Pope Benedict XVI during the Beatification of Blessed John Cardinal Newman
Three more former Anglican priests have been ordained into the Roman Catholic Church at the weekend.
The latest priests to turn their backs on the Anglican Communion and
join the specially established Catholic Ordinariate are Father David
Elliott, of Reading, Berks, Father Jonathan Redvers Harris, of the Isle
of Wight and Father Graham Smith, of Christchurch, Dorset.
Earlier
this month The Christian Post reported how seven former Church of
England clergy were ordained into the Ordinariate, as part of a series
of ordinations taking place over Pentecost.
The latest group of
former Anglican priests to complete their defection to the Catholic
Ordinariate did so at a ceremony at Portsmouth Cathedral in south
England, which saw about 250 congregants gather to celebrate the
ordinations.
A number of those joining the new Ordinariate have
said they were forced to take action following the Church of England’s
increasing acceptance of same-sex blessings and gay clergy. Others have
also cited the Church’s movement towards accepting women bishops as a
reason to defect to the Catholic Church.
According to the BBC, one
of the three, Father Elliott, resigned from his post as the Anglican
vicar of Holy Trinity in Reading in April. He moved to the Catholic
Church, taking 15 of his congregants with him.
Elliot has said he felt urged to take the action following Pope Benedict extending a “hand of friendship”.
The Catholic Ordinariate is a special body established by the pope as a place of refuge for Anglicans dissatisfied with their Church’s changing stance on certain issues.
In
excess of 900 laity have already moved to the Catholic Church and have
been waiting for their clergy to complete training for Catholic
priesthood at a seminary in West London.
As the former Anglican
clergy become ordained as Catholic priests, they will lead groups of
former Anglican laity to branch off from the core Catholic congregations
to worship as a separate Ordinariate group. The Vatican will soon publish a separate liturgy for these Ordinariate groups to follow.
According
to The Times in London, Keith Newton, who heads up the Ordinariate, has
explained that dozens more Church of England clergy are currently also
considering their positions within the Anglican Church.
Newton
told The Times, “Every week somebody writes or e-mails asking how they
can join the Ordinariate. They are often people I have never heard of
before.”
Explaining the risk facing those defecting to the
Catholic Church, Newton commented: “For clergy it is a practical risk,
meaning they abandon tied housing and a guaranteed stipend for a smaller
income and uncertainty.”
Newton, himself defected and became a
Roman Catholic priest in January this year. He and Andrew Burnham and
John Broadhurst – all former Anglican bishops – were welcomed into the
Roman Catholic Church during a ceremony at Westminster Cathedral in
London.
The three made the move because they were "distressed" by
the developments in the global Anglican Communion which they found to be
"incompatible" with Christian tradition.
The Vatican announced in
2009 that it would introduce a new church structure that would allow
former Anglicans to enter into "full communion" with the Catholic Church
while preserving their Anglican traditions.
Pope Benedict made
the provision in response to the numerous requests he received from
Anglicans who were unhappy with the ordination of women and noncelibate
gay bishops.
SOURCE:
http://www.christianpost.com/news/more-anglicans-ordained-into-catholic-ordinariate-51603/
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