. While in Rotorua on a visit to New Zealand in 1901 Mother Mary was partially paralysed by a stroke.

In 2006 I put a motion to our diocesan synod which led to Mary MacKillop being voted to be added to the NZ Anglican calendar for August 8. This has passed a majority of diocesan synods and will this year be presented to a second meeting of General Synod. After this there is a year “lying on the table” for anyone to object. The church is so confident of her inclusion that she has already been included in the 2009 and 2010 lectionaries. It does mean, however, that her official inclusion in our NZ Anglican calendar will now be after that of the Roman Catholic Church. I would be interested if there is any movement to add her to the calendar by the Australian Anglican church.

Gracious God,
you gave to your servant Mary MacKillop
a heart to teach and care for children.
We thank you for the good she and her order have done.
By your grace give us a like compassion for the poor
and a concern for the education of the young
that we all may learn to praise you with joyful hearts;
through Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Mary MacKillop to be canonised

Published on December 20, 2009 in lectionary and liturgy. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Mary_mackillop Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI issued a papal decree setting Mary MacKillop well on the way to being the first Australian to be canonised as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. The decree also recognised the ”heroic virtues” of Popes John Paul II and Pious XII, along with seven others. Early next year a commission of cardinals will assess her case and the Pope then makes the final decision which now appears all but certain – with her canonisation probably occurring during 2010.

In 2006 I put a motion to our diocesan synod which led to Mary MacKillop being voted to be added to the NZ Anglican calendar for August 8. Although that is still to be passed again by a second meeting of General Synod (meeting in 2010) and then a year “lying on the table” for anyone to object, the church is so confident of her inclusion that she has already been included in the 2009 and 2010 lectionaries.

Together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. She was for a while excommunicated, but now there are more than a thousand Sisters in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Peru. She is not present on the calendar of the Australian Anglican A Prayer Book for Australia, and I would be interested to know if there is movement there to add her to that calendar.

Catholic spirituality

Published on November 19, 2009 in liturgy and spirituality. 9 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Regular readers here will know I usually avoid classifying myself or others into different boxes and categories. Lately Anglican Catholics have been much in the media in response to the Vatican’s setting up of Anglican Personal Ordinariates.

Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church’s deputy to the Presiding Bishop for ecumenical and interreligious relations, has just issued a valuable statement on this.

Last Sunday, Fr Peter Williams, a leading Kiwi Anglican Catholic issued this useful statement:

We Anglican Catholics have always believed that the Church of England essentially continued as part of the great Catholic Church of the west, despite the political events that severed the link with the authority in Rome. Even here, in this corner of the very dispersed Anglican Communion, we continue to believe that. The Catholic essentials continue to keep us close, even though we Anglicans have developed a marked style of our own. As an Anglican Catholic I value that distinctive style a great deal: its dispersal of authority; its unity in essentials and great diversity in inessentials; its ability to live appropriately in very different contexts; its unity through common prayer more than through common dogma; its liberality of style, and so much else.

The Vatican offer appears to invite Anglicans to retain Anglican style, while joining a Communion which is controlled and centralised as never before, which is strangling the life of many of its own communities by its rigid insistence on inessentials such as clerical celibacy and the ordination of men only, and which is inhibiting the ministry potential of so many by demanding slavish conformity. There is an inconsistency here which makes me very uneasy. It certainly has not raised my respect for Vatican judgement or leadership. I shall be very surprised if many Anglicans respond to this offer, and they are likely to be those who cannot cope with the generosity of Anglican style anyway.

The Vatican’s problems which are great, and the Anglican Church’s problems which are also great, will not be helped at all by such an ill-considered move. The spectacular decline of organised Christianity in the west is no respecter of churches, and is best responded to with a generosity of ministry and spirit, rather than with a retreat to the fortresses.

Within all these discussions one might be forgiven for asking, “What constitutes a catholic? What is essential to catholicism? What is catholic spirituality?” Is putting a chasuble on? Or swinging a thurible with some incense? Is wearing a biretta? Or wearing lace, or calling it a cotter? Or being addressed “father”?

