Anglo-Catholicism Crumbles as Anglican Ordinariate Forms

(Telegraph) - Anglo-Catholicism within the Church of England is dispersing like a cloud of incense rolling down the nave. Those Anglicans who have decided to take advantage of Pope Benedict XVI’s historic offer of special privileges within the Roman Catholic Church are already constructing a network of Ordinariate communities that will bear fruit in new Catholic parishes. Crucially, they are led by two “flying” Anglican bishops, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet and the Rt Rev Keith Newton of Richborough.

Meanwhile, Anglo-Catholics who don’t feel ready to make the move yet, or perhaps at all, have muddied the waters with the creation of a body called the Society of Saint Wilfrid and Saint Hilda (SSWSH) whose role is unclear, to say the least. Depending on who you listen to, it’s either a group of traditionalists who want to stay in the Church of England, playing the role of Japanese jungle fighters who don’t know the war is over, or a holding body for people who will join the Ordinariate eventually but need more time to prepare. [Update: I see from the thread below that SSWSH has already been christened "The Society of St Hinge and St Bracket".]...

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THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It's over. It's over for the Church of England and it's over for the Anglican Communion. The Oxford Movement has finally reached it's ultimate goal - full corporate reunion with the Holy See - and in doing so it has resulted in the largest ongoing schism the Church of England (and the Anglican Communion) will ever suffer. What remains of "catholic" tradition within the Church of England will soon be a relic - a tiny huddle of "Japanese jungle fighters" who don't know the war ended long ago. They will soon be forced to concede to the wishes of Modernists whenever the Modernists will it, and yes they WILL submit to female bishops eventually - all of them. The Church of England, along with the entire Anglican Communion, is now thoroughly Protestant. All vestiges of "catholic" patrimony are going over to the pope's ordinariate. This is the fruit of Progressive Modernism. It is completely and totally INCOMPATIBLE with the apostolic Christian faith. This is where Progressive Modernism always leads.

In contrast Pope Benedict XVI has come to the rescue of Anglo-Catholicism, providing an ordinariate structure which is ongoing and perpetual. Anglo-Catholics who accept the ordinariate proposal, and sign on to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, will be granted a status that is nearly equal to a full rite within the Catholic Church. The provision for a married priesthood, on a case-by-case basis, is perpetual. The provision for their own liturgy is perpetual. The provision for their own episcopacy is perpetual. These Anglo-Catholics within the Protestant world will now become "Anglican Catholics" within the Catholic Church, distinct from Roman Catholics, but united in every way sacramentally and apostolically. These parishes will grow, and likewise the ordinariates will grow as well, until one day in the not-too-distant future they will surpass the Church of England and the Anglican Communion. What's that? You don't think it will happen? Never say "never." It's already begun.

The only question that remains now is one of property. What will become of all those beautiful Anglo-Catholic chapels in Britain, North America and Australia?

In the short run their future is uncertain. In the United States for example, when Episcopalian parishes broke with the larger Episcopalian diocese to join with continuing Anglican groups, the lower courts ruled in their favor. These rulings were later overturned by the state supreme courts. Now the whole matter is being brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, and to the best of my knowledge, no decision has been handed down yet. In Britain and Australia it appears that property issues are more firmly decided in law already, each favoring the Anglican diocese for property rights. I have no idea about Canada, but I imagine the situation is similar.

In the long run the future of the properties is more certain. Most of the more traditional properties (depending on their condition) will end up back in the hands of the Catholic Church. Gasp! What do you mean!?! you say. Well, here's the reality of the situation. The Catholic Church is growing, and the Anglican Ordinariates will be growing exponentially once they get settled in. Money will be flowing into these Catholic parishes, along with new memberships, and so on. In contrast the Church of England, the U.S. Episcopal Church and virtually every Anglican body in the Western world is hemorrhaging. Progressive Modernism has destroyed their ability to grow and flourish. Instead they are stuck in a rut of ever increasing Liberalism, until finally the only people they appease are the Leftist radicals who aren't so big on religion in the first place. Their congregations are becoming increasingly gray headed. Their funerals outnumber their baptisms nearly five to one. They're churches are dying, and now thanks to the ordinariates, they will soon be dying faster. The day will come in the not-too-distant future when they will have to sell off properties just to keep their dioceses afloat. I guarantee it won't be the trendy neo-modern chapels they'll be selling. Nobody wants them. No. They'll be selling those chapels that are worth the most, to maximize their financial gain out of their property loss. Those chapels are the smaller traditional chapels, usually located on choice real estate in the inner cities. That's where they'll get the most money for the least property loss. Who will they sell them to. Well, they really only have two candidates who will be interested. The Evangelicals could care less. They would be more interested in buying something big for their mega-stage productions. No, the only two candidates who will really be interested in buying their properties, and using them for worship, will be the traditional Catholics (either Roman or Anglican), or else the Muslims who will gut them and turn them into mosques. So unless they've got an ax to grind against Catholics, and they want to see their chapels gutted, the most likely candidate they will sell them to