HT to Joshua for alerting me to this. The recent Synod of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia (TAC) has passed the following resolutions:
That this National Synod endorses the action of its Archbishop and Bishops in requesting the establishment of an Anglican Ordinariate in Australia under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, and that the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia, in the words of the Apostolic Constitution, desires to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in a corporate manner, thereby achieving the status of an Anglican Ordinariate.
That this National Synod welcomes with joy the partnership of Forward in Faith Australia and all other Anglican clergy and people who desire to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in a corporate manner through the Anglican Ordinariate in Australia.
That this National Synod strongly endorses the application of the Bishop of the Torres Strait to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for an Ordinariate of the Torres Strait.
That this National Synod requests the Primate to communicate to the Holy Father its gratitude for his Apostolic Constitution, ands warmly thanks him for his continued protection of faithful Anglicans and their tradition, and assures him of our prayers at every celebration of the Eucharist for his ministry of “caring for all the churches”.
So, I gather from this that both the Australian Province of the TAC and the Torres Strait Province are requesting each to be received AS “ordinariates”, and that the Australians are inviting the Forward in Faith folk who wish to be a part of the Ordinariate structure to join them.
The Church of the Torres Strait, which broke away from the Anglicans in Australia back in 1997, has already applied to come into communion with the Catholic Church as one body – see The Anglo-Catholic, a most informative blog…
I like that blog very much Joshua. Christian Campbell has no problems with ‘cutting to the chase.’
I most earnestly encourage all Catholics to pray and work for this great and good cause of corporate reunion. Having made the effort to contact, visit, and get to know the local T.A.C. congregation here in Launceston has been well worth it – I can’t wait to see them in full communion, and to fully share with them at Mass.
I hear that the ACC of Canada has voted to apply to enter into the Church as an Ordinariate too. “Only” about 2 dozen parishes, apparently…
The T.A.C. jurisdiction in the U.S.A. is divided over the issue; but it seems certain that the already-Catholic, Anglican Use parishes there will transfer from their dioceses into a U.S. Ordinariate, to be joined by some of the T.A.C. parishes, plus not a few Episcopalians.
Word is that the formal application for a UK Ordinariate has been put off until after the Pope’s visit, lest it provoke even more anti-Catholic bigotry there.
So, too, the T.A.C.’s jurisdiction in South Africa has for the moment decided to put joining any Ordinariate on hold, and to focus on its needs as a poor, but fervent and growing ecclesial body.
In total, then two North American, two Australian and one British Ordinariate may be expected in the next year or so, sometime between Advent 2010 and Advent 2011.
Oh, and there is a Lutheran body in the US that’s applied to come into union with Rome under the provisions of Anglicanorum cœtibus!
That’ll require a bit of shoehorning, I think. AC specifies that applicants have to come from the Anglican Communion.
I don’t think that is quite what that group asked for… (Nb. I think there is a member of that group sitting quitely here down the other end of the table – perhaps he could enlighten us?). It is a fairly small group, and what they were asking for is a provision similar to AC pertinent to them, not under AC itself.