ABBEVILLE, LA (APRIL 17, 2009) - cyberCatholics.com is proud to announce the all new 2009 Catholic New Media Awards.
The Catholic New Media Awards is the successor to the Catholic Blog Awards and will highlight others areas of Catholic New Media including Catholic Podcasts.
Nominations in this year's awards are scheduled to begin on May 1, 2009 with voting to begin on June 1, 2009.
The results from the 2011 Catholic New Media Awards are posted below. Within the categories, they are ordered by number of votes received. The first site in each category is the announced winner.
a href="http://christian-miracles.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Signs, Wonders, and MiraclesNominations will begin being accepted for this year's Catholic New Media Awards beginning Monday, July 18 and will run until Monday, August 1.
Voting will then begin on Wednesday, August 3 and will continue until Friday, August 26 with winners to be announced at CatholiCon on August 28.
Men don’t read, and men don’t go to church. Hyperbole? Sure. As Flannery O’Connor famously remarked, for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures.
Granted, women don’t buy all the books that are sold. But they buy most of them. And they don’t make up all of the congregation on Sunday. They’re just most of it. So it’s entirely reasonable if they’re foremost in your mind when you’re approving a cover design or writing a homily.
It’s marketing instinct. ESPN executives know their audience and shape their message accordingly. Why shouldn’t publishers and churches do the same?
They do. At least trade publishers are free to decide that the Oprah demographic is their main chance. And to focus their energies on capturing that.
But churches are different. They’re commissioned to bring the gospel to whomever. In Christ, as St. Paul says, there is neither male nor female. In church, though, there is. You might have noticed. Congregations consist entirely of males and females. Fewer of the former.
It’s a vicious cycle. Christian publishers shape their product to the taste of their likely readership, which skews female. So the resulting book or magazine is practically invisible to guys, who see it out of the corner of their eyes and make a snap, often unconscious judgment: “That’s not a communication addressed to me.” They feel that to pick it up and read it might be vaguely creepy, almost like eavesdropping.
When the women in their lives do make them go there, they’re liable to feel like Huck Finn trapped indoors by the well-meaning Miss Watson as she tries her best to sivilize him:
Them she told me about the bad place, and I said I wished I was there. She got mad then, but I didn’t mean no harm. . . . She said it was wicked to say what I said; said she wouldn’t say it for the whole world; she was going to live so as to go to the good place. Well, I couldn’t see no advantage in going where she was going, so I made up my mind I wouldn’t try for it. But I never said so, because it would only make trouble, and wouldn’t do no good.
You know what would make a great novel? Take Huck Finn and make him a Catholic boy rafting down those chilly, choppy waters as he discovers that actually he likes God and wouldn’t mind being like Jesus, easily the most famous and, great paradox, successful man in the history of the world. He sees his goal on the distant shore. Can he stay afloat long enough, or will the raft capsize, sending him off in the direction of strange adventures?
Wait, somebody already wrote that book. And it’s not a novel. More like an autobiography or memoir: Sinner, by Lino Rulli.
Nick Frankovich is an editor for Servant Books at St. Anthony Messenger Press. His favorite book in the Hebrew Bible is Genesis; in the New Testament, the Gospel of John. His favorite novel is "The Great Gatsby." His favorite team is the Cleveland Indians. blog comments powered by 
Fr Scott Hurd on ForgivenessThe Dominican Sisters along the road from us at Sway have been very busy. Today, Bank Holiday Monday, they were serving cream teas to their friends and supporters, but all last week they hosted a youth camp. There were around a hundred participants, mostly from nearby parishes but some from as far as Liverpool. On Wednesday, for the celebration of Reconciliation, they drafted in a dozen or so priests — among them me. For a long while in the Church of England we (in the ‘catholic wing’) taught about confession, but it was not widely used. We consoled ourselves with the mantra “All may, none must, some should" … which sometimes seemed more like “All should, few do, most don’t”. So at the Priory it was good to see confession and absolution being treated in such a matter-of-fact way, and the priest leading the worship at the camp was very positive. No sackcloth and ashes, much more a welcome home from the Father, who already knows all about us; and the priest is simply an instrument, handing on to our Father, forgiving on the Father’s behalf. It was a lovely occasion, meeting these young people as dusk fell, and a couple of candles gave a dim light in the tent where I was functioning.
Then on the doormat at home arrived a book from the USA, “Forgiveness: A Catholic Approach”, which has reinforced the blessings I had received by hearing children’s confessions.
Now I should declare an interest. The author, Fr Scott Hurd, was a student in St Stephen’s House during my time as Principal. But this will not, I hope, distort anything I say about his book. It will simply give me another source of pride — which no doubt I shall have to confess some time — that one more of our Seminarians has blossomed (dare I boast of such other luminaries as Bishop Jonathan Baker, Fr Philip North, The Ven. Luke Miller? To say nothing of countless other priests, some Catholics, some Anglicans, faithfully getting on with the job of being a servant for the people of God.
For too many people, Fr Hurd says, “to walk with God is to walk on eggshells. Confession isn’t a joy-filled reconciliation of a friendship, but a stay of execution”. Joy-filled reconciliation is what the youngsters experienced, I believe, at St Dominic’s Priory, and it is what Fr Hurd is trying to help us find.
