We are a Roman Catholic community gathered together in and through our Lord Jesus Christ, standing gratefully under the leadership of his vicar on earth, the Holy Father Pope Francis. , , , We are a mission of the Cathedral of our Lady of Walsingham, which perceived the need for a new Catholic community in fast growing Montgomery County.At no point does it say anything about Anglicans, an ordinariate, or how an ordinariate isn't the local diocese. Farther down, it offers visitors the opportunity to "help start a new Catholic parish in Montgomery County". Again, there's no mention of Anglicans, Anglicanorum coetibus, or "membership" in an ordinariate. Beyond that, as I've noted before, there are two Episcopal parishes in The Woodlands, Trinity and St Isidore, and an ACNA parish, HopePointe Anglican. None of the Presentation promotional material seems aimed at any of these; instead, it's aimed at Catholics who might want to try a new parish.
Normally it's up to the diocesan bishop to decide where to locate a new parish, or indeed whether to close an existing one. Somehow here, it's the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham that perceived the need for a new community in the county. But Catholics who aren't detail-oriented or well informed are going to think it's the archdiocese downtown that perceived the need.
What need was it? Has any of the three Anglican parishes in The Woodlands petitioned to join the North American ordinariate? Or is there a faction of Anglican parishioners there big enough to support a parish aimed at Anglican converts if they decide to make the move in a body? That's doubtful indeed. Instead, it sounds like Bp Lopes has decided to second-guess Cardinal DiNardo on where he should open his next parish. Or do I have this wrong?
There's a related issue that I find just as unsettling. Fr Andrew Bartus is using the Catholic brand, including Spanish subtitles, to address Catholics in California generally in the YouTube video below:
However, it's posted on a YouTube channel called Our Watch, which seems to be a group of secular conservatives who may or may not be Catholic and who may or may not promote a larger Catholic agenda. They seem, based on other videos, to be active in expressing conservative viewpoints at local school board meetings.
Abp Gómez in Los Angeles has had some success in promoting a Catholic political agenda by speaking for Catholics in the wider political arena. But he does it by choosing his issues and controlling the message, with politically savvy people who can get practical things done. It's hard to avoid thinking that, whether or not Fr Bartus is saying the right things, he's freelancing and allowing the Catholic brand to be used by secular groups who may or may not have the Church's larger interests or strategies in mind.
In other words, there continue to be things that dioceses and experienced bishops should be controlling. This includes political agendas and even where new parishes are needed. I've got to wonder whether Houston, having begun to recognize that evangelizing Anglicans isn't a winning idea, has decided to meddle in areas well outside its mission. My regular correspondent pointed to a post no the blog of an ordinariate member at St Thomas More Toronto, who said of his group
Currently we have people attend who are from many Christian traditions, both eastern and western – a man from the Coptic Church of Egypt, a family of Croatian origin, our Italian/Scottish administrator, a young woman who is a PK from a Seventh Day Adventist family. Over the years these folks have joined with Mennonite friends and even a few Anglicans who have found their way into the fullness of the Catholic Church.My correspondent calls it "another admission that most people attending an Ordinariate mass are not former Anglicans". Further, "Maybe the Ordinariate is just a tough product to market. Maybe disaffected Catholics are in shorter supply in Canada than in Texas."
So we're gonna branch out and, with access to the brand, set up a parallel amateur version of the Catholic Church, huh?
