CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
England: first ordinations of former Anglican bishopsThe three former Anglican bishops, who were accepted into the Catholic Church on 1st January, will be ordained in the Catholic priesthood in the Cathedral of Westminster on 15 January. The news, which has been circulating in the English press for some time, is now confirmed by a statement put out by the English Bishops’ Conference, summarizing the situation. “On 8 November – says the press release -, five Bishops of the Church of England (3 in active ministry, 2 in retirement) announced their intention to cease from public episcopal ministry and to resign from their pastoral responsibilities in the Church of England with effect from 31st December 2010. Following this decision John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton (the three former Bishops who had been in active service) were received together with some members of their families into full communion with the Catholic Church during Mass on 1st January 2011, in Westminster Cathedral. In addition three former Anglican Religious Sisters were also received”. The Bishops’ Conference explains that “out of respect for the privacy of the individuals concerned and their families, no prior public announcement for the receptions was given”. The statement then adds the timetable of the next steps in their reception: “With the permission of the Holy See, John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton will be ordained as Catholic Deacons in Allen Hall Seminary Chapel (diocese of Westminster) on Thursday 13 January at 5.30 pm. Their Ordination as Catholic Priests will take place in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 15 January at 10.30 am. The two retired former Anglican Bishops will also be received into full communion with the Catholic Church and proceed to Ordination as Catholic priests in due course”. According to the English Catholic paper, the “Catholic Herald”, to be able to ordain the three former Anglican Bishops, a canonical structure is needed and this would mean that the decree for the erection of the Ordinariate could be issued before 13 January. The dates correspond to the procedures announced in November in a press release of the English Bishops’ Conference, expressing the expectation that the decree for the establishment of the Ordinariate and the name of the Ordinary would be released in January.Ecumenical Patriarchate: meeting with the Focolari On 27 December Maria Voce, President of the Focolari, was received by His Holiness Bartholomew I in Istanbul in the historic seat of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Also present were Metropolitan Apostolos, of the island of Halki, and Father Dositheos, director of the Patriarchate’s communications office. In his welcoming remarks, Patriarch Bartholomew I stressed that “dialogue does not remain an empty and sterile academic exercise, easy to be challenged by those who continue to oppose ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue”. “Dialogue is for us a priority”. After the important audience with the Patriarch (the main reason for the journey), the visit of the President of the Focolari to Istanbul continued with a series of other meetings, such as that with a group of Muslims, who for years have been closely collaborating with the movement. Monsignor Louis Pelatre, apostolic vicar of the Latin Church at Istanbul, also received Maria Voce. Dialogues “are the new frontier; we cannot close our eyes to them”, said the prelate, expressing great appreciation for the work that the Orthodox Patriarch is conducting in ecumenical dialogue and in dialogue with Muslims. Relations between the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Focolare Movement began in 1967 when the then Patriarch Athenagoras I invited the movement’s founder Chiara Lubich to meet him in the historic seat at the Fanar of Istanbul because he was keen to get to know the aims and work of the Movement. Since then a deep spiritual understanding has been established. Athenagoras encouraged the communication of the spirit of the Focolari among Orthodox believers. Chiara Lubich would return eight times to Istanbul. His successors, Patriarchs Demetrios I and Bartholomew I, continued to foster relations of esteem and collaboration with Chiara and with the Movement she founded. Chiara’s last meeting with the Patriarch took place on 6 March two years ago, just a few days before her death: being in Rome for a meeting with the Pope in the Vatican, the Patriarch expressed his wish to pay her a visit in the Policlinico Gemelli. It was a meeting of deep communion. He imparted his blessing on her “with recognition”. Orthodox Church: change of guard in FranceOn 24 December, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, meeting in Moscow under its chairman Patriarch Kirill, appointed a new Bishop of Chersonèse, the bishop responsible for the administration of the communities of the Patriarchate of Moscow in France, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. He is to be Metropolitan Nestor (Sirotenko) who had served as auxiliary bishop since 31 May 2010. Nestor will thus replace Metropolitan Innocent (Vassiliev), hitherto Archbishop of Chersonèse and now nominated Archbishop of Vilnius and of Lithuania, thus taking the place of Metropolitan Chrysostom whose resignation for reasons of age was accepted. Metropolitan Nestor will also, on a provisional basis, follow the administration of the communities of the Patriarchate present in Italy.