He writes of forgiveness as a journey towards God. We need to forgive one another; we need to forgive ourselves, we need to accept that we are forgiven. In the Appendix to this little book he lists ten steps towards forgiveness. If you follow Fr Hurd’s blog and read his sermons, you will already know how practical is his teaching, how apposite the examples he gives. This book could be an encouragement to anyone on the Christian journey; but perhaps is is particularly helpful for those of us who belong, or seek to belong, to the Ordinariate. It might be especially helpful for study within groups of Christians, as we learn to offer and receive forgiveness. Fr Hurd has himself moved from the Anglican to the Roman Communion. And, whether I need confess it or not, I am proud of him. You will realise the cause of that pride if you read this book — for surely to forgive and to be forgiven is at the heart of our Christian faith?
Forgiveness: A Catholic Approach. 122 pp Paperback. R Scott Hurd. Published by Pauline Books and Media. $9.95 in the US. ISBN 081982691X.
Related posts:
Groups? Individuals? A ClarificationA Brief Report from the Anglican Use Gathering in BaltimoreFr. Hurd on EWTNA Thinking Man's ApproachFr. Hurd on CatholicTV
Bishop Barnes read theology for three years at Oxford before finishing his studies at Cuddesdon College (at the time a theological college with a rather monastic character). He subsequently served two urban curacies in Portsmouth and Woking. During his first curacy, and after the statutory three years of celibacy, he married his wife Jane (with whom he has two children, Nicola and Matthew). In 1967, Bishop Barnes received his first incumbency as Rector of Farncombe in the Diocese of Guildford. After eleven years, the family moved to Hessle, in the Diocese of York, for another nine years as vicar. In 1987, he became Principal of St Stephen’s House, Oxford. In 1995, he was asked by then Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, to become the second PEV for the Province. He was based in St. Alban’s and charged with ministering to faithful Anglo-Catholics spread over the length of Southern England, from the Humber Estuary to the Channel Islands. After six years of service as a PEV, Bishop Barnes retired to Lymington on the south coast where he holds the Bishop of Winchester’s license as an honorary assistant bishop. On the retirement of the late and much lamented Bishop Eric Kemp, he was honored to be asked to succeed him as President of the Church Union, which office he still holds. This article appears on the website Peregrinations. The author, writing under the name of Peregrinus, lives in Toronto.
Those of us considering the Ordinariate (a structure for Anglicans coming into full communion with the Holy See) ponder what we believe, what we have been and what we are becoming in terms of our membership in the Body of Christ. We must also consider what a Catholic Christian affirms as distinct from those of other faiths or of no faith.
Catholics are not . . .
First of all it may be helpful to consider what being or becoming a Catholic is not, despite what popular opinion and prejudice may say.
1. Entering or being received into the full communion of the Catholic Church does not mean being “re-baptized”. If one is already baptized by water in the Name of the Holy Trinity, one is already a member of Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Here is a helpful thought from Fr. Sam Edwards, an Anglican priest who is entering the Ordinariate:
Like Tennyson’s Ulysses, “I am a part of all that I have met,” and it is a part of me. I was baptized into the Great Belonging of Christ’s body in the Methodist Church, but that act did not make me a Methodist, but a catholic Christian. This is true in the case of all baptisms administered with water “in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Methodism claims nothing less; the Catholic Church entirely agrees, for while she teaches that the Church of Jesus Christ “subsists” visibly and most fully in that body whose bishops are in full communion with one another and with the Bishop of Rome, she does not thereby deny the reality of the Christian identity and commitment of those who are outside those limits, but instead invites them inside . . .)
2. Being a Catholic does not only mean you must be a member of the Western Roman Catholic Church. Catholics may equally be members of Eastern churches – in fact Christianity, like Judaism is originally an oriental religion. Some Eastern churches are in full communion with Rome e.g. Ukrainian, Melkite (Arab) and Maronite (Syrian/ Lebanese) Catholics along with many other Eastern churches in a variety of countries using a variety of liturgies and languages.
3. All those who are not in full communion with Rome are not considered heretics. There are degrees of communion since all the baptized are part, by definition, of the one universal Catholic Church of Christ on the most basic level. A number of Eastern churches, apart from those mentioned above, are not yet in full communion with Rome but have bishops, priests and deacons who are recognized by the Pope as legitimately ordained sacred ministers. These clergy hold the Orthodox Christian faith and celebrate what Rome considers valid sacraments but are not yet in full communion with the Holy See e.g. the Greek, Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian Orthodox, the Orthodox Church of America and other Orthodox churches as well as the Assyrian Church of the East, amongst others. These people and their churches along with others in the West would affirm that they are Catholic but for a variety of reasons are not yet in full communion with Rome.
4. These churches professing Catholic faith but not in full communion with Rome are not excommunicated. As noted, they participate in a degree of unity or communion and may, in certain circumstances, share in or even administer the sacraments to Roman Catholics. Canon 671 of the 1991 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, states:
"If necessity requires it or genuine spiritual advantage suggests it and provided that the danger of error or indifferentism is avoided, it is permitted for Catholic Christian faithful, for whom it is physically or morally impossible to approach a Catholic minister, to receive the sacraments of penance, the Eucharist and anointing of the sick from non-Catholic ministers, in whose Churches these sacraments are valid. Likewise Catholic ministers licitly administer the Sacraments of Penance, the Eucharist and Anointing of the Sick to Christian faithful of Eastern Churches, who do not have full communion with the Catholic Church, if they ask for them on their own and are properly disposed."
