The Real Policy On Dioceses

Yesterday I noted that the grandstanders in the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society have announced their de facto policy on the relationship of ordinariate groups to their dioceses. The grandstanders, of course, have no influence on actual policy and serve little purpose other than to make those who do have influence on policy, like Fr Bergman, look bad. Houston clearly needs an effective press operation, and Fr Perkins needs to make a greater effort to make sure Ms Gyapong, Mr Schaetzel, and Mr Murphy are on the same page.

A visitor notes,

During the lengthy installation Mass of Fr. Lewis, he took several oaths. That portion of the rite concluded with him physically signing a document presented by the Bishop, thereby making him officially the new Pastor. One of the oaths was essentially a promise to, for lack of a better description, "cooperate with the diocese and Bishop within which the parish geographically resides". Perhaps one of your readers can recall the words that were said, or from which document they were read. Or it could be that Bishop Lopes really wanted to stress cooperation - remember, he was and is not an Anglican. My point is, maybe the Gyapong's and Schaetzel's are reading from the old personal-parish era playbook?

The OCSP Guide to Parish Development has a section entitled VITALITY: RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCAL DIOCESE that reads

A clear indication of an Ordinariate’s community to act in communion is their relationship with the bishop, diocesan administration, and parishes of the territorial Catholic diocese. Ordinariate clergy and communities are urged to participate in common endeavors, including especially penance services and social engagement projects.

It's worth noting that Ms Gyapong and Mr Schaetzel are from two of the smallest and least-active groups in the OCSP, with two of the dreariest worship environments, as we've seen here. Mr Murphy lives in Germany and seems to be a member of the OOLW only in his mind. None can point to any local success as a basis for their exhortations to the rest of us. Of Ms Gyapong's group, my regular correspondent points out,

The latest person to be received at Mrs Gyapong's parish is the mother of two other members, both of whom were previously students of a college program in which the rector is a professor. Also an old friend of Mrs G. Pretty much a collection of PLUs ["People Like Us"]. She has often wondered, editorially, why the parish has not grown, but apparently doesn't see that its clubby atmosphere is not necessarily welcoming, however congenial it may be to those already there. As you said, Small Ball rather than Long Ball.

It appears that the actual policy of the OCSP is at variance with public statements, and indeed personal actions, of the grandstanders in the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society. In fact, I would say that Gyapong, Schaetzel, and Murphy are devotees of the discredited Phillips model of parish-building.