The first resignations

Five Anglican bishops belonging to the more traditionalist Anglican Communion asked to leave the Church of England in order to enter in full communion with the Catholic Church through the new Ordinariate provided for in the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum coetibus” published precisely a year ago, on November 9 2009. The developments that occurred over the past year within the Anglican Communion, notably the ordination of women bishops and the concessions to gay unions in a number of Anglican Provinces, led traditionalist Anglican groups to ask on several occasions and even as a group to enter in full communion with the Catholic Church. Last year the Holy See made known that their request had been accepted, with the publication of the Apostolic Constitution. The document provides a general regulation for the establishment of Personal Ordinariates erected by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith within the territorial borders of a given Bishops’ Conference, subsequent to consultation. The first resignations were made known by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and were confirmed by the director of the Vatican Press room father Federico Lombardi and by the archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. The Catholic bishops. In a statement on behalf of the Episcopal Commission for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales “Anglicanorum Coetibus” Msgr. Alan Hopes (Episcopal delegate) wrote: “We welcome the decision of Bishops Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton, John Broadhurst, Edwin Barnes and David Silk to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate for England and Wales, which will be established under the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. At our plenary meeting next week, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales will be exploring the establishment of the Ordinariate and the warm welcome we will be extending to those who seek to be part of it”. The news was substantiated by the director of the Vatican press office father Federico Lombardi: “We confirm that the establishment of a first Ordinariate is being studied in compliance with the regulations lay down in the Apostolic Constitution “Anglicanorum coetibus” and that all decisions to this regard will be communicated in due time”.The Archbishop of Canterbury. Soon after the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams released a statement that he accepted the resignations of two suffragan bishops of Ebbsfleet and Richborough directly under his authority. “I have with regret accepted the resignations of bishops Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton, who have decided that their future in Christian ministry lies in the new structures proposed by the Vatican. We wish them well in this next stage of their service to the church and I am grateful to them for their faithful and devoted pastoral labours in the Church of England over many years”. Three bishops could not present their resignations to archbishop Williams as they do not lie under his authority. These are Rev. John Broadhurst, bishop of Fulham (diocese of London) and two bishops emeritus: bishop Edwin Barnes, bishop emeritus of Richborough and Reverend David Silk, former Bishop of Ballarat in Australia. The first remarks. “The five Anglican bishops who decided to leave the Church of England to enter the Catholic Church have followed the reasons of their conscience and of faith”, Msgr. Andrew Faley, spokesperson on themes of ecumenism for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales thus commented the news to SIR. “The five bishops consider Pope Benedict XVI’s response to their request very generous, since the Ordinariate that will be adopted thanks to the Apostolic Constitution will enable them to preserve aspects of their Anglican tradition while being in full communion with the Catholic Church”. Catholic weekly “The Tablet” reported a statement by bishop Andrew Burham, according to whom 200 Anglicans from different groups intend to enter the Catholic Church. However, neither the Vatican press office nor the press office of the Church of England confirmed these figures. According to the spokesperson of the Church of England Howard Dobson, “the number of those who leave because they oppose the ordination of women bishops could also be low considering that the Church of England is currently seeking special solutions for the parishes opposing women episcopacy. But the new regulations will not be enforced before February 2012”.The motivations. “We followed the Anglican-Catholic dialogue, the ARCIC process, with prayers and hopes. But over the past thirty years we were disappointed to see the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches move further apart on some of the issues of the day”. The five bishops thus explained the reasons for their decision. “In particular we were saddened by developments in the Anglican communion which we believe to be incompatible with the historical vocation of Anglicanism and with 2,000 years of Christian tradition”. The five said that the Apostolic Constitution was “a generous response to various approaches to the Holy See for help and a bold, new ecumenical instrument in the search for the unity of Christians”.