The first extended commentary from Cardinal Kasper about the Pope's opening towards Anglicans wishing to convert is featured in the Sunday issue (11/15/09) of L'Osservatore Romano.
'Anglicanorum coetibus':
A concrete possibility
not contrary to ecumenism
by Giampaolo Mattei
Translated from the
11/15/09 issue of
The Archbishop of Canterbury , Rowan Williams, Primate of the Anglican Communion, will be in Rome from Nov. 19-22 to participate in a colloquium dedicated to the late Cardinal Johannes Willebrand on the centenary of his birth, to take place Nov, 19 at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Willebrand was the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity from 1969-1989.
Williams will contribute an ecumenical testimony, and will most likely "speak about the indisputably positive development of relations between Anglicans and Catholics after Vatican-II", as well as an occasion to take note of the new Apostolic constitution
Anglicanorum coetibus.
Cardinal Walter Kasper,who succeeded Cardinal Willebrand as Council President, said in an interview with
L'Osservatore Romano, that it will also be an occasion to discuss with Williams the new canonical structure devised by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglican communities desiring to convert en masse to the Catholic Church.
"The Archbishop's coming visit to the Vatican", said Kasper, "shows that there is no break at all in Anglican-Catholic relations, and will in fact relaunch the cause of ecumenical dialog at a historic moment".
In this spirit, he said, "the Archbishop of Canterbury will be meeting with members of the Roman Curia, and will meet the Holy Father on November 21. We have the opportunity to open a new phase in the ecumenical dialog which will continue to be a priority of the Catholic Church and of Benedict XVI's Pontificate".
The cardinal said this has been an intense period on the ecumenical front. He recalls getting a late-night telephone call from Archbishop Williams when he was in Cyprus for the 12th meeting of the Mixed International Commission for Theological Dialog between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
"We discussed the significance of the new Apostolic Constitution, and I assured him that our direct dialog would continue, as Vatican-II envisioned and as Pope Benedict desires. He said that this confirmation was very important to him".
Kasper said "The Archbishop has kept a balanced attitude since he was informed of the Apostolic Constitution. Our personal relations are cordial and transparent. He is a spiritual man and a theologian. Actually, the only possible obstacles to the ecumenical dialog now could come from internal tensions within the Anglican Communion."
He also pointed out that "The Apostolic Constitution must be understood in the light of Vatican-II and the direct ecumenical dialogs which it led to".
Thus he said, "there were always great hopes for the possibilities of rapprochement because in our dialog, it was evident that we have a common tradition spanning 15 centuries."
He admitted that the expectations were somewhat dampened in recent years because of developments within the Anglican Communion:
"They have allowed women to be ordained as priests, and the consecration of a practising homosexual as bishop, as well as same-sex marriage. These are choices that provoked serious tensions within the Anglican Communion, and also widened the gap with the Catholic Church.
"But the critical response to these developments did not come only from Catholic-leaning Anglicans. Not all those who disagree with the liberal changes want to become Catholics. There are also a significant number of Anglicans who have evangelical [Protestant] inspiration".
Kasper explained the genesis and significance of the new Apostolic Constitution.
"Let us keep to the facts. Groups of Anglicans requested freely and legitimately to enter the Catholic Church. It was not through any initiative of ours. The requests originally came to our Council, and as President, I referred them to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which has the competence for such matters".
Kasper said he wanted to clear up any equivocations once and for all, "because I have been reading so many unlikely journalistic 'reconstructions' [of the events that led to the AC}".
"Our Council was always kept informed by the CDF, and it is not true that we were kept out of the picture. We did not take part directly in the conversations and correspondence that followed, but we were kept informed, and rightly so. The text of the Apostolic Constitution was prepared by the CDF. We were shown the draft and we made our suggestions."
What prospects are opened by the Apostolic Constitution?
"Of course, we cannot possibly oppose it if an Anglican or a group of Anglicans wishes to enter into full and visible communion with the Catholic Church. The Pope has opened the door for this with benevolence. He has shown a way. He has offered a concrete possiblity which is certainly not contrary to ecumenism.