Drawing on the insights from the Rule of St Benedict, as highlighted by Martin Thornton, Derek Olsen recently asked these questions and added a three-legged stool to the commonly-used one of scripture, tradition, and reason: the fundamental principles of Eucharist, the Daily Office, and personal prayer. Fr. David Cobb, of Christ Church, New Haven, expanded this with another three legged stool:

If our spirituality is not grounded in the Prayer Book System of Office, Mass and personal prayer- in the same way that our theology is grounded in Scripture, Tradition, and Reason-(and one might add if our life is not focused on service, stewardship and witness, another useful three legged piece of furniture) -   then vestments, titles, billowing clouds of incenses and resonant organs are just trifles.  They are, in themselves more appealing than liturgy that is sloppy or chummy or self-consciously restrained – but they are not the point.

Might I add the point that, in my opinion, catholic spirituality is founded upon an insight, a belief, a sense that God’s creation is good. We live in a sacramental universe. With flaws, fine. But creation does not manifest God, is not a vehicle for God, in spite of anything – but because of its goodness. Our human nature is good enough to be joined to God in the incarnation. So bread and wine, and water, and relationships, and sex, and flowers, and music, and colours, and smells, and gongs, and stained-glass windows, and glorious architecture, and singing, and oil, and gestures, and laughter, and tears, and processions, and icons, and candles, and… all can and are the vehicles in and through and with which we encounter the deep mystery in whom we live and move and have our being – the mystery we call God.

Just for the record: I’m an orthodox charismatic evangelical catholic :-)

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Previous posts on Anglican Personal Ordinariates:
First post
Second post
Third post
Fourth post

Vatican allows Anglican dress-up

Published on November 10, 2009 in liturgy. 12 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

How to really annoy Anglican clergy

You can offer whiskey instead of Gin – some Anglican clergy find that slightly irksome. You can deny the validity of Anglican sacraments – Anglican clergy without a sense of humour can find that irritating. But if you really want to annoy Anglican clergy …  get their titles wrong! Anglican clergy basically all earn the same – so titles are what distinguishes the men from the boys – or whatever the inclusive version of that is.

Right Revenerends, Most Reverends, Very Reverends, Canons, Venerables, Doctors, Archdeacons, Deacons, Rural Deans, Deans, Non-stipendiary acting priest assistants, Locally Licensed Ordained Non-stipendiary Assistant Ministers, Vicars, Vicar-General, Deputy Vicar General, Priests in Charge, Presiding Bishops, Senior Bishops, Archbishops, Deacon Assistants, Ministry Educators, Chaplains, … the list goes on …

Each with their title, abbreviation, appropriate address, order of titles … dress and insignia.

Anglican clergy may not know their Greek Aorist from their Dative, but years of training make certain that one doesn’t confuse The Ven. Canon Dr. with The Very Rev. Mr. Or get the order of those titles wrong! The minute a priest is collated (and never confuse ordination, induction, collation, installation, licensing,…!!), out go all the old letterheads and visiting cards to be replaced by flashier ones with new titles and the latest popular font.

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Mark Twain

And don’t you dare put on the wrong clothing! Priests may wear clergy shirts coloured pink or blue or polka-dot, but dare to put on one with even a purplish tinge and you won’t make it through the day without a comment. And dare to wear a pectoral cross – even out of devotion! Or a large bejeweld ring. Recently I saw an official photo of an NZ bishop with no less than three pectoral crosses on :-)

At the recent ordination everyone had their appropriate attire to signal not only their status but where they fit in churchmanship (or whatever the inclusive version of that is). Light blue cassocks and matching preaching scarves for canons, copes for archdeacons or above, biretta or cassock and surplice for churchmanship, mitre and cope, mitre and chasuble, biretta with chasuble, no mitre with rochet and chimere,…  Not a cope above one’s station. Not a blue scarf out of place.