5. Being a Catholic does not mean practising every tradition or custom found in the various churches which are part of Catholic Church. There is a difference between doctrine as set forth in The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the devotions or practices of various groups in the Catholic Church. For example, nothing requires a Catholic to say the rosary, go on a pilgrimage, venerate relics, kiss icons or light candles at shrines to saints. Blessed John Henry Newman, a famous Anglican who was received by Rome, did not like some of the practices, attitudes or some of the art of continental European Catholicism. On the other hand, every Catholic is required to attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation unless hindered by sickness or another legitimate reason and to prepare for and receive Holy Communion at least once a year at Easter.
So there are customs and spiritual practices that vary from place to place as well as doctrinal rules that apply to all Catholics. The former are a matter of taste and preference and are not obligatory, the latter are the basic rules of membership in the Body of Christ and so are for all. Many outside the church confuse popular piety and the sometimes mistaken emphasis given by some Catholics to certain practices with the actual teaching of the Church.
So, what does a Catholic believe?
Catholics like other Christians are followers of Jesus Christ believing that Jesus is fully God and fully man, the Son of God and their Lord and Saviour.
Catholics believe that Jesus Christ commissioned the leadership of his Church, which it is, in a mystical way, his body. Jesus insisted upon the unity of the Church based upon the rock of Peter. (Matthew chapter 16 verse 18). Those who hold the Catholic faith are called to unity with each other in that body with all Christians and indeed with all humanity through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Christian unity reflects the unity of the one God, perfectly united in Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit and so it is the vocation of every Christian to pray for, seek and serve unity in the Church.
Catholic unity requires both allegiance and sacrifice. There are levels of unity between people and with God. The Catholic faith requires that we join our Lord in his prayer ut unum sint – that they all may be one. We join in his sacrifice, his self-giving for the life of the world by seeking to nurture the unity for which he gives his life through the Church and the ministry of all baptized people for the life of the world (John 6:51).
If one holds the Catholic Faith it is imperative, then, to find ways to grow in unity with the leadership of the one Church commissioned by Jesus and to bring others into that unity. The principle ministry of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope or Holy Father, is to nurture this unity. It is central to the Catholic faith that all bishops also seek and nurture unity and that bishops be in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the centre of unity and successor of St. Peter of whom our Lord said, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
This is a contentious issue for some because they profess Catholic faith but have difficulty with the history of the papacy or with the history of the Catholic Church as they understand it or have been misinformed about it. These are understandable concerns as there is much of fallen human nature that has wounded humanity and the witness of the Church. Yet the principle of unity is essential since there is one God, one Christ and one Church and Jesus commands it.
How do we square the fallen nature of humanity, the fallenness and corruption of some people in the Church, indeed at times of some at the highest levels of the Church, with the holiness of the Church as proclaimed in the Catholic creeds. How is this possible when we have the promise of Jesus to Peter and to us, his followers that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his Church? (Matthew 16:18)
This question is pertinent to what it means to be a Catholic Christian and requires a fuller treatment elsewhere. We need say here, however, that the Church, the centre of unity for humanity, is the Body of Christ but the body has been and continues to be wounded by the sinful actions of human beings – “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23; cf. Romans 1:18-3:20; 11:32; Gal 3:22).
Since all have sinned, this includes all those in the Church and those leading the Church. Jesus did not say that Satan would not be able to influence some in the Church, but that evil would not prevail against the mission of Christ and his Church. The struggle goes on.
This struggle and the occasional defeat does not and will not stop Christ’s reconciling love and his giving himself for us and others in and through the Church – the Bride of Christ. Christ continues to give us his very life – his body and blood in the Eucharist bringing healing and unity through the proclamation of the Word and Sacraments in and through the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church despite the fallen nature of those who serve the Church.
Forgiveness is always available and always necessary for members of the Church especially as they prepare to receive and offer Christ in the sacraments. The sacraments are the outward and visible signs of his love for us and are the assured means of his grace for those who will receive and, in turn, minister his love to others. This constant need for forgiveness does not affect the Church’s call to holiness or the ideal of perfection which she holds out to all those who seek the City of God. In a family no member is perfect but all are called to serve the good and the unity of the family by seeking forgiveness from God and from one another so that the family may continue to pursue its ideals and help others.
So, being a Catholic means recognizing the holiness and vocation of the Church (which is God’s doing and grace) to bring others to reconciliation with God and with one another as a witness to the world that God so loves (John 3:16).
As stated recently in an article here on Confession, “The Seal of the Confessional”, unity in the vocation to holiness requires that the Sacrament of Penance i.e. the ministry of justice, forgiveness and healing be participated in by every member of the Church including the Pope and those leading the Church. This sacrament of reconciliation is a witness to the world, a sign of unity and a call to the rest of humanity to seek the same unity that Christ wills for all. This is entirely the work and power of God conveyed through ‘earthen vessels’ (2 Corinthians 4:7), by frail human beings whom God has chosen to be his partners in the ministry of his justice and love.
To be a Catholic means, then, to be a penitent receiving God’s forgiveness and then forgiving others by the power of the Holy Spirit, a power which is communicated in the assurance of the healing sacraments: Baptism, Penance, Eucharist, Unction (anointing of for healing) and in various other acts of love and mercy.
