In fact, revisiting the truly beautiful nave, I got a sense of potential, if not optimism, equivalent to what I felt with others across North America in 2011 as we awaited the erection of the Ordinariate. The bungling of the St Mary's attempt to enter -- which had originally been intended as a hallmark event -- was, with the reversal at Our Lady of the Atonement, a major factor in the discouragement that overtook the Anglican ecumenical movement by mid-2012.
In the US, it's plain that the country is beginning to see a restoration of optimism following the presidential election -- if nothing else, the stock market's gains should be concrete evidence of this. It stems, it seems to me, from strong leadership. The US-Canadian Ordinariate could benefit from a dose of strong leadership as well, and if it gets it, it could produce renewed optimism like what we felt in 2011.
But happy-talk about maybe starting things up again in Rochester, or declaring that a marginal startup is really a parish, isn't that kind of leadership. One thing that would actually reflect strong leadership would be a genuine effort by Bp Lopes to bring the St Mary of the Angels parish into the OCSP.
A regular visitor cautioned me that a group intending to enter must not have ongoing litigation. The problem, though, is that the litigation for all intents and purposes is resolved. The strategy of the Bush group and the ACA has been simply delay -- Mr Lancaster told the judge almost a year ago that the outcome of the Bush appeal of the 2015 finding would be dispositive, and that they had requested it be expedited. By July, it had become plain that they hadn't requested this (in fact, they'd lied to the judge). At this point, they're simply trying to prolong the agony, and it's hard to see any motive for this other than simple spite.
I can only think that some involvement by Bp Lopes could facilitate resolving the issue. A simple request for a phone chat with Bp Marsh, in which Bp Lopes asks Marsh to outline what he means to accomplish by prolonging the legal action and what Lopes might do to resolve outstanding issues, might well move things forward. An informal visit to the St Mary's parish by Bp Lopes could also be a worthwhile gesture, and it might help him to get a better picture of the contribution the parish could make.
I have a feeling that up to now, Houston has been unwilling to open the can of worms that the events of 2012 represent. Not least of these would be a serious investigation of Fr Bartus's involvement in the division of the parish and the campaign of character assassination against Fr Kelley. The problem for Bp Lopes is that maybe putting someone new in Rochester or declaring that Bridgeport is a parish whether or not it can pay pastors' or sextons' salaries is small potatoes. Accomplishing what the OCSP actually set out to do in early 2012 is something else.
The OCSP doesn't have a chance of success unless its leadership is strong enough to undertake this task.