The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus

In a stroke of genius one line in the Complementary Norms of the newly published Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus demonstrates that one of Benedict’s advisers (or possibly even Benedict himself!) knows the Anglican ethos only too well. You can almost hear echoes of the evening chuckling over the Barenjager or Jagermeister. The Anglican bishops are not recognised as being bishops, they are not even recognised as having been members of a church. Essentially they have been playing dress-up. Often excessively. But

A former Anglican Bishop who belongs to the Ordinariate and who has not been ordained as a bishop in the Catholic Church, may request permission from the Holy See to use the insignia of the episcopal office. (Article 11:4)

Those who have been previously ordained in the Catholic Church and subsequently have become Anglicans [anyone spring to mind?], may not exercise sacred ministry in the Ordinariate. Anglican clergy who are in irregular marriage situations [anyone spring to mind?] may not be accepted for Holy Orders in the Ordinariate. (Article 6:2)

Such a man can’t function as a priest (which means he can’t be an Ordinary), he may not even be able to receive communion, but… most significantly for Anglicans – Rome in its regulations allows for the possibility that if he previously functioned as a bishop he can continue to wear a purple cassock, a pectoral cross, and a bejewelled ring.

*****

I am kidding.
There was no one wearing a biretta with a chasuble at the ordination.
But there could have been :-)

Comments from people without a sense of humour (sorry, I mean: humor) – thankfully Wordpress has a powerful filter. These comments are immediately automatically deleted and their email addresses are sent to the Inquisition (sorry, I mean the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith). Because of the Recession – soft pillows will no longer be supplied.

Previous posts:
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Second post
Third post

Further help with your Millinerianism

End of Anglican Communion?

Published on October 21, 2009 in liturgy. 43 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Update: I am thrilled with the interest in this post, which is currently running about a reader every 8 seconds. It is also gratifying to see such helpful and positive comments. If there are any developments, rather than altering this post I think I would produce another – I already have some ideas in mind. So if you are interested, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or other ways of seeing what is new here.
Update: part 2 of this reflection is here

A few hours ago there was an absolute internet frenzy as people predicted and then reported, tweet by tweet, the announcement from the Vatican and the joint press conference by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Westminster.

Let me add my own initial thoughts to this confusing dust-cloud following the announcement that the pope will create “Personal Ordinariates” for Anglicans who wish to come home to Rome. Archbishop Rowan said that it would be a “serious mistake” to view the development as a response to the difficulties within the Anglican Communion. As we in New Zealand say: “Yeah right!”

To anyone who has been watching the direction that Pope Benedict has been moving, and those he has been welcoming into his fold, the commentary that this is “surprising” is itself surprising. Just to mention recent events that have been in the news: the reconciliation with Holocaust-denying Bishop Richard Williamson and his Society of St. Pius X, the Motu Proprio “Summorum Pontificum” giving wider possibility to celebrate the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, reconciliation with the traditionalist “Transalpine Redemptorists,” and so forth. I want to highlight some things I have not yet seen mentioned:

  • married priests in Anglican Personal Ordinariates will have to marry prior to ordination to the diaconate

They will not be able to marry after ordination. Should his wife die, or he gets divorced (sorry – his marriage is annulled) he will not be able to marry. Roman Catholic deacons can be married, but in order to do so, must be married prior to ordination. In the tweeting frenzy Scott Richert wrote, “There is no warrant in tradition for marrying AFTER receiving Holy Orders. None.” He may very well be right. I am genuinely interested in this point, and hope that people in the comments box below might provide evidence for or against this. My reply to him for clarification has not yet been responded to.

  • bishops in Anglican Personal Ordinariates are celibate
  • there has been no rescinding of Apostolicae Curae.

Anglican orders are not accepted by the Vatican. Anglican “priests” joining Anglican Personal Ordinariates in order to function as priests will have to be ordained twice (or at least conditionally ordained twice). And they will have to be males. Anglican “bishops” joining Anglican Personal Ordinariates in order to function as bishops will have to be ordained thrice (or at least conditionally ordained thrice). And they will have to be males. And celibate.