This recognition of the fallen nature of humanity is widely rejected in the West today, but remains true and all the more necessary because it is so widely denied. Ironically, those who stand outside of the Church to judge her do so based upon the very principles of the Christian faith, which they have absorbed but failed to attribute to Christ and his Catholic Church. The standards of justice and mercy in the West are directly attributable to Christianity (see Rene Girard: Things Hidden from the Foundation of the World, Stanford University Press; and The Scapegoat, CBC Ideas:)
What about Protestant Objections?
This issue of God’s justifying us through faith and our continuing participation in the life of Christ or sanctification and growth in love and service goes to the root of the thorny problem of justification and sanctification that has been an obstacle for Protestants since the Reformation.
The justification/ sanctification issue is a very large topic to be dealt in another article but is one that has been discussed extensively in recent years and has been discerned not to be an insuperable barrier to further unity in Christ. In recent Lutheran-RC dialogues and in the discussions that the Catholic Church continues to have with other Christian ecclesial communities these matters bring forth agreements leading to a deepening of Christian unity.
A Catholic Christian believes that by God’s forgiving and justifying grace we are open to the goodness of God’s creation and sanctifying grace. Though imperfect as human beings, we are forgiven for our sins and empowered by the Holy Spirit to seek God and the good of others by means of faith, hope and love. We accept grace by faith in Christ. This faith is freely bestowed as a gift by which we are empowered to co-operate and so bring forth the fruit of God’s love in works of mercy for the good of all.
Grace abounds and as members of the Body of Christ, the universal Catholic Church, we participate as free human beings growing in grace now and beyond the grave as we are purified by God’s burning love along with the prayers of all the faithful here (the Church Militant), those in the Church Expectant (those who have gone before us in faith) and those in the Church Triumphant (the saints in heaven).
One recent example of the reconciling negotiations on this and other matters is The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, a document created by and agreed to by the Catholic Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Lutheran World Federation in 1999. It affirms that the Lutherans, Catholics and others now share "a common understanding of our justification by God's grace through faith in Christ." This agreement resolves the conflict over the nature of justification that was at the root of the Protestant Reformation and removes another barrier to unity in Christ.
The excommunications relating to the doctrine of justification by the Council of Trent do no longer apply to the teachings of the Lutheran churches and others who affirm the agreement. In 2006 the World Methodist Council, meeting in South Korea, voted unanimously to adopt this document. Anglicans who did not share the same level of doctrinal concern on this issue generally accept the text as well.
This kind of agreement is important because it removes another barrier to unity and contributes to acceptance of the Petrine ministry, the ministry of unity exercised by the Pope and the Catholic Church for all Christians. Discussions continue about various aspects of universal Catholic Christian faith and how it may be more widely accepted by all those bodies separated from full communion with the Holy See.
Finally
A Catholic affirms all efforts to bring about co-operation and increase communion with people of faith and good will who affirm life, seek healing for themselves and others and are open to dialogue and co-operation with the Holy See. Being in communion with the Catholic Church links us to the largest and most universal community of all time and one which seeks the good of every human being from conception to natural death, affirming that everything good in human nature and the world comes from and returns to God who loves and holds the universe in being.
Related posts:
The Catholic Herald on Benedict XVI and Christian UnityEcumenical Patriarch on Catholic-Orthodox UnityA Catholic Welcome for AnglicansThe Catechism of the Catholic Church, Papal Infallibility, and the TACWhat Sort of Catholic Church?
Fr. Christopher G. Phillips is the pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he has served for the past twenty-eight years. He is the founding pastor of the first Anglican Use parish, erected in 1983 under the terms of the Pastoral Provision. Fr. Phillips was ordained as an Anglican for the Diocese of Bristol, England, in 1975. After serving as Curate for three years at St. Stephen Southmead, he returned to the United States and served in two Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Rhode Island. In 1981 he left the Episcopal Church and moved with his family to Texas, where he was subsequently ordained as a Catholic priest in 1983. Fr. Phillips and his wife, JoAnn, have been married for forty years. They have five children, all grown and married, and two grandchildren. 
To all in our blogging community, we extend the invitation to listen to our weekly radio program American Catholic Radio. You can listen online at http://franciscanmedia.org or find our program broadcast in your local community. We’re featured on Sirius/XM 129 (The Catholic Channel), the Relevant Radio network, Radio Maria and many other religious, public and commercial stations in the U.S. Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M., writes a bi-weekly newsletter about the show. Here is his entry reviewing what you’ll be listening to this week:
With this month’s episodes of American Catholic Radio, Sister Rose Pacatte of the Daughters of St. Paul (Paulines) joins us to present our new “On Faith and Media” feature. She lives in Los Angeles—more specifically, Culver City, near the LAX airport and not far from famed Venice Beach.
The Daughters of St. Paul are known worldwide for their study of today’s media, especially how print, film and electronic communications may be avenues to God. (You can learn more about their mission at http://www.pauline.org/.)
Sister Rose, a specialist in media education, earned an M.A. in media studies (University of London, United Kingdom) and has a diploma in catechetics and a certificate in pastoral communications (University of Dayton, where she has taught in its Institute for Pastoral Studies). She directs a special media center in Culver City, located with the Paulines’ resource center there, where thousands from the L.A. area shop for Catholic books and media, and also pray with the sisters in their chapel. The media center offers courses and retreats grounded in media education.
