AIlg l icalloru11I

Ceotibus

and the Churchof Our Lady of theAtonement, theFoundingPar ish of AnglicanUsein theRomanCatholicChurch, Feast of

St.David of wales,1

March

2011

A..nglicanism issometimescalled "Catholic-lite" because of itsretenuon oraf ormalized liturgy and bishops, elements thatchurchesborn d uring the sixteenth-centuryEuropean ref ormations oftend id not perpelll£1te. Among Anglicans,therehave always been somewho longed f or the Church of England to re-establish

full

communion wilhtheRoman Cath- olic Church, but lllany factorsmakethis appear

be animpossi bilityto- d ay. Nonetheless,having been approached by Anglicans over thed ecad es, theRoman CatholicChurchhas gradually opened newavenuesf or An- glicanand Episcopalpriests, and then for entiregroups of Anglicans,

enterintof ullcouurumiou withRome,while also retaining elements of their heritage and trad ition. ThePastoralProvision of JohnPaid II On22July

1980,

Franjo CardinalSeper,pref ectof the Sacred Con- gregation fortheDoctrine of Faith(CDF), norif ied John Quinn, then- archbishop of San

Francisco,that

the CDFhad decid ed,regarding certain Episcopalians"who seekreconciliation with and entranceintothe Catholic Church,"that "pastoralprovision" should bemade sothat suchgroupswill be able to continue

maintain a "common identity."Furthermore,the "re-ord inauonof Episcopalclergy, even those who arc married , shall be allowed.: ."Put intopractice onlyinthe United States,suchapastoral provision resulted onlyf roma specificrequest f roma college of bishops- and the colleges of bishops in Eugtaocand Wales, Canad a, Australia, and elsewhere

had

not issued such

a request.

Anim portan

aspect of the contiu uationof a common ic\ en Litywasthe creation of an Anglican Use within theRomanCatholic Church in the United States.Thepreciseword

use

isimportant, astheprovisional- lowed [orpriests and individ uals to enter theRomanCatholic Church and d id notesta blish

different rile.

The

GreekCatholicChurchand

296

CHURCH REVIEW

theMaronite CatholicChurch, forexample, areind eper d entchurches that arein communionwiththeRomanCatholic Church,butLheyhave theirown canon laws,bishops, and liturgies. TheAnglican Use is not suchanentity,

but

ratherispart of theRoma!if"'Catho!ic Churchitself. Seeking topreserve an Episcopal liturgicaltradition,butWithinthe con text of theRomanCatholic Church in theU nited States,a com mitLee compiled acolieClionof ritualsand ruhrics analogousto theBookof CommonPrayer. Therefore,in

1984,

the CDFallowed f or theinterim use of theBookof Divine'Vorshipt, and then in

1987

gaveit

final

approval."Thisd ocumentallowed elementsof

the

old er Prayer Book of

1928,

but theEucharisticliturgy wastakenonlyf rom the 1979Book of Common Prayer withtheinterpolationof theRomanEIJcharistic Canonsand the ancientSarumCanon(withthemod ern English 'Word s of Instituuon:f rom the

Nouns onto missae

iuseuerl}.':" TheBook of Divine '.-Vorship isclearly mod eled af ter theBookof Com-

man Prayer;

containingmany of the sameelements,including ord ers

10('

morning,noond ay, and eveningprayers, as wellas compline..The calendar containsthenames of vario us American saintslikeKatharine Drexeland John Neumann,whichreminds

thattheBook

of Divine

Worship,inits firsted ition,was

publ

ished specificallyf or lise in theUn

ired

States of Amer- lea.TheFeastDayofSt.Augustine of Canter buryis amand atoryf east, and not anoptional one, Anglo-Catholic figureslikeLancelotAndrewes and JohnKe ble are absent.The cycle of readingsisf ortwo years. There<Ire two rites for the Eucharist. In ad d ition totheEucharisticrite,theliturgies for HolyBaptism,HolyMatrimony and theBur-ialof theDead followAs withtheEucharist,therearetworites for each

those.The tworites

are

veryclose

each other, the d iff erencebeingthat

the

firstrite usesEnglish contemporaneoLls withtheJ(..ingJamesBible, and the second riteusescon- temporaryEnglish.Nota bly a bsentfromtheBookof Divine worshipare liturgiesfor ord inations con firmation, and the reconciliationof apeniten