From a church (New Zealand Anglican) that leads Christian history in having created a “Tikanga” structure (where there are parallel episcopal jurisdictions according to cultural streams) I am intrigued by the concept of “Personal Ordinariates.” These are described by John Allen as “non-territorial diocese” (which sounds like an oxymoron to me!) My comment to Scott Richert and anyone else is: There is no warrant in tradition for “Personal Ordinariates.” None. But, of course, as usual, I am very very comfortable to be demonstrated wrong on this also. Please… anyone?

The end of the Anglican Communion?

As Mark Twain would say, “The reports of the end of the Anglican Communion are greatly exaggerated.” Andrew Brown, a regular person lining up for the funeral of the Communion, highlights his own weak grasp on the issues by declaring that only homosexuals can be celibate! Clearly heterosexuals, it would appear according to him, are either too weak or too immoral to be able to control their urges (not to mention that Andrew Brown is unable to distinguish doctrine from discipline). Scott Richert may have a slightly better grasp on the consequences for Anglicanism. Whilst no one would want to impugn curate’s-egg motives to the Archbishop of Canterbury, one cannot help wondering if there is just the flicker of a smile under that beard. In one Roman gesture he may be rid of, at one estimate, up to 2,000 of his CofE priests who have been holding out against his strong conviction for women in all three orders. Rowan Williams is well-known for ordaining openly practising homosexuals. Traditionalist Anglicans around the globe have struggled with women and with gays in a committed relationship being ordained. Commentators are repeatedly highlighting that this is an invitation from Rome to misogynists and homophobes.

In North America some Anglicans formed a new denomination The Anglican Church of North America (ACNA). This brings together two extremes of the Anglican spectrum – Rome-facing and Geneva-facing. This marriage of convenience, like the 1977 followers of the Affirmation of St. Louis, cannot last, as, at its heart it is united around being against one thing. Rome’s declaration cannot but affect it. If the Rome-facing ACNA (married) bishops can stomach losing their purple, pectoral crosses, honorary doctoral gowns, and complex titles, they may yet lead their groups home to Rome. This will impact the attempt of some Anglicans to produce a “covenant”. Nigerian “Anglicans” have already formally removed the Archbishop of Canterbury from their constitution. Sydney Anglicans, leaders in GAFON/FOCA/Mainstream, are now not only struggling with theology, church history, and liturgical practice, but have recently realised they haven’t been that good at investments either (their $265 million assets are now worth $105 million). This Geneva-facing, congregationalist end of the Anglican spectrum does not need a Communion in the way that others see it. Rome’s announcement may help towards trimming off the extremes leaving an Anglican Communion that is certainly leaner but hopefully spending far less energy on peripherals and with a stronger focus on the end of the Communion, in the sense of the purpose of the church.

It is not the numbers inside the church that is ultimately significant IMO. It is the focus on service – in the two senses: our liturgical worship of God, and our service to God by our care of people and God’s world. Anglicanism may yet, through this, become more clearly a 21st century church episcopally led, synodically governed, and adapted for the particular context in which it finds itself, working “together with other Provinces and with our ecumenical and interfaith partners to promote God’s reign on earth.”

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part 2 of this reflection is here

part 3 of this reflection is here

September 11 Cyprian

Published on September 11, 2009 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
St Cyprian

St Cyprian

Cyprian was martyred on 14 September 258. (September 14 is Holy Cross Day, so he is usually commemorated on a nearby open day – in USA RC that is today.)

Cyprian was born around 200 AD in North Africa. He was a prominent trial lawyer and teacher of rhetoric. Around 246 he became a Christian, and in 248 was chosen Bishop of Carthage. Early in the year 250 the Emperor Decius began strong measures against Christians. The first demand was that the bishops and officers of the church sacrifice to the emperor. The proconsul traveled to check the order was being carried out. Five commissioners for each town administered the edict.  When the proconsul reached Carthage he discovered that Bishop Cyprian had fled and gone into hiding.

The church was very divided about how to react to the persecution. Some Christians stood firm in civil disobedience – refusing to sacrifice. Others gave in, submitting in word or in deed to the order of sacrifice and receiving a certificate called a “libellus”. We still have some of these certificates.

Those who did not like or approve of Cyprian said that his secret fleeing from Carthage showed he was a coward and unfaithful. Cyprian replied that he thought fleeing in this case was God’s will for him and that he could lead the church from his hiding place.

