DUBLIN - 25 October 2007 - 310 words
Church
of Ireland parishes ask to become Roman Catholic
Three Church of Ireland parishes have asked to be received into
full communion with the Catholic Church The Irish Catholic
newspaper reports this week.
The parishes, in counties Down, Tyrone
and Laois are members of the 'traditional rite' within the Church
of Ireland.
The Irish Catholic newspaper, has learnt that the members
of these parishes, along with traditional Anglicans from twelve
other countries, have signed a letter to the Vatican seeking "full,
corporate, sacramental union" with the Catholic Church under
the authority of the Pope. The dramatic move would see the entire
parish communities received in to the Catholic Church.
While only a few hundred Anglicans in Ireland will be affected,
the move, if approved by the Vatican, would see 400,000 Anglicans
worldwide admitted into the Catholic Church, the paper reports.
The traditional rite of the Church of Ireland emerged in 1991
after the House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland decided to
start ordaining women. Traditionalist Anglicans decried the move
as a "defiance of both Scripture and Tradition."
A spokesman for the traditional rite confirmed that the members
of the traditional rite of the Church of Ireland did hope to be
received into "full communion with the See of Rome".
A decision was made at a plenary meeting of the Traditional Anglican
Communion (TAC), the umbrella organisation for traditional Anglicans,
to petition Rome for such a move earlier this month.
According to a statement from the TAC "the bishops and vicars-general
unanimously agreed to the text of a letter to the See of Rome
seeking full, corporate, sacramental union.
"The letter was signed solemnly by all the College and entrusted
to the Primate and two bishops chosen by the College to be presented
to the Holy See," the statement added.
A spokesman said "the letter was cordially received at the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
"The Primate of the TAC has agreed that no member of the
College will give interviews until the Holy See has considered
the letter and responded," he said.
It is rare for entire Anglican communities to seek corporate communion
with the Catholic Church whereby every member of the parish becomes
Catholic and the parish effectively becomes part of the Catholic
Church. There have been a number of high-profile individual conversions.
Most recently, Anita Henderson, wife of the Church of Ireland
Bishop of Killala was received in to the Catholic Church in a
private ceremony in Ballina, Co Mayo.
In the US, the so-called 'pastoral provision' allows Catholic
bishops to establish 'Anglican Use Catholic parishes', which use
a liturgy adapted from Anglicanism. However, the parishes are
in full communion with the Holy See and accept all Catholic teachings.
Michael Kelly, Deputy Editor The Irish Catholic
© Independent Catholic
News 2007
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