Finally, the reaction I waited for above all, and it is a beautiful Christian letter. The Holy Spirit does breathe where and when He will - and in the most unexpected ways.
Traditional Anglican Communion responds
to Pope's offer of ecclesiastical refuge
by John Hepworth
Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion
20th October 2009
Right photo shows Bishop Hepworth on a trip to Kenya in 2008 to confirm a group of 400 new Christians.
I have spent this evening speaking to bishops, priests and lay people of the Traditional Anglican Communion in England, Africa, Australia, India, Canada, the United States and South America.
We are profoundly moved by the generosity of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. He offers in this Apostolic Constitution the means for "former Anglicans to enter into the fullness of communion with the Catholic Church".
He hopes that we can "find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to us and consistent with the Catholic faith".
He then warmly states "we are happy that these men and women bring with them their particular contributions to our common life of faith".
May I firstly state that this is an act of great goodness on the part of the Holy Father. He has dedicated his pontificate to the cause of unity. It more than matches the dreams we dared to include in our petition of two years ago. It more than matches our prayers.
In those two years, we have become very conscious of the prayers of our friends in the Catholic Church. Perhaps their prayers dared to ask even more than ours.
While we await the full text of the Apostolic Constitution, we are also moved by the pastoral nature of the Notes issued today by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
My fellow bishops have indeed signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church and made a statement about the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, reflecting the words of Pope John Paul II in his letter "Ut Unum Sint".
Other Anglican groups have indicated to the Holy See a similar desire and a similar acceptance of Catholic faith. As Cardinal Levada has indicated, this response to Anglican petitions is to be of a global character. It will now be for these groups to forge a close cooperation, even where they transcend the existing boundaries of the Anglican Communion.
Fortunately, the Statement issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury reflects the understanding that we have gained from him that he does not stand in our way, and understands the decisions that we have reached.
Both his reaction and our petition are fruits of a century of prayer for Christian unity, a cause that many times must have seemed forlorn.
We now express our gratitude to Archbishop Williams, and have regularly assured him of our prayers. The See of Augustine remains a focus of our pilgrim way, as it was in ages of faith in the past.
I have made a commitment to the Traditional Anglican Communion that the response of the Holy See will be taken to each of our National Synods. They have already endorsed our pathway.
Now the Holy See challenges us to seek in the specific structures that are now available the "full, visible unity, especially Eucharistic communion", for which we have long prayed and about which we have long dreamed. That process will begin at once.
In the Anglican Office of Morning Prayer, the great Hymn of Thanksgiving, the Te Deum, is part of the daily Order. It is with heartfelt thanks to Almighty God, the Lord and Source of all peace and unity, that the hymn is on our lips today.
This is a moment of grace, perhaps even a moment of history, not because the past is undone, but because the past is transformed.
Continuing with the reports on the historic development: Even The Guardian gets no opening to be snarky as it usually is with the Church and the Pope in its report - except perhaps to embaraas the Archbishop of Canterbury:
Roman Catholic Church to receive Anglicans
by Riazat Butt and John Hooper
Oct. 20, 2009
Thousands of Anglicans could defect to the Roman Catholic Church after the Pope today approved a new global institution to receive them.
It will be the first time since the Reformation in the 16th century that entire Protestant communities have reunited with Rome. The first group likely to take advantage of the new rules is the Traditional Anglican Community (TAC), which broke off from the rest of the community in 1991 and claims to have more than 500,000 members worldwide.
Other groups unhappy with developments in the Anglican Communion are also expected to accept the invitation from the Vatican. Traditionalists, including thousands in the Church of England, have long threatened to defect to Rome over issues such as the ordination of women and gay people.
Reflecting the importance of the initiative, the Pope set out the new arrangements in an apostolic constitution, the highest form of pontifical decree, and press conferences were held simultaneously in London and the Vatican to announce it.
In Ecclestone Square, the administrative headquarters of the Catholic Church of England and Wales, the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury and the Catholic archbishop of Westminster sat side by side on the top table in a show of unity, but the choice of location reflected the shift in power.
Both men played down any suggestion of tension brought on by the decision, but the unease became apparent in the question and answer session that followed.
The archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, informed journalists that he only heard about the apostolic constitution "a couple of weeks ago" and that there was no input from or consultation with Lambeth Palace.
His face reddened as he spoke and, at one point, the archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, answered questions relating to Williams's leadership and authority.
Williams said: "I do not think this constitution will be seen as in any sense a commentary on Anglican problems offered by the Vatican. It is a response to this range of requests and inquiries from a very broad variety of people, either Anglican or of Anglican heritage. In that sense it has no negative impact on the relations of the communion as a whole to the Roman Catholic church as a whole. It is not an act of aggression, it is not a statement of no confidence. It is business as usual."
Benedict's
chief theological adviser [What an inappropriate way to describe Cardinal levada - who would himself be embarassed by it!], the US cardinal William Levada, who heads one of the most important Vatican departments, said the decree had been drawn up "to respond to the numerous requests that have been submitted to the Holy See by groups of Anglican clerics and believers from various parts of the world who wish to enter into full and visible communion" with Rome.
He said that, under the new arrangements, Anglican communities that joined the Catholic Church would be able to keep their own liturgy while remaining outside the existing dioceses. Their pastoral care would be entrusted instead to their own senior prelates, who would not necessarily become Catholic bishops. This is a way around the problem that in the Catholic church, as in the Orthodox churches, married men are not allowed to become bishops.
And the last P.S. from Damian Thompson on his blogathon yesterday:
Lambeth Palace 'implacably opposed'
to Pope's Anglican plans
Oct. 20, 2009
This from a good source in Rome: apparently both Lambeth Palace
[i.e., the Archbishop of Canterbury] and elements in the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity were “implacably opposed” to Pope Benedict XVI’s dramatic new arrangements for Anglicans.
The source also reports speculation that Archbishop Rowan Williams put pressure on Vatican ecumenists to stop the Apostolic Constitution being issued. For all I know, he did persuade Cardinal Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council, that it wasn’t a good idea.
But this particular portfolio was taken out of Kasper’s hands a long time ago; indeed, it looks as if the cardinal was simply “informed” what was happening by the CDF.
The professional ecumenists on both sides had decades to get this right. They screwed it up. So now Pope Benedict has opened up another route to unity: a high-speed bypass.
Cardinal Kasper has yet to express himself about all this, but judging from his persistent 'snarkiness' about the FSSPX matter [which was not an ecumenical matter at all, therefore, out of his hands to begin with], he's not going to be very positive!
But once again, the papal initiative with the returning Anglicans goes above and beyond ecumenism and straight to reunification with Rome of a significant bloc of Anglioans. Kasper's commission is not equipped for this - it is properly the concern of the CDF and its canon law experts.
For the 'professional ecumenists' to object to it in any way is sheer egotism that betrays they are more interested in the process - which is their work - than in the actual end, concrete reunification for some at least. It does not in any way impede the ecumenical dialog/process from continuing; it should, in fact, provide it with new momentum.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/10/2009 10:25]