Sister Rose is a frequent presence in motion picture circles in Hollywood and beyond. She regularly attends film screenings and talks with producers, directors, writers, actors and others in the film industry about their work and spirituality. She has served on international juries at film festivals and has visited many parts of the world in her work as a movie reviewer and media educator. She numbers among her friends Oscar-winning producers and directors, and has won numerous awards herself.
Readers of St. Anthony Messenger have known Sister Rose for a number of years as its movie and television reviewer. She does not shy away from any media that might lead us to think more deeply and perhaps gain a new perspective on faith—even when the media might be controversial for language or content.
I have been blessed to know Sister Rose as a longtime friend in Catholic media. We share a love for movies and have given retreats together, centered on films and faith.
It’s been my great joy to be the guest of her Pauline Sisters in Boston and L.A. They are a community which keeps up on all forms of media, and their gift is to interpret media in the light of our faith. Typically, I’ll call Sister Rose when I’ve seen some recent film, only to catch her on her way to a Hollywood screening! We don’t always agree on what we like, but we do appreciate the dedication of so many people in the movie industry who search for the truth through their art.
I know you’ll find your media horizons broadened by Sister Rose and her contribution to ACR and to our whole family of resources here at St. Anthony Messenger Press. And she’s promised to team up with me from time to time for a feature we’ll call “A Priest and Nun Go to the Movies.” Welcome, Sister Rose!
–Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.
Matt is Manager of the Media Production Department at St. Anthony Messenger. He serves as Executive Producer on audio and video products produced for St. Anthony Messenger, Servant Books and Franciscan Media. blog comments powered by Bishop Peter Elliott was kind enough to email a paper he gave on Saturday at an an information day in Melbourne regarding the anticipated Australian personal ordinariate.
The day concluded with sung Evensong in the Basilica of Our Lady of Victories, Camberwell. A choir of Anglicans and Catholics sang the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, Dyson in F.
Bishop David Robarts (TAC) presided and Bishop Elliott was in choir.
This is an extremely interesting paper — one that touches upon not a few matters of controversy — and I shall be interested to read our visitors' comments!
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Ordinariate Information Day, Basilica of Our Lady of Victories,
Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria, June 11, 2011
A CATHOLIC WELCOME FOR ANGLICANS
The Ordinariate in the Living Church
Bishop Peter J. Elliott
Auxiliary Bishop, Melbourne
On this Vigil of Pentecost 2011 we have much to celebrate. The establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham within the Catholic Church in England has been accompanied by warm welcomes. The same pattern will soon unfold in the United States, Canada and Australia. The generous offer of Pope Benedict XVI is taking concrete visible form. The offer itself is a welcome from the Successor of St Peter, and his welcome is generating much good will in the Church.
It is significant that we meet at the Basilica of Our Lady of Victories, Camberwell, one of Australia’s finest parish churches, combining Romanesque and Renaissance styles. This domed stone church was built in 1914 by a man of vision and imagination, Father George Robinson, himself a former Anglican. On the eve of the Great War he appealed across Australia to raise a national shrine in the Melbourne suburbs in honour of the Patroness of Australia, Our Lady Help of Christians, also known as Our Lady of Victories.
This Marian title recalls a critical moment in history, the sea battle of Lepanto, 1571, depicted in the glowing colours of the West window of this minor basilica. We see Pope Saint Pius V leading the people of Rome in fervent prayer, that through the intercession of Mary Help of Christians victory would be granted and Europe would be spared. Today we may entrust our enterprise to Our Lady’s help.
A personal ordinariate
The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus of November 4th 2009 was Pope Benedict XVI responding pastorally to requests for help from traditional Anglicans, requests to Rome that began over twenty years ago. The Apostolic Constitution establishes “a Personal Ordinariate for Anglicans who wish to enter full communion with the Catholic Church”.
As the Apostolic Constitution defines it: “The Ordinariate is composed of the lay faithful, clerics and members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, originally belonging to the Anglican Communion (now Anglicanism) and now in full communion with the Catholic Church”, to which is added significantly “or those who receive the Sacraments of Initiation within the jurisdiction of the Ordinariate.”[1] The future of what amounts to a national diocese for specific people is thus not restricted only to former Anglicans. Moreover any Catholic is free to worship and receive the sacraments in Ordinariate parishes.
Anglicans become members of the Catholic Church in and through the Ordinariate by applying in writing,[2] and application forms will be issued later this year. Then they make a Profession of Faith and receive the Sacraments of Christian Initiation (in practice Confirmation and the Eucharist). Then they are to be registered as members.[3] The rule of faith for the Ordinariate is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. [4]
As we can see in England, Anglicans are entering full communion within a distinctive ecclesial community, maintaining the “Anglican Patrimony”, their own traditions and customs, including liturgical privileges. At the same time, these Personal Ordinariates will be part of the Roman Rite. As the Constitution and the Complementary Norms from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith indicate, each Ordinariate is meant to relate pastorally and practically with the particular Church (the local Catholic diocese) and to the Episcopal Conference of the nation or region where the Ordinariate is erected.