"Even the Vatican-II decree
Unitatis redintegratio made clear that ecumenism and conversion are different matters but are not contradictory. Moreover, the possibility of 'corporate' conversion, as provided for by
Anglicanorum coetibus, was always present from the time we began ecumenical dialog with the Anglicans.
"The very fact that ecumenical dialog has gone on with great patience shows that there already is a bridge that unites us, and a closeness that enabled taking such a significant step".
He added [with an apparent reference to Hans Kueng]: "To think as some commentator has said that the Pope with this decision simply wished 'to enlarge his empire' is ridiculous".
But now the difficult part comes. "It is physiological that there will be none-too-easy problems to resolve in a matter that is as sensitive as this. To begin with, there has been quite some confusion about it in the media. And then, it will not be easy to get everyone concerned into immediate accord on particulars. We have to listen to the reasons given by everyone. Then we can evaluate how things are and proceed together, from there".
Kasper warns against 'speaking of abstractions' and suggests that it is best to await developments: "First, we have to know who and how many Anglicans will decided to avail of the opportunity. Only then can we plan more concretely, with dates and places".
He calls for a realistic attitude: "We have to see case by case who these persons and groups are. First of all, one does not become Catholic only because one disagrees with decisions made by your confession. Nor is it just a question of agreeing to sign on officially to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. That is why, it is important not to generalize, and to wait and see."
Based on his experience in long years of dialog with the Anglicans, Kasper anticipates "there are some questions that will not be easy to resolve, problems that have not been specifically considered and which may require complicated solutions."
"Keeping our feet firmly on the ground, one obvious fact is that it will not be an easy decision to make for many Anglican bishops and pastors, from the social and economic aspects. "
Among the practical problems, Kasper cites the problem of breaking up a parish or diocese, when a significant part of it decides to become Catholic. Starting with the church buildings. "Who will decide whether it belongs to the State, the region or the community, or to the Church as institution, and if so, which Church?"
Kasper expresses some perplexity about the Traditional Anglican Communion: "Two years ago, their representatives asked for the group to enter the Catholic Church as a whole. But they have not taken part in conversations since then. Now, they have stepped aboard a train that is already running. That's OK. If they are sincere, the doors are open. But we should not forget that since 1992, they have considered themselves no longer in communion with Canterbury".
[If Kasper refers to conversations that have taken place as ecumenical talks with the Anglican Church, then he is right that the TAC have not taken part, precisely because they have taken themselves apart from the rest of the Anglican Communion. But it was TAC that publicized in July 2008 a letter from Cardinal Levada informing them that the CDF was seriously studying their request to join the Catholic Church en bloc, so it does not seem fair to say that the TAC is simply jumping on board now that the 'train' is under way!]
However, he adds: "One must respect freedom of conscience. Conversion is a personal matter, which avails of the freedom to choose, the freedom of human decision-making. In this respect, one cannot enter that space, one cannot push, one cannot organize".
Kasper also thinks there is nothing to clarify on the question of priestly celibacy since nothing changes in the Church's discipline about this.
"It is obvious that only Anglicans who are already ordained bishops and priests are allowed to remain married, and that this will not be the norm in the future, starting with seminarians who begin studies after they have converted to the Catholic Church".
He said he had also explained the situationw ith the Anglicans to the Orthodox: "In Cyprus, in order to avoid misunderstanding, I immediately told our Orthodox partners that this case was neither proselytism nor a new Uniatism. I also discussed this with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who agreed that there cannot be an Anglican uniatism.
"Uniatism is a historical phenomenon that concerns the Eastern Churches, whereas the Anglicans come from the Latin tradition. On uniatism, the 1993 Ballamand document remains valid, which states that it was a historical phenomenon that is not repeatable, and cannot apply to the present nor in the future".
He said the Orthodox were most interested to understand the nature of the personal ordinariates that the Pope has devised for the Anglicans.
"I made clear," he said, "that the Apostolic Constitution does not create a Church
sui iuris [a local Church] and therefore, there will not be a Church leader, but an ordinary [bishop] with vicarial powers".
Finally, Kasper says there will not be any 'negative repercussions' from the Protestants about the Apostolic Constitution. "All Christian leaders understand that the Pope wishes to continue the ecumenical dialog as intended by Vatican-II".
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 14/11/2009 23:49]