This morning, Zenit helpfully put up the link to all the podcasts of the recent “Forward in Faith” National Assembly in the UK.
The announcement from Rome had come in time for them to discuss this at this assembly, and so the podcasts are liable to be interesting to listen to.
I propose that
1) We replace the absentee monarch of Australia (who is also the Monarch of Great Britain) with an elected Australian monarchy.
2) The elected monarch exactly replaces the current monarch in the current constition.
3) The elected monarch has exactly the same powers, duties and responsibilities as those of the current absentee monarch. All the monarch's functions are carried out by his/her personal representatives (as is currently the case): federally by the Governor General, and in the states by the State Governors.
4) The Governor General and the Governors continue to be selected and appointed as they currently are, that is, by the premier with the approval of the monarch.
5) The monarch is elected to sovereignty over Australia for life, but his/her sovereignty is strictly non-hereditary.
6) The elective body is the "college of electors" comprised of the state governors and federal governor general.
7) The election of the monarch must be a unanimous decision on the part of the college of electors.
They are extraordinarily interesting, but note that there seems to be a split between most of the “leaders” (many of whom give individual addresses to the assembly) and “younger clergy,” who seem to be very keen on the “Roman initiative,” and some of the “lay voices,” most of whom seem to want to stay Anglican at all costs.
I will add here an excerpt from an e-mail from an English friend:
“My estimation is that the announcement changes very little for Anglicans in England. As +Edwin Barnes has pointed out in The Times, for it to be meaningful would require the transfer of parish property away from the Church of England, to which it will not consent, nor will it offer any financial settlement …
The great majority of English Anglican laity see their Anglican patrimony not in terms of any theological or liturgical tradition, but of the historic church building in which they worship, and unless it is transferred to the new Ordinariate, they will not walk away from it. I predict that it will therefore be largely a clerical migration from Canterbury to Rome. In the absence of any financial provision, even that will be very limited, as few can afford to give up stipend and housing for any length of time, and Roman Catholic dioceses here are known to be facing the same financial difficulties as anyone else.”
I’ve now listened to several of these podcasts, and was particularly impressed by Hepworth’s speech – he clearly has inside knowledge of the contents of the upcoming Ap. Const. of much interest to this blog: for instance, he says that the T.A.C. will vote synod by synod to accept this Papal invitation, and will formally petition Rome for the establishment of these Anglican Ordinariates at Easter 2010; furthermore, the clergy of each ordinariate will be received corporately, in what I guess would be an “ordination” ceremony in more than one sense, and the laity would likewise be received, by their own clergy. I would recommend careful attention to what he says…