ThePsalterispresent,in bothtraditionaland contemporaryforms..Unlike theBookof Common Prayer;thereis nominor catechismneartheend. TheBookof DivineWorshipiscurrentlybeing revised ,and the

con-

temporaryritemaywell be eliminated , But oneof theind ivicillalswho

TheBook of Divine Worshipcan bed ownloaded in PDF f ormat

www,

atonementoniine.com/ bodwp bp (accessed

March

201I).

~Jack

Barker,"ThePastoral ProvisionforRoman Catholicsin the

USA",

1993.Accessed 3March 2011 <www,slmarythevirgin.org/jack barkel:hlm>Note

that

Fr.Barkel"lI'as present ar many of the eventsthat led up10the issuance

ofthe

Pastoral

Provision

in 1980,and thushas first-hand knowledge of the events.

298

ANGLICAN",.IJ\IDEPISCOPALHISTORY

wason thecommittee that produced [hefirstBook of DivineWorship is thecurrent pastor of the Churchof

Our Ladyof

theAtonement inSan Antonio,Texas.Hehasbeen thepastorof the congregationsinceits f oundingin

1983. While

ordinand

the

EpiscopalChurch,he stud- ied

Salis buryand WellsCollege(now called Sarum College)and was ord ained

abishopof theChurchof England. His first curewasin the d iocese of Bristol. Eventuallyhereturned tothe United States,wasmar- ried , and he and hiswif e had three children. Duringthisrimehe was living inRhodeIsland ,

and

the

late 1970shad

come

tothe

conclusionthat hemustenterintofullcornrnunion with theRoman Catholic Church. SomesaythatAnglo-Catholicswhosplit off f rom theEpiscopalChurch to form the so-called "continuingAnglicanchurches,"or whoentered into

full

communion withRome,did so because

they

wered isaff ected

theinnovationof the1976 GeneralConvention to allow the ord ination of womentothepriesthood .But duringan extended interview,thepastor explained that thisisacaricature of a more complex series of events. He explained

rheord ination of women wasrather a verification of

what

someAnglo-Catholicsalread y

snspectecl,

which was

that

the"three- branch"theory

was

nolongertena ble, and that women's ord ination wassimplya resound ingaffirmation of thatsuspicion.(The three- branchtheoryproposes t

hat

Anglicans,Roman Catholics, and

Orthodox

form the three " branches"of theone,holy, apostolic, and catholic church described in the Nicene Creed .)In other words, women'sordi- nation was simplya rather noticeable symptom of a d eeperd isease:it indicated that..- \nglicanisrnhad no one authoritycapa bleof enforcing catholicorthodoxy.The church was "governed byd emocracy,not.byd i- vinerevelation," asthepastor said .OncethePastoral Provision was issued ,thepastortraveled up and downNew England trying

find aRoman

Catholic

bishopwho would

re-ord aiu

himand lisehis norincon- siderableleaching

d leadershipskills. His requests wereturned

down,

as the Roman Catholic bishops were concerned about ecumenicalrela- tionships with Episcopalians. During thesameperiod ,inSanAntonio, Texas,several parishioners, mostly fromthestill-extant Episcopalparishesof StPaul's and

Andrew's,d ecid ed that theywould , as aconununity, enter intof ullcommunion with Rome. Theyinvited this priest

lead theirsmallcongregation,Saint Anthony's AnglicanCatholic Church.After

visit he

accepted

theinvita- tion,and

injanuary

of 19R2he and hisf amilymoved

San Antonio,

cityf ounded as aseries of fiveRomanCatholic missions located along the San AntonioRiver.Fourof them arestillf unctioningparishesin the