Persecution was extremely severe in Carthage, and many Christians gave in and sacrificed to the emperor. These were called lapsi. When the persecution died down the church now had a new problem: how to deal with the lapsi – those who had given in and sacrificed – when these lapsi now wanted to come and be members of the church again.

One Christian leader, called Novatus, allowed these  lapsi who had sacrificed back into the church without any disciplining whatsoever. Another Christian leader called Novatian did the opposite. He would not allow them back into the church community at all.

A libellus

A libellus

Cyprian held to a middle way – but you can see the Christian community was deeply divided again. Cyprian allowed the lapsi back into the Christian community, the church, after a suitable period of probation and penance, depending on the gravity of the denial. The story of the divisions gets even more complicated – but you get the basic idea.

Later there were other Christian divisions. Jesus didn’t leave behind a rule book and each time that new issues arose Christians weren’t really sure – they disagreed about what the appropriate response should be. The next big issue for Cyprian was whether the baptism in heretical groups was valid or not. Should people from those heretical groups be rebaptised or not.

During the reign of the Emperor Valerian, Carthage suffered a severe plague epidemic. Cyprian organized a program of medical relief and nursing of the sick, available to all residents. But the majority of Carthage’s citizens were convinced that the epidemic was the result of the wrath of the gods at the spread of Christianity. So another persecution against Christians arose. This time Cyprian did not flee. He was arrested, tried, and finally beheaded on 14 September 258.

Cyprian was an extensive writer. We still have many of his writings. In his book called On the Unity of the Catholic Church Cyprian stresses the importance of visible, concrete unity among Christians. He argued for a position that the fullness of the church – what he and others called the catholic church, the universal church – is present in the people gathered around their local bishop. That position has stayed the approach to church of the Eastern Orthodox church and of the Anglican Church. The fullness of the church, the church catholic, is present in the people led by the bishop.

twin-towersWe live in divided times. Churches are divided one from another – within denominations there is division. There is disagreement between Christians. Some would have us attempt to agree on every last detail before we can see ourselves as a community – a common unity. Listing off a catalogue of agreed beliefs rather than unity in God. The opposite is those who say that none of our beliefs matter at all. Can we find a middle way? Can we learn to respect difference, learn from difference AND at the same time hold to our primary convictions. Being too rigid we will snap under pressure, being too loose and supple we will be no support.

This is not only true within Christianity – but also beyond it. We live in a multi-faith, multi-cultural community and world. The date, September 11, is itself a reminder that the need to respectfully listen to each other is one of the world’s greatest needs – as is the need to be sure of our own convictions. Reflecting on the times of Cyprian still, IMO, has much to teach us.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Cyprian boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Maximilian Kolbe

Published on August 14, 2009 in liturgy. 8 Comments Tags: , , , , .

800px-westminster_abbey_-_20th_century_martyrs

In 1998 statues of ten modern martyrs were unveiled on the West of the (Anglican) Westminster Abbey. Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast day is today (August 14), is one of them.

He grew up in Poland at the end of the nineteenth century. He decided to become a Franciscan. Fr. Kolbe set up what he called a spiritual Militia, an educational and spiritual organization attempting to combat the evils of the day. He had been studying in Rome and in 1919 Maximilian returned to Poland to become professor of church history at the Cracow seminary. He established a press to keep members of the Militia informed, and this publishing venture became a huge success. By 1927 membership in his spiritual Militia rose to 126,000 people and his printing presses moved to the capital, to Warsaw.

Father Kolbe developed a monthly magazine with a circulation of over 1 million, and a daily newspaper with a circulation of 230,000. He could be regarded as a patron of technology. He used the latest printing and administrative technologies to print and distribute his publications. Father Kolbe also started a radio station and planned to build a motion picture studio.

By 1936 he had expanded to Nagasaki in Japan and he spent some time there. But in 1936 he was called back from Nagasaki to Poland and became in charge of a friary with over 700 friars.