From the very beginning the Ordinariates work with the Episcopal Conference. Relations with Episcopal Conferences and Diocesan Bishops are spelt out in the Complementary Norms. [5] The Ordinary, whether a bishop or a monsignor, will be a member of the Episcopal Conference. It is that ecclesial context that I address today, envisaging the place of these Personal Ordinariates in the living Church.
Within the Church
Many who have come here today are Catholics who want to find out more about this Personal Ordinariate. But Catholics should not see the Personal Ordinariate as merely an interesting enterprise or a historical event to observe. I hope that they will want to be part of it, at this stage, in the sense of walking with Anglican men and women who are making so many sacrifices on their pilgrimage to unity with the See of Peter. Although each person comes in a group, he or she will need a Confirmation sponsor. This custom is a normal Catholic practice. As I tell the sponsors at the Confirmation Masses I celebrate, “You are like a second god-parent. As you place your hand on the shoulder of the candidate when I anoint with Holy Chrism, you enter a spiritual relationship with that person. Walk the Christian journey of faith with the one you have sponsored. Be there to encourage, guide and counsel.”
The Ordinariate thus speaks to us of the corporate nature of Catholic Christianity, that none of us come to God alone, rather we always come to God with others, as a community, God’s People, the living Body of Jesus Christ in this world through which the Holy Spirit works. We need one another. We need to be in communion with one another, through communion with the successors of Saint Peter and the Apostles.
The personal stories of the Ordinariate journey are beginning to be shared. An old friend from my years at Trinity College, Melbourne, David Fenton, entered the Ordinariate in England during Lent. I was deeply moved to learn from him that, at the recent Ordination Mass in Saint George’s Cathedral, Southwark, another old friend was reconciled. David Pierson came into the Ordinariate in his wheelchair, frail in body but clear as ever in mind — and great in heart. His wife, Veronica is a well known teacher in the Billings Ovulation Method for the natural regulation of fertility. I came to know her and the Pierson family during my time in the Pontifical Council for the Family in Rome. They exemplify the Christian family as a communion of life and love.
The Australian Project
In the light the first ordinations and reconciliations in England reported on the Ordinariate Portal website, people are asking about the timeline in Australia. We have been advised that the Ordinariate will take shape here next year. I know that many, including myself, had hoped it would be sooner, but it seems best to take the necessary and somewhat complex steps slowly and surely, inspired and encouraged as we are by recent events in England and the interesting prospects for growth that that are already being revealed.
In Australia the process of forming the Ordinariate is moving steadily on three levels. At the May meeting of the Catholic Bishops of Australia at the tomb of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, an Ad Hoc Commission for the Australian Personal Ordinariate was established at my request to represents the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ACBC). The Commission is supervising the whole process, working with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It is chaired by Most Rev. Denis J. Hart, the Archbishop of Melbourne, and the other members are Most Rev. Geoffrey H. Jarrett, the Bishop of Lismore, Most Rev. Brian Finnegan, Apostolic Administrator of Toowoomba, and myself. We are assisted by Fr. Brian Lucas, Secretary of the ACBC.
At the second national level, the Australian Ordinariate Implementation Committee (AOIC) brings together the main “players”, that is members of the Anglican Church of Australia (ACA) and the bishops, clergy and laity of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia (Traditional Anglican Communion, TAC). In a collaborative way this committee brings before the Commission grass-roots concerns, practical issues and proposals to facilitate progress towards an Ordinariate. At a third level, local working groups, beginning in Melbourne, already anticipate various practicalities and the kind of detailed planning that is needed for a smooth transition, for example organizing events such as this information day.
I recently compared the first four Ordinariates, England, USA, Canada and Australia to cabs coming off a taxi rank. This was thought to be an unfortunate simile. A worse metaphor describes the Ordinariate as a bus — a limp pun on “Coetibus”, with derisive undertones. Perhaps a train might be a better metaphor — a train that is already moving.
The Lay Faithful
Courses of formation in the Faith for the lay faithful are under way in the groups around Australian that are seeking to enter the Ordinairate. Formation is focused on an intense study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The “Evangelium” Course from England has been found most useful. I also commend a new Australian publication, The Creed by Father John Flader. This is the first volume of his Tour of the Catechism, published by Conor Court.
To be welcomed involves getting to know people. I have mentioned personal friendships with Catholics, which are most important during this time of transition. We are also considering another complementary approach, that is, when an Anglican group is “adopted” by a nearby Catholic parish. There is no sense of being “absorbed” in this possibility — let me make that clear, but a mutual enrichment in charity and faith can arise when two communities come together on a journey.
Again I need to raise a delicate but unavoidable issue. I urge Ordinariate-bound Anglicans who have remarried after divorce to take your situation to a diocesan marriage tribunal so that your reconciliation in the Ordinariate will in no way be impeded next year. Even if you received an Anglican permission to re-marry, this will need to be evaluated carefully to see if this conforms to Catholic requirements. However, I have been assured that Catholic Canon Law is followed in the Traditional Anglican Communion, which should facilitate matters for members of the TAC when they approach a tribunal.
Another question is membership of a Masonic lodge. In spite of what you might hear from time to time, Catholics are not permitted to be Freemasons. Men seeking to enter the Ordinariate will need to resign from the lodge. This raises the spiritual challenge, whether commitment to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour and membership of his Church takes priority in your life.
Discouragement?
