More Protestantism

Another of Frederick Kinsman's indictments of Anglicanism is what he calls "congregationalism", which of course is a synonym for Calvinism, the Reformed theology that underlies the Anglican settlement. I'm not sure if the Catholic authorities that have underwritten the "corporate reunion" movement, either in its Pastoral Provision or Ordinariate form, have ever understood Anglicanism from this perspective.

The whole point of either "corporate reunion" style has been to take in Anglican parishes as, in effect, intact congregations with their clergy. In fact, this has almost never worked out as envisioned, and St Mary of the Angels is probably one of the best examples of what can go wrong with the whole idea.

• The decision by a congregation to become Catholic in a body is never unanimous. As a result, there is a great deal of bitterness and animosity, which aren't good for the souls of anyone involved.
• There is no provision for the pastoral care of those who do not wish to become, or have obstacles to becoming, Catholic. Msgr William Stetson, a major figure in the movement as a close confidant of Cardinal Law, was reduced to saying in 2012 that he simply wouldn't "check passports at the communion rail", a violation of canon law if he were aware of actual exceptions. In over 30 years of the movement, it's been unable to provide any better solution.
• Anglican denominations, either The Episcopal Church or "continuum", historically almost never yield up congregations without a bruising fight. Neither Anglican Use nor the US-Canadian Ordinariate have had any effective plan to deal with such contingencies.
• It is an acknowledged property of Anglicanism that the "high church" faction, in effect the only market from which the "corporate reunion" movement seeks candidates, has always had elements of self-deception whereby adherents feel they're "Catholic enough", or indeed, better Catholics than diocesan Catholics. We see this expressed by Ordinariate figures like Fr Hunwicke now. This doesn't help relations with diocesan Catholics.
• The whole idea of congregations breaking off from Anglican denominations, in practice often spectacularly unsuccessful, is essentially Protestant. I simply can't disagree with the question Cardinal Mahony raised with St Mary of the Angels when he became Archbishop and inherited that problem: if the parish rebelled against The Episcopal Church, what would stop it from rebelling against the Catholic Church?