CHURCH REVIEW

299

archdiocese;oneof them isa museum(theAlamo). Intothis trad itional citywheretheRoman Catholic Churchand conservative evangelicals hold a greatdealof sway thisman stepped . So he and the congregationthat had called him merinrented space, and eventually severalof the parishlonersd ecid ed thattheywished to re- mainin theEpiscopalChurch.Nonetheless,

Oil

15August 198~,atthe Cathedral Churchof San Fernando, the manwasord ained to theRoman Catholic priesthood ,and the seventeen other individ uals made profcs- sionsof fairh.

few weekslatertheyreceived thesacrament of Confirm a- lion. The pastor chuckled as heexplained thatfiveof theeighteen original members werehis family. Thecongregation tookthe name of Our Ladyof theAtonement asthearchd iocesealread yhad multiplepar- ishes named af ter Anthony,asis thecityof SanAntonio itself OurLad yof the Atonement and

Anglitano/'/(1/lCoctibus

Theunusual Marian title"Our Lad yof theAtonement"hasan impor- tant historybehind itin regard s to Anglican-Cuholic relations.

The

title goes back to aFranciscancommunityf ounded in1898by theRev.Paul Wanson and MotherLurana White.The Societyof the Atonementwas founded within theEpiscopalChurch

with

theexplicit goal of seeking reconciliationwiththe See of Peter, and in 19J9

Fr.

Wausonexplained at length the significance of this title.He stated that

Mary

was devoted

theatonement becauseitwas herson'sd eaththat brought

itabout.

Also, becauseMary is "insepara bly associated" withJesus

hroughrheincarna- tion, sheis also"closely

associated "

with him

hisatoning

d eath

thecross.

Moreover,itis

through

the atonement thatshe

becamethe

Second Eve and the

"mother of

all the

regenerate.':"

TheSociety of the Atonement entered into f ull

comrnunion

with

[heSee

Peterin]909. Thesociety,consisting of theFranciscanFriars ofthe Atonementand the FranciscanSisters of the Atonement,stillexists and theirhead quartersis at Greymoor;inGanison,NewYork. TheFriars' we b- site(atonementfriars.org)statestheir vision,"Sinceitsinceptionin

IR98,

reconciliationthrough atonement-theunity

ormen

and women with God and with one another-has been

rhe

missionof theFriars' work and ministriesto people of every race,religion, and walk of lire."

Quoted

Christopher Phillips,"Witness

theAtonement", 2010. Ac- cessed on03March 2011<wwwtheanglocarholic.com/20I(I/07/wiu1ess-to- the-atonement,">

300

ANGLICANANDEP[SCOPALHISTORY

Thepastor. during our

terview, comments thatgiven the f act that thisMarian title wasrevealed

Fr. wansonwhile still intheEpiscopal Church,and then brought

theRoman Catholic Church,itisamost appropriate namef ortheparishwhich hehelped

f ound . Bishopswithin boththe Churchof Englamland the

Traditional

Anglican Communion (f ounded in

1991,

but not in C0ll111111nionwithCanter bury) had approached theRoman curia on multiple occasionsoverthe years seeking

explore the possibilityorwhatwemightcallanexpansionof thePastoral Provisionof John Paul Il.Forinstance, OurLad yof the Atone- ment,asaparish,isund er the arch bishop of San Antonio,and hasno of- ficialorjurid icaJconnections

otherAnglican UseparisheslikeOurLad y otWalsingham in Houston,Texas,or St.MarytheVirgin in Arlington,also in Texas,or

St.

ArhanasiusncarBoston.Whatthese Church of England and Traditional Anglican Communion bishopswere seeking was a wayfor groups of Anglicans

enterthe Catholic Church butenjoying some- thingmorethan the statusof a normal parish llsing an abnormalliLUrgy withi n theCatholicdiocese.Themostoptimisticind ividualsenvisioned an Anglican rite, similar tothe aforementioned GreekCatholicand Maronite CatholicChurches,withits

OWI1

bishops,d ioceses, cathedrals, and liturgy. In a ratherdaring movef orsomeoneknown f or histraditionalistten- d encies,PopeBened ictXVIissued theApostolic Constitution