From time to time my attention is drawn to negative material that appears on some blog sites, authored by a few Anglicans and Catholics. I urge Anglicans who feel drawn to the Ordinariate not to be distracted or discouraged by these provocations and to be sceptical about the accuracy of information provided. It is best to ignore these uncharitable comments and to pray for these people who somehow seem to be threatened by the choices others are making.
People make choices according to conscience. But they need encouragement, especially in a vast land like Australia where groups are found in all our major cities and in isolated rural areas. Prayer is the key to overcoming discouragement, and with that study of the truths of faith and the practice of works of charity and compassion. The spiritual way to the Ordinariate is a path of faith and charity, hence the third virtue, hope.
The Clergy
For their part, the clergy seeking ministry in the Ordinariate are finding priest mentors among their Catholic brethren. These are often old friends, the fruit of ecumenical life in our times. The Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy has invited some Anglican clergy to take part in its annual conference later this month.
While they come under the authority of their own Ordinary, the clergy of the Ordinariate will be part of the brotherhood of priests and deacons that is found in every Catholic diocese, usually described as the presbyterium. They will minister primarily within the Ordinariate, while working alongside other priests of the Roman Rite in the local diocese. Catholic priests come under the authority and pastoral care of bishops who are close to their clergy, whose first priority is the pastoral care of their clergy. So the Ordinaries will model their ministry, their episcope, on apostolic tradition and pastoral compassion. The Code of Canon Law defines the apostolic authority of the bishop, but also sets out the limits of that authority and the corresponding rights of priests and the lay faithful. For both clergy and laity The Code of Canon Law is a great gift and part of the intensive formation of candidates for priesthood in the Ordinariate is a knowledge of Canon Law.
The Church of the Torres Strait
At this time we should keep the Church of the Torres Strait in our prayers. At their Synod two weeks ago Bishop Tolowa Nona and his clergy and people decided to request an Ordinariate of their own in those islands that lie above Cape York, the Northernmost tip of our vast Australian continent. That request has been forward to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Our gratitude is due to Archbishop John Hepworth who has cared for these people, always respecting their culture and traditions, to their chief pastor, Bishop Tolowa Nona and his clergy who have assisted their flock in the Torres Strait to move towards an Ordinariate. What we hope to see unfold gradually in the Torres Strait will set a significant precedent for other regions where a classical Anglo-Catholic mission tradition still holds fast.
The Liturgy
People are asking about the progress towards a distinctive Ordinariate liturgy, an integral part of the offer of Pope Benedict XVI. [6] The Roman Rite in its two forms is always there for the Ordinariate, but liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition are being prepared, subject to the approbation of the Holy See. The liturgy of the Anglican Use parishes in the United States is one model for developing a “use” for the Ordinariates. I recently visited the Anglican Use parish of Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, Texas, and was privileged to celebrate Mass in the beautiful new gothic church according to their usage.
Drawing on the Anglican patrimony and Catholic traditions, an Ordinariate liturgy is being prepared by an international commission, in which I have played a small part. The introduction of this usage happily coincides with the introduction this year of the richer and more accurate English translation of the post-conciliar Roman Missal which is much closer to Anglican liturgical language. The new ICEL texts reflect not only dignity and better style but a reverence before God and the mystery of Christian worship.
Here we also see what the Ordinariate brings to the wider Church. The liturgical use in the Ordinariates will contribute to the deeper and more spiritual renewal of liturgy that has quietly emerged in recent years, the fruit of the Eucharistic project of Blessed John Paul II and the liturgical wisdom of Pope Benedict XVI. I note that progress has aroused the interest of a most significant website The New Liturgical Movement, which I recommend to anyone who loves the liturgies of the Church, West or East.
The liturgy should embody those transcendentals that inform what is best in Christian civilization, that is, whatever is good, true and beautiful. I am sure that the liturgies of the Ordinariates will always represent these transcendentals.
Vatican II
The Ordinariates take shape as the whole Church prepares to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council in 2012. Those being reconciled in an Ordinariate are beneficiaries of the Council’s ecumenical vision, commitment and mandate. Let us never forget that. Moreover the Catechism of the Catholic Church embodies the teachings of this Ecumenical Council. In different ways we are all share the heritage of the Council and its richer understanding of the Church.
However, as half a century separates us from the Council events, much rethinking is taking place as to what the Council Fathers intended and particularly how the Council was applied across five decades. This takes the form of a vigorous conversation about how the Council should be interpreted, a “hermeneutic”. Pope Benedict invites us to understand and interpret the Council in terms of what went before it, that is through a “hermeneutic of continuity”, seeing the Council not as some break with the past but as resting upon all previous Ecumenical Councils and papal teachings, which are not to be negated but re-applied for our times, as Blessed John XXIII envisaged. We also bear in mind that the world has changed much since 1962.
The conversation about the hermeneutic seems to be polarised in Italy at present, apparently between those who see the Council as a necessary and radical rupture with the past and those who reject the Council as an unwarranted rupture. There is a need for balance here, to respond to the Holy Father’s guidance. I know that former Anglicans in the Ordinariates will have much to contribute to this conversation, helping to bring fresh insights and balance to the re-thinking that is emerging in the Church.
