More On Small Gathered Groups

The history of Fr Chalmers, either the first or second former Anglican priest ordained in the North American ordinariate, and the need to create a group of faithful ex nihilo for him to shepherd, indicates that within six months of the ordinariate's erection, the Anglicanorum coetibus model was failing. On one hand, even "continuing" jurisdictions were going to fight the departure of parishes to the Catholic ordinariate. On the other, established Episcopalian clergy were not going to jeopardize their comfortable positions by flirting with apostasy.

The intake of Episcopalian clergy would be marginal men without careers, with almost nothing to lose and even a minimal gain by the move, while laity would almost always be in a position of leaving property behind and having to start from scratch with limited resources. Thus, by mid-2012, the idea of full parishes coming in as existing bodies with their clergy had mostly to be dropped in favor of a Potemkin fantasy. The situation has not changed in the seven years since.

Of the gathered groups still in existence, my regular correspondent comments,

I would estimate that about half the current OCSP communities have an ASA of thirty or fewer. In some cases they are led by retired clergy who have pension income. Although these men would welcome growth, in theory at least, the existing situation is working for them.

Some are communities which an aspiring Ordinariate priest had to gather in order to be ordained; some are communities which have been taken over by a new priest after the founding priest retired. Four of the OCSP communities which have folded are in this last category. Also St Augustine, San Diego, which has dwindled since Fr Baaten took over from Fr Ortiz-Guzman; Our Lady of Grace, Covina, getting by with supply clergy since Fr Bayles was deployed to Aviano; Oour Lady of Hope, Kansas City, whose new Parish Administrator has not bothered to update the new location/ Sunday mass time on either the OCSP website or the parish's; St Thomas Becket, Ft Worth, which finally has its own Parish Administrator again almost three years after Fr Stainbrook was reassigned to St John Vianney, Cleburne, and of course St James, Jacksonville, now led by Fr Mayer.

I would consider all of them vulnerable to a decision by the new Parish Administrator that other opportunities opening up in the local diocese are more attractive than maintaining a DW mass for a handful of worshippers.

This is another way of saying that the gathered groups are highly unstable and hardly good environments for nurturing new Catholics in the faith. The problem I see is that the whole body of clergy in the ordinariate, from the lowliest deacon to the bishop, are focused on their own shaky chances for career advancement by maintaining a fantasy that something worthwhile is being done, rather than bringing the laity into a fuller life in the Church.

The record we see here is that priests who have any chance of doing so will run to the Pastoral Provision model, using their Anglican background simply as a way to qualify for the Catholic diocesan priesthood, and drop their little groups of Anglican stragglers at the earliest opportunity.

Not a good look.