In 1939 Germany invaded Poland. As far as possible Maximilian dispersed the friary for safety reasons. They took in refugees. And then the German army closed the friary in September 1939 and detained some of the Franciscans including arresting Maximilian. They were released in December and again they took up helping the numerous refugees and the sick from the fall of Warsaw. Both Poles and Jews.

Maximilian began publishing again, and, given that some of the material published was critical of the Third Reich, it came as no surprise when he was arrested in February 1941. He was imprisoned in Warsaw. On May 28, 1941, Father Kolbe, in a group of 320 prisoners, was transferred to the concentration camp at Auschwitz.

He continued his caring of the other prisoners, always sharing his rations, and offered himself to be beaten in the place of others.

At the end of July 1941 a prisoner escaped from Auschwitz. The camp commandant instituted the usual reprisal: ten prisoners were to be starved to death in an underground bunker. One of the selected victims was a Polish Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek. He begged to be spared because he was worried about his family on the outside who would not survive without him when he finally got out.

Father Kolbe silently stepped forward and stood before Commandant Fritsch.

smallFather Kolbe pointed to the polish sergeant, saying, “I am a Catholic priest from Poland; I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children.”

A Witness recalled “From astonishment, the commandant appeared unable to speak. After a moment he gave a sign with the hand. He spoke but one word: ‘Away!’”

In his last days Fr Kolbe prepared the others for death. Kolbe was one of the last of the ten to die, being finally killed with an injection of carbolic acid by a camp doctor on 14 August 1941.

In 1982 in the Vatican Maximilian Kolbe was declared a saint and Gajowniczek, whose place Kolbe had taken, was present at that celebration.

Jesus said: No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

Reflections August 16

Published on August 11, 2009 in liturgy. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

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20th Sunday in Ordinary Time August 16 from the collect/opening prayer (NZPB)
20th Sunday in Ordinary Time August 16 from the collect/opening prayer (Roman Catholic)
Proper 15 August 16 from the collect/opening prayer (BCP TEC)

Image: Mosaic panel on the left (north) wall of the apse of the Church of St. Vitale, Ravenna, depicting Emperor Justinian, clothed in full regalia and standing in the center of a retinue of clergy, officials and soldiers (flanked on the right by Bishop Maximian), bringing the bread of the Eucharist to the altar. From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=32148 [retrieved August 10, 2009].

Year for Priests – St John Vianney

Published on August 3, 2009 in liturgy. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

st-jean-vianneyAs well as the Roman Catholic Church, many Anglican churches celebrate St John Vianney on August 4. This year it is 150 years since the death of the priest who is known more commonly by his title “Curé d’Ars” (the parish priest of the village of Ars-sur-Formans). He is the patron saint of parish priests, and the Pope has announced this year as a Year for Priests in honour of “the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Curé d’Ars, Jean-Marie Vianney, a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ’s flock”.

Some points worth reflecting on:

  • the concept of vocation – so quickly (too quickly in my opinion) the word vocation is applied to priesthood and “religious life”. Should not vocation be primarily applied to our baptismal calling to holiness and after that to discernment of our particular way of living out our baptismal vocation to love?
  • the understanding of God’s will – the impression is too quickly given in my opinion that God has a particular pathway planned out for us and should we deviate from this in any way our present happiness, let alone our eternal salvation, is in jeopardy unless and until we return to where we branched off God’s determined pathway and get back onto the correct path. This would have God intending you to marry Sarah and should you marry Martha instead, then you will be unhappy in this life not to mention the next… God intended you to be a Franciscan, but you misheard the call and became a Dominican – not until you leave the Dominicans and join the Franciscans will you be following God’s will for this life (and the next)… Possibly God’s will is more general than that – possibly it is more about searching out the deepest God-given yearnings of our God-given heart?
  • Priesthood as primarily a call to enable the baptismal life of the Christian community. The NZ Prayer Book ordinal says it well, in my opinion,

By the Holy Spirit all who believe and are baptised
receive a ministry to proclaim Jesus as Saviour and Lord,
and to love and serve the people with whom they live and work.
In Christ they are to bring redemption,
to reconcile and to make whole
They are to be salt for the earth; they are to be light to the world.

