What of the United States and Australia? The ordinariates there are small. . . . [T]he number of Episcopalians interested in the ordinariate project has been minimal.This, of course, agrees with the observations of people like Douglas Bess, whom I noted yesterday as recognizing that "continuing" Anglicanism always overstated its numbers and impact on The Episcopal Church, and the US Pastoral Provision, even before Anglicanorum coetibus, also always reflected the minimal interest from Episcopalians in that sort of thing. In the Facebook post, Fr Bartus responds,
The number of Episcopalian/Anglican converts may have been small (there weren't many left who weren't Modernists or committed Protestants), but we've experienced many from Evangelical, other Protestant, and even non-Christian backgrounds here in Southern California at least. And the largest portion of the Ordinariate here is composed of Catholic reverts. We've also helped many who were losing their faith restore it and not formally lapse.Well, Anglicanorum coetibus, for those ordinariate priests whose Latin is surely shaky, means "groups of Anglicans", which was the target market of the project, at least as of 2009. Just for starters, Fr Bartus is admitting we just haven't had much interest there. But that's OK, we attract Baptists, Presbyterians, Scientologists, whatever, as well as Catholic "reverts" and those who were maybe gonna lose their faith except for the charismatic Fr Bartus.
Nearly all these groups, of course, have actually always been the target markets for Bps Barnes and Vann, and Abp Gómez, ever since the Great Commission. Is Fr Bartus serious about saying the heavy furniture DW liturgy is bringing these people into the Church? And if so, are there catechists who've been through the three-year formation period to initiate them? Let's come down to earth and recognize that the path of entry for such people into the Church is RCIA at a diocesan parish, and policies for evangelization are developed through the USCCB under Bp Barron.
The opening paragraph of Anglicanorum coetibus refers to the Holy See's positive response to "groups of Anglicans" who "petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately". The initial publicity stressed the ability of Episcopalians to come in as full parishes with clergy, which has seldom been the case, and not at all after the first few years. In addition,
§4 The Ordinariate is composed of lay faithful, clerics and members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, originally belonging to the Anglican Communion and now in full communion with the Catholic Church, or those who receive the Sacraments of Initiation within the jurisdiction of the Ordinariate.However, it seems plain that the emphasis is on former Anglicans and probably implies "those who receive the sacraments of initiation" are also primarily Anglicans. Again, I'm not sure how many Baptists, Mormons, or "non-denominationals" are going to pick up on the importance of liturgy or the apostolic succession after being exposed to the precious treasures of the Anglican spiritual patrimony. And Fr Bartus counters Joanna Bogle's anecdotal happy talk with nothing but anecdotal happy talk of his own.
Just how many unbaptized people, or unconfirmed Protestants, are we talking about here, in comparison to the Catholic reverts, or fully initiated Catholics wavering in their faith were it not for those precious spiritual treasures? Fr Bartus does say the largest portion is composed of cradle Catholics, but he's a bit cagey about saying just how many had already been fully initiated. Keep in mind the photos of last spring's confirmations in Murrieta with all the adolescent girls in chapel veils. The moms and dads weren't in that group; their kids were probably anchor babies.
I think someone needs to ask Bp Lopes to provide some more precise numbers on how many non-Catholic non-Anglicans are baptized and confirmed at the Southern California groups, and someone needs to make a review of the actual intake via RCIA in nearby diocesan parishes. Someone needs to ask Bp Lopes what he does to license catechists in any ordinariate parish, versus the licensing criteria in surrounding dioceses. The same would apply to formal CCD programs -- so far, these appear to be almost non-existent in the ordinariate.
What Fr Bartus is doing isn't much different from the used car salesman who says, "Well, we've actually sold the 2018 Jaguar we advertised for $1500, but I've got a really sweet AMC Gremlin you'll love for the same price."
Er, we aren't bringing in hardly any Anglicans at all, although there might be a Scientologist or two in the back row at mass. But there's plenty of cradle Catholics who don't like Mexicans or Filipinos here. We're gonna start CCD any year now, too. As my regular correspondent put it,
The question is not just “What problem are we trying to solve here? “ but “Why does this problem need an ‘Anglican’ solution?” Other than issues of race and class, of course.
