RSSThe matter of priestly celibacy is apparently an issue delaying publication of a Vatican document that would make it possible for Anglican groups to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
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Canterbury Cathedral, the mother Church of the Anglican communion |
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) intended to publish the apostolic constitution — a document to enact or promulgate laws — at a Vatican press briefing on Oct. 20.
However, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the congregation, said then that several issues needed to be resolved before that could be achieved. He envisaged its publication in a few weeks.
Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, formerly under-secretary of the CDF and now Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, told UCA News after the press briefing that “a number of canon law problems had yet to be resolved” before it could be published.
It now appears that one of those problems relates to celibacy. Under the new provisions, which would establish “personal ordinariates” similar to dioceses, married Anglican priests can become married Catholic priests.
There are already more than 100 married former-Anglican priests serving in the Catholic Church in England and Wales as Catholic priests.
But the question arises as to what happens after the “transitional phase,” after the Anglicans have been incorporated into the Catholic Church. Can seminarians or young men who belong to the new canonical structure become Catholic priests too without having to accept celibacy? In other words, can they become married priests in the Catholic Church?
At the Oct. 20 Vatican press briefing, Cardinal Levada appeared to leave open that possibility. He even suggested the matter could be resolved on “a case-by-case basis.”
Since then, several bishops -– including some who spoke with UCA News -– have expressed concern at this. They believe this would eventually open the door to having married priests in the Latin-rite Church too.
It now appears that Pope Benedict XVI was also not happy with this possibility, according to an Oct. 29 report in the Italian daily, “Il Giornale.”
Under the headline “Married priests: The Pope does not like the agreement with the Anglicans,” the paper revealed that the text of the apostolic constitution was examined by the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts. As a result, it seems that seminarians of the new “personal ordinariates” will have to accept celibacy, just as Latin-rite seminarians must if they wish to become Roman Catholic priests.
UCA News has learned that discussions for the new papal provision for Anglicans to join the Catholic Church had been going on for at least 18 months before the press briefing.
The CDF, however, did not consult any of the bishops’ conferences as such, though it did involve one member from three different conferences — England and Wales, the USA and Australia — in its deliberations, “but only in their personal capacity.”
On the eve of the Oct 20. press conference, Cardinal Levada flew to England to brief the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales on the contents of the apostolic constitution. He also briefed the Anglican primate, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury.
It now appears many in the Vatican and — according to “Il Giornale” — also Pope Benedict, preferred that the news not be made public until the apostolic constitution was finalized.
The document will be published together with another document that lays out the practical arrangements for its implementation.
Meanwhile, dissident Swiss theologian, Father Hans Kung, attacked the pope over his decision regarding the Anglicans.
In an article published in the UK daily, “The Guardian” and the Italian daily, “La Repubblica,” Kung charged that “the Roman action is a dramatic change of course.”
He said it moves away from “the well-proven ecumenical strategy of eye-level dialogue and honest understanding” and steers toward “an un-ecumenical luring away of Anglican priests, even dispensing with the medieval celibacy law to enable them to come back to Rome.”
The Vatican responded with a front page editorial in its daily, “L’Osservatore Romano,” lamenting “the falsehoods” in Father Kung’s article and accused him of distorting and misrepresenting the Pope’s action which was aimed at “reconstituting the unity wished by Christ” while “recognizing the long and exhausting ecumenical journey in this sense.”
The Vatican editorial denounced the article as “a gratuitous attack on the Church of Rome and its unquestionable ecumenical commitment.”
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