After his resurrection and ascension
Christ gave gifts abundantly to the Church
Some he made apostles, some prophets. some evangelists.
some pastors and teachers; to equip God’s people
for their work of ministry and to build up the body of Christ.

We stand within a tradition
in which there are deacons priests and bishops
They are called and empowered to fulfil an ordained ministry
and to enable the whole mission of the Church.

  • This might also be a year in which we can discuss more deeply what priesthood means, what diaconate, and laity, and episcopate means, and whether people should be ordained directly to the order to which God calls them (per saltum)?

John Vianney lived and ministered in the aftermath of the French Revolution. He struggled with the academic formation required for priesthood. He greatly stressed the love and mercy of God and also the value of personal discipline. His popularity grew so that Lyons railway station had a separate booking office for trains to Ars. Close to 100,000 individuals came to hear him preach in the last year of his life.

Once, when he was arguing with a Protestant peasant woman in his village, he asked her, “Where was your Church before the Reformation?” She promptly replied, “In the hearts of people like you.”

Heavenly Father,
Shepherd of your people,
we thank you for your Servant John,
who was faithful in the care and nurture of your flock;
and we pray that,
following his example and the teaching of his holy life,
we may by your grace grow into the stature of the fullness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Everliving God,
you gave to your servant John Vianney
 gifts of discernment and wise counsel;
grant to all pastors 
a full measure of your wisdom and your love,
that through their ministry 
your truth may be revealed;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Good shepherd,
yours was the strength which kept Jean, Curé d’Ars,
praying and reconciling year after year;
protect us too, we pray,
from fatigue which shrivels up compassion;
through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

consecrating only bread?

Published on August 2, 2009 in liturgy. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

flying-disk-gun-hq9645-300x300I have blogged previously on the impact of swine flu on liturgy and the usefulness of the illustrated wafer-firing apparatus. Since then, however, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, amongst many others have added suggestions. In their case it was to suggest suspending administering the chalice to the congregation, or, if seeking to offer communion in both kinds, to follow a practice they say is common in Africa that “the presiding minister… personally intincts all wafers before placing them in the hands of communicants.”

In discussions, I have heard of communities “pre-intincting” – they dip the wafer in the wine prior to celebrating the Eucharist and so consecrate wine-dipped wafers (in this situation I am not sure if a chalice of wine is also being consecrated). But now I have been pointed to a blog where the Church of England curate, the Rev. James Ogley, (he prefers to call himself an “elder”) writes about how his parish of Bursledon, in the Diocese of Winchester followed the advice of the Archbishops but “did not even have a chalice on the table” whatsoever.

The Church of England makes reference to the Sacrament Act of 1547 which has that the “moste blessed sacrament be hereafter commenlie delivered and ministred unto the people, within this Churche of Englande and Irelande and other the Kings Dominions, under bothe the Kyndes, that is to saie of breade and wyne, excepte necessitie otherwise require“. In other words, receiving under one kind is permitted in exceptional circumstances. This is also envisaged in Common Worship’s Celebration of Holy Communion at Home or in Hospital with the Sick and Housebound: “Communion should normally be received in both kinds separately, but where necessary may be received in one kind, whether of bread or, where the communicant cannot receive solid food, wine.”

In all of 2,000 years of Christian history I cannot recall, even during lengthy periods of the norm of receiving in one kind only, or of many people present not receiving at all, of only consecrating one kind. I would be interested in knowing any historical precedence for this, or if this is happening elsewhere, or of Church of England canons relating to this apparently revisionist celebrating of the Eucharist. (And puhhleez can we do better than “it doesn’t matter because Church of England orders are invalid anyway…”)

Bishop Alan Wilson (CofE) has said it well

The genius of Anglicanism, its missional crown jewels within the whole Kingdom of God, has been its ability to run essentially (but not exclusively) primitive Evangelical software on essentially (but not exclusively) primitive Catholic hardware.

Within Catholicism one could hardly find a more sensitive issue than to fool about with the Holy Eucharist and its celebration.