There are easily another ten OCSP groups which would appear to have no ability to replace and/or support a priest when the current (elderly) parochial administrator retires again. Local diocesan clergy may step in in a few instances but I doubt that this is a recipe for long-term survival. The home page of the Our Lady of Hope, Kansas City website, with the Holy Week service times still posted, is my Exhibit A for the case that a priest who has significant diocesan responsibilities will have little time or energy to devote to the small group of OCSP members he is responsible for. And Fr Sly is OCSP, after all. What will be the time commitment of someone with no prior Ordinariate connection? Better to direct the members of these groups to diocesan parishes with greater opportunities for fellowship, involvement, and growth in the faith, IMHO.It seems to me that the story arc of the OCSP has been that it was founded by an in-group of former Episcopal priests, themselves approaching secular retirement age, who saw Anglican unity with Rome as not much more than a prestigious career capstone. Many of these have proved unsatisfactory even for the minimal duties to which they were assigned, and by Catholic standards, their retirements have been premature, if justifiable. But having failed at the purpose for which it was founded, what else is it supposed to accomplish?
A visitor very kindly sent me a set of lectures delivered in 1944 by an Oxford Anglo-Papalist. They are very worthwhile as scriptural exegesis as well as historical analysis of the papacy, but they run into the Anglo-Papalist dilemma: assuming Anglican unity with Rome is a good thing, how is it to be brought about? Do the Anglican bishops suddenly resign and defer to the Catholic ones? If not, how else do we proceed? This would be a special problem for England, where the Church of England is established, and there are legal issues.
But in the US, there are parallel problems. TEC is not legally privileged, but Episcopalians still think they're special, and the assumption seems to have been that they need a special liturgy with thees and thous. Apparently they also need to bond with each other in special prestigious parishes, or at least that's how the assumption went.
But our diocesan parish relies on many Anglican hymns in its missal book. Just this past Sunday, we sang the Joachim Neander Lobe den Herren, which should probably be designated "honorary Anglican" for the enthusiasm which which it has been translated in Anglican hymnals. Throughout my Episcopal period, every version I sang had all the thees, thous, and thys, as well as the eths. The Catholic translation did away with every one of them. It was a bit of a shock, but I suddenly realized it works, and it calls attention to the words.
I'm wondering if Bp Lopes should be thinking along the lines of sending all the OCSP laity to diocesan parishes.
