The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has published a new document on the Anglican heritage of the Ordinariates, praising the unique role it plays in the life of the Church.
The text, formally titled Characteristics of the Anglican Heritage as Lived in the Ordinariates Established Under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, comes after discussions held at the dicastery from March 1 to 3.
Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, as Apostolic Administrator of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, was due to take part in the talks in person but was caught in Dubai due to the war in the Middle East. He joined the discussions via zoom.
The document states that, despite the wide geographical spread of the Ordinariates, “a core shared identity is indeed evident among Ordinariate communities wherever they are found”. It says that identity is rooted in “a common path of following Christ that has led them into full communion with the Catholic Church”. It also states it is a “worthy patrimony of piety and usage” and reaffirms its status as “a precious gift […] and a treasure to be shared”.
The ordinaries of the two other Ordinariates, Bishop David Waller and Steven Joseph Lopes, had discussions with Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández and articulated how the Anglican patrimony is concretely lived within Catholic communion.
The new document sends a strong message that the Ordinariates do not simply exist as a pastoral provision for former Anglicans, but speak to how unity and diversity can coexist within the Catholic Church.
“For the Church is one, and the Gospel is one, but in the process of inculturation, the Gospel is expressed in a variety of cultures," the document says. "In this way, the Church acquires a new face.”
Bishop David Waller, ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, told the Catholic Herald: "The superiors gave considerable time to listening to reports of the life of the Ordinariates in their specific local contexts and, in particular, the distinctive elements of the Anglican patrimony and how these contribute to the transmission of the Faith.
"The document is the initiative of Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández and a clear indication of the Holy See’s understanding of and commitment to the ongoing witness of the Ordinariates as particular Churches within the Catholic Church.”
The document was published a day before Dame Sarah Mullally was enthroned as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, a move which has sharply divided the Anglican Church, particularly in the global south.
A full copy of the document can be read here.