The Ordinariate and the future of oecumenism
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17)
“Church attendance has risen by 50% over the last six years, busting the myth of church decline.” The Bible Society’s report, The Quiet Revival, caused waves in Britain when it came out last year. There is dramatic growth in church attendance, driven particularly by Catholicism, which has already overtaken the Church of England.
This rise in church attendance is particularly acute among the young. In 2018, only 4% of people between 18 and 24 years old attended church at least monthly—the same number is now up to 16%, according to the Bible Society’s report. Catholics make up the majority of this growth - among people between 18 and 34, only 20% of churchgoers are Anglican, while 41% are Catholic. It seems that the Catholic Church will play a significant, if not primary, role in the religious life of the next generation.
The vast majority of unaffiliated English, however, come from a background that has not been Catholic since before the Reformation. They are former Anglicans, or their parents are, or they are nominally-attached Anglicans who might go to the occasional Nine Lessons and Carols service when they want to feel Christmassy. If they convert to Catholicism, it seems that they would be abandoning the quintessentially English cultural elements that make up the “Anglican patrimony.”
Enter the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a structure set up by Pope Benedict XVI to receive former Anglicans into full communion with Rome. The Ordinariate is kind of like a diocese—it has an ordinary authority (generally a bishop), it has parishes with parish priests, and it has laypeople who are part of it. The difference is that, unlike the geographical structure of a diocese, the Ordinariate comprises former Anglicans and their parishes all over Britain.1
The Ordinariate serves as an important test case for the future of oecumenism, in that it absorbs, rather than merely dialogues with, a different denomination. If the Ordinariate grows sustainably, it will show that a revival in the Catholic Church is compatible with incorporating the quintessentially English culture that makes up the “Anglican patrimony.”
The Ordinariate’s specific mission is to bring this “Anglican patrimony” into the Catholic Church. Monsignor Newton once told me that Pope Benedict XVI specifically told him how much he loved Evensong, and asked him to bring it into the Catholic Church. One understands why he appreciates it:
The preservation of Anglican patrimony is made possible by the Ordinariate’s unique liturgy. Divine Worship, the liturgical text of the Ordinariate, retains significant elements of the traditional worship of the Church of England. Ordinariate Evensong is, for example, much closer to the near 500-year old Book of Common Prayer than the new Anglican standard, the 1980s-ified liturgy of Common Worship, which has been adopted by most of the less traditional Anglican parishes. A former Anglican coming from a more traditional background can thus feel more at home in the Ordinariate than he would at a progressive parish in his own denomination!
The Ordinariate also has an Anglican spiritual life: Mattins and Evensong are recited daily and make up the core of Ordinariate prayer life; and reverent liturgies retaining Book of Common Prayer elements are celebrated accompanied by music from English composers like Tallis and Rutter. It also restores elements of English Catholic devotion that were essentially suppressed by the Church of England, and have survived only in nooks: Our Lady of Walsingham, for example, who used to be the centre of English Marian devotion, or other neglected English saints—St Alban, St Edward the Confessor, and the holy monks of Lindisfarne.
Plenty of Anglicans grew up in churches where Tallis was never played, where the Book of Common Prayer was seen as hopelessly old-school, and where burning candles was seen as too Catholic. Even more Anglicans grew up in environments where Our Lady of Walsingham was seen as a mediaeval piety, irrelevant since the Industrial age. However, these elements of the Anglican patrimony run deep in the blood of Britain—and even Britons who reject them as expressions of their faith surely accept them as expressions of their cultural identity.
The Anglican patrimony is at risk of being lost in a struggling Church of England. The parishes surviving in the Church of England are very different—they are largely evangelical, play Hillsong music, and their hospitality events are made up of hip young people drinking espressos. What is likely struggling is your local Grade II-listed parish with a weekly choral Evensong, where the only person left is Maureen keeping an eye on the tea trolley and her grandkids. The Ordinariate provides a way for Maureen to bring her tea trolley into the largest and fastest-growing church in England. Moreover, it is a way for her to share with her grandchildren the spiritual and musical traditions of Anglicanism that have fostered her faith and the faith of her forefathers for generations.
