ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS

QUOTE:

ANGLICANORUM COETIBUS Article - VI.

§ 1. Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, and who fulfill the requisites established by canon law and are not impeded by irregularities or other impediments may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church. In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement In June are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.

§ 2. The Ordinary, in full observance of the discipline of celibate clergy in the Latin Church, as a rule (pro regula) will admit only celibate men to the order of presbyter. He may also petition the Roman Pontiff, as a derogation from can. 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See. (The Apostolic Constitution, November 2009)

COMMENTARY

There exists a particular family with the Anglican Communion that goes by the name “Anglo-Catholic.” It has been around from the earliest of days in the British Isles, and at times they have been the majority, and at other times the minority. This English Catholicism has always been part of the Catholic Church; however, for the last 450 years it has not been in relationship with the Roman Catholic Church due to the obvious political and theological disagreements. Nevertheless, it seems as though these old divisions may be disappearing, at least for some within the Anglo-Catholic party, or are they?

The new offer to Anglicans by Vatican says the following: In the case of married ministers, the norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement In June are to be observed. Unmarried ministers must submit to the norm of clerical celibacy of CIC can. 277, §1.& 277, §1, for the admission of married men to the order of presbyter on a case by case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.

As such, one of the primary distinctions between Anglo-Catholicism and Roman Catholicism must be forfeited by the Anglo-Catholics. This is a huge price to pay, and the sad part is that it is not a change that is supported by either church history, or the scriptures. In fact, the first Pope, St Peter, was married: And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever Mat 8:14. And the first doctor of the church, St Paul, made marriage a requirement for all future clergy: Therefore, a bishop/episcopos must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. 1 Tim 3: 2

The acceptance of married Anglican priest into the Church of Rome is being treated as a nasty exception, rather than a good and wholesome requirement for holy orders. So long as this is the case it will be difficult for many who desire reunification to move towards it.