Ang l im n o-

nun coeubus

(AC)inRorne,on'" November 2009. This constitution allows f or the creationof thenovel juridical

eruiry

of the personalordinariare: ajurisdictionwithanordinary,whowould havemany of theprivileges of abishop, butonethat would bepersonal,whichis

saymembership d etermined not byphysicallocation but by connectiontoa person,in this casethe

ordinar y,

Onemight likenthis

a militaryd iocese, butsuch a diocese,whilenon-territorial, willnormallyhavea bishop asits ordinary. The ordinariates envisioned by

Angliauumtm

Coeti bus maybeheaded by any priest,nor necessarily abishop;the one ord inariateto have been established to date-s-Our Lad y of Walsingham in England and \ 'Vales- has a married priestf oritsfirstordinary.Funhennore,theordinariatesto be established willbewithin thephysicalterritory of aRoman Catholic conferenceof bishops,which is whyEngland and Wales haveone ordinariate.Proponentsof AC envision

ord inariates

intheUnited Slates, Canada,and Australia, and perhapsother regions as well. Thepracticalsignificance of thisf or a parishlikeOur Lad yof the Atonement is that,once anord inariateis established in theUnited Slates, according topresent plans, theparishwill, along with all otherAnglican Useparishes,have oneordinarywhohas

risdiction over it.Furthermore,

CHURCH

REV1EW

~ ()I

whilethe ord inariatewill not.havea cathedral,

will

havea "principal church."

Our

Lad y of theAtonement: isbyf ar thelargestAnglican Use parish intheUnited States,with a successfulschool and daily chapel,located inama jor

American

city,and it istherefore

not

unreasonable to guessthatthisparishmaywell betheprincipalchurch of theordinariate once it isesta blished .WhenIasked thepastorifhe migh

beappointed

betheord inary,hechuckled and answered:

"l'H

d owhateverthe pope asksmeto do,"and changed rhe topic. Onereasonthat thepope issued ACwas that Anglicanshad approached himseeking fullcommunion withhissee,but wished toretainelementsor their liturgy and trad ition.

appearsthat, f or themostpan,theprospects of Episcopaliansenteringthe ordinariatewhileretainingtheirchurch propertyaredim,asthepresid ing bishopand her

arrorncy

havespent mas- siveamountsorf und sto retain real propertyf romcongregationsleaving

join otherjurisdictions, evenwhenthatentailsinheritinga building with nocongregation.Asthenascent ord inariateinEngland and Wales.just formed in

january

of 2011,hasonlyahand f ul of members,itisnotyet a relia bleindicatorof what thismix of Anglican and LatinChrisrianuics willlook like.But thisparish,whichhas experienced vel)'ro bustgrowth since theearly1980s,has a genuine experience of what itlookslikefor Anglicanpatrimonyand trad ition toexistover a sustained period of lime withintheRomanCatholic Church. Moreover,theinstructionsof AC mean that,unlikewith thePastoral

Provision,

thelocalconference

ofCiuh-

olicbishopsis northe bod ythat makes thedeterminationof whetheror not toerectan ordinariate. Letusrecallthatitwas thereticence

epis- copalconferences outsid ethe U.S. that madeit impossiblefor thePastoral Provision of JohnPaulIT to takeeff ect in theirsynodal regions. Rather; underAC, the erectionof anordinariate istheprerogative of'thepope, who hasd elegated that authority to theCongregation of DivineFaith. In termsof mission-c-esta blishingnew AnglicanUseparishes,schools, con- vents,monasteries-thevisionisthatthere

will

beoneperson coordtn.u- jngallof this. Furthermore,itis planned that therewillbe regular meetingsof lcaclers,bothordained and Jay,who belong

the ordinariate. Inother words,accord ingto present plans,eachAtlglican Useparish will go frombeing a rather odd entityin aconventionalCatholic diocese,

beinguniLedjurid icallyand missionally

othersuchcongregations,all the while remainingwithin theCatholic Church. OLAof ferssomeinsights into whatthis ecumenicalalchemymaylooklike down theroad. In tertns of grcwth.theexperience ofOLAhas beennothinglessthan extraordinary.What started with rented space and eighteen people now