Under Her Mantle
This year Anglicans and Catholics are coming together to celebrate another anniversary. It is 950 years since the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to a Saxon noble woman, Lady Richeldis, at Walsingham in Norfolk. The shrine she initiated was despoiled by Henry VIII and then restored last century. Now this is the spiritual centre where pilgrims come to two national shrines of Our Lady in England, one Anglican, the other Catholic, yet both working together in ecumenical harmony. Mary brings people together under her mantle. She also has provided the title that has been granted to the Ordinariate in England. In due course we may expect a similar, but distinctive, title for the Ordinariate that will be erected in Australia
Our Lady of Walsingham means much to me personally. My final journey to reconciliation with the Catholic Church began in the Autumn of 1967 when, as an Oxford undergraduate, I made a pilgrimage to the Anglican shrine. I prayed in the candlelit gloom of the Holy House and was surprised by grace. Mary took charge of my life and brought me into that “full communion” which so many Anglicans seek in the Ordinariates. In our lives at times we see a “particular providence”, as Blessed John Henry Newman put it, as God leads us into ways we never imagined. People involved in this wonderful process remark on this mystery of God working through us.
On the pilgrimage of the Ordinariate, whether we are walking the pilgrim way ourselves or joining others as companions or sponsors, we all pray as the apostles did in the upper room at Pentecost “with Mary the Mother of Jesus”. With her we ask the Holy Spirit the Paraclete to achieve through our lives the unity that is so dear the Heart of Christ our Lord.
[1] Anglicanorum Coetibus, I # 4.
[3] See, Complementary Norms, Article 5 #1.
[4] Anglicanorum Coetibus. I # 5
[5] See, Complementary Norms, Article 2.
[6] See, Anglicanorum Coetibus, III.
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Christian Clay Columba Campbell is a Roman Catholic of the Anglican Use. As Senior Warden of the Cathedral of the Incarnation (Orlando, FL), he organized the process by which the parish accepted the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, petitioning to join the Catholic Church. He is also the CEO of Three Fish Consulting, LLC, an Information Technology consultancy based in Orlando, FL. He can be reached via email at ccampbell at threefishgroup dot com. 
Pittsburgh. Steel city. River town. Pirates’ home.
Why would a Catholic online marketing geek from Cincinnati want to go to Pittsburgh in June? Simply, because she craves enhanced dialogue and community with other media professionals.
Every year, the Catholic Press Association offers a Catholic Media Convention to learn, share and celebrate Catholic media. Journalists from all over the country attend to network and to learn about media challenges, changes and choices. Mostly, though, we go to make real-life connections that last a life-time. Why? Because people make media.
The last time I went to the Catholic Media convention, I presented about social media. Frankly, even at that time, I did not realize the impact Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, podcasts and blogs would have on media professionals. I am a huge fan of how Catholics journalists use these tools as they enhance dialogue in their Catholic communities.
Dialogue and community are a vital part of social media and are a vital part of attending the Catholic Media Convention. This online marketing geek hopes to find new colleagues who care about the tools, the dialogue and the community.
Who wants to meetup? Dare I ask: who’s planning a tweetup (hashtag: #CMC11)? Let’s discover together!
Barbara Baker is St. Anthony Messenger Press’ Director of Marketing, Sales and Internet. She and her husband work with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Family Life Office at their monthly pre-cana weekends. Barbara spends too much time with her computer. blog comments powered by My friend Fr. Ed Meeks, Rector of Christ the King Church in Towson, Maryland, writes to inform us of the following event for clergy interested in the anticipated Personal Ordinariate here in the USA.
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Holy Trinity Theological College and Seminary, the diocesan seminary of the TAC’s Diocese of the Holy Family, will host a seminar for Ordinariate-bound clergy on Saturday, June 25, from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. at Christ the King Church, Towson, Maryland.
The theme of the seminar will be “On Becoming Fully Catholic: Transitioning into the Family”. The seminar will feature an informal format, and will be led by two distinguished faculty members from Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Fr. Michael Roach, Chair of the Department of Church History at Mt. St. Mary’s and Pastor of St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church in Manchester, Maryland will address the topic “A Priest-to-Priest Perspective”. Dr. William Bales, Professor of New Testament at Mt. St. Mary’s will speak on “A Convert’s Perspective”.
The cost for the seminar, including lunch, will be $50.00 per person. Those planning to attend can obtain a registration form at http://www.holytrinityaca.org/seminar.
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Traditional Anglican Communion Global News RoundupFamily is FamilyBecoming a FamilyBishop Campese to Head Provisional StructureOur Family Is Growing! Christian Clay Columba Campbell is a Roman Catholic of the Anglican Use. As Senior Warden of the Cathedral of the Incarnation (Orlando, FL), he organized the process by which the parish accepted the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, petitioning to join the Catholic Church. He is also the CEO of Three Fish Consulting, LLC, an Information Technology consultancy based in Orlando, FL. He can be reached via email at ccampbell at threefishgroup dot com. CatholicVote.org is known for dropping ground breaking, powerful, attention getting, thought provoking ads in the last week of national elections. It’s first, in the 2008 election, was viewed nearly 3 million times. It’s latest, “We Are The Catholic Vote,” is another great production that underlines why we need to exercise our faithful citizenship Tuesday. We encourage you to distribute this link on your social media sites and to those you think this will resonate with.
You, me, our families, our neighbors, our co-workers, friends and people from all walks of life: We are the Catholic vote. Together, we can protect life at all stages from the culture of death.