The manner in which the Ordinariate absorbs these elements into the Catholic Church is a pilot test for the way Rome will conduct oecumenism going forward. Throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, oecumenism between Rome and Canterbury had looked like positive dialogue between two partners. We like your hymns, we are sorry about destroying your statues, let’s work on some theology together. The dialogue, at times, seemed almost like they recognised one another as working in parallel—two churches, overlapping dioceses, but not in competition.
At the same time, the actual distance between the two churches was growing further and further, and eventually a decisive break came—Canterbury ordained women, which Roman theology says is impossible. Rome started receiving Anglican priests who felt alienated by the decision, and eventually set up the Ordinariate basically for them. Many Anglicans reacted negatively—“Is Rome saying that these Ordinariate guys are in full communion with them, and we are not?” Well, yes. The existence of the Ordinariate highlighted that, while Rome may have appreciated elements of the Anglican patrimony, they did not accept Anglicans just as they were.
The Ordinariate was a personal pet project of Benedict XVI, who was clear about viewing oecumenism in this way. There was some uncertainty about whether Francis would view oecumenism the same way—perhaps he saw more hope for a mutual recognition of the churches? However, the Ordinariate survived and grew through Francis’s reign, and is now in its third pontificate.
The way in which Pope Leo handles the Ordinariate could be indicative for the future relationship between the Anglicans, the Ordinariate, and the Roman Catholic Church. It is not insignificant that Leo is the first Anglophone pope since Adrian IV in the 12th Century, and the Anglican Communion seems to recognise that his papacy could therefore be a seminal moment. If he decides to use his papacy in that way, it will be.
The Ordinariate faces serious struggles, especially in England, where the majority of Anglican churches are owned by the Church of England / the state. Parishes that convert in the US are able to take their property with them—those that convert in the UK generally have to leave behind their church, and hope that a Catholic diocese has a spare church for them. A lot of beautiful heritage-listed churches in England thus sit around empty, but the Church of England is understandably reluctant to give them to a group that has left the church.2 Without addressing these and other structural difficulties, growth is severely limited.
Leo inherits the Ordinariate as a stable group, led by a bishop, with a few thousand former Anglican laity and priests,3 and now also with children born in it, couples married in it, and priests who went to Catholic seminary and were ordained in it natively.
In Leo’s first sermon, he reminded us that Peter’s mission is love and unity. With his emphasis on unity, will he see the Ordinariate as a transitional structure for Anglicans to become regular Roman Catholics, as a permanent home for all former Anglicans, or perhaps just as a one-off quirk? Will he promote unity through uniformity, unity through diversity, or unity through some other means? We don’t yet know.
It seems clear, however, that the Ordinariate is a vehicle that is capable of serious growth. If the Ordinariate is encouraged through episcopal appointments, clear organisational support, and by being granted parishes, it will receive many Catholic conversions among young adults, especially those from Anglican backgrounds, and could be a major force in the religious future of Britain. If the Ordinariate is sidelined by being structurally marginalised, overlooked, and treated as a concession for a tiny group, then the future is uncertain.
The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is a vehicle to present the fullness of the Catholic faith while remaining quintessentially English. In a country seen as post-Christian, with the traditions of Anglicanism in terminal decline, it can serve as a beacon of hope for the growth of Christianity and for the preservation of traditional English culture.
To close, a video from the Anglican patrimony:
Note: This video was posted on April Fool’s—he can hit that note without helium…
Note: In this essay, I am writing about the Ordinariate in Great Britain. There are two other Anglican Ordinariates — one for US & Canada, and one for Australia, New Zealand, and a few other Pacific nations. I think most of what I write also applies to the other two, but it is best I limit my scope to what I know best.
On the other hand, if a rave in the nave is allowed, why not a Catholic Mass at the altar?
In the UK, there are around 2000 canonically-registered lay members of the Ordinariate. My own experience and anecdotal evidence from Ordinariate priests I know indicates that the majority of attendees at Ordinariate parishes are not canonically registered. Many attend the parishes without officially joining—even some of the people in the photo at the start of this article—and you are welcome to do so as well.
Fascinating. I hope this project is successful in promoting the faith and saving beautiful English cultural artifacts from being forgotten.