According to the Pastoral Provision FAQ page,
Initially, the Pastoral Provision applied only to married clergymen of the Episcopal Church. In 2007, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith determined that the Pastoral Provision applies to ecclesial communities that, in some form or other, have broken with the Episcopal Church USA. They sometimes are referred to as “continuing Anglican communities.” These are The Reformed Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in America, The Anglican Catholic Church – Original Province, The Anglican Province of Christ the King, the Episcopal Missionary Church, and the Christian Episcopal Church. Since 2007, other ecclesial communities have separated from the Episcopal Church USA. Clergymen of these ecclesial communities may inquire of the Ecclesiastical Delegate whether the Pastoral Provision may apply to them. The Pastoral Provision does not apply to the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.The exclusion of the CEC from the Pastoral Provision -- something that seems to have come from the CDF -- appears to have a good basis. According to Wikipedia,
The Charismatic Episcopal Church, more officially known as the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church (ICCEC), is an international Christian denomination established as an autocephalous communion in 1992. The ICCEC states that it is not a splinter group of any other denomination or communion, but is a convergence of the sacramental, evangelical, and charismatic traditions that it perceives in the church from the apostolic era until present times.Wikipedia points out, "The word episcopal is used to describe its hierarchy of bishops (see table). Many churches in the ICCEC, however, claim an Anglican identity and many use the American Book of Common Prayer (1979). A new sacramentary, now in broad trial use, contains modified Roman, Anglican, and Eastern rites." At least for the CDF, claiming an "Anglican identity" isn't enough. This, of course, is a debate raging elsewhere in our public life.
The Pastoral Provision was set up to avoid the appearance of opening the door to a general married priesthood. For Anglicanorum coetibus to define itself as intended for existing groups of Anglicans would be just a similar safeguard. However, the Ordinariate is, unlike the reawakened Pastoral Provision, pushing the definition of Anglican by ordaining married priests in the Charismatic Episcopal Church (specifically excluded by the Pastoral Provision) and now proposing ordaining a former Presbyterian pastor who is “Anglican” by virtue of having been ordained for less than a year in the ACNA, itself iffy in the view of the Pastoral Provision. The practical result is that at least the US Ordinariate could potentially creep into having significant non-Anglican membership, ministered to by non-Anglican married priests not under close diocesan supervision.
On one hand, you might say "not that there's anything wrong with that!" And my intent is not to be snooty about this -- I used to be Episcopalian, but I became Catholic via RCIA, and I'm delighted to be a member of a very diverse diocesan parish. But if non-Anglican priests are OK, why do so many statements from, or on behalf of, the Ordinariate find the need to fuzz over this issue and weasel-word the announcements? I'll look at this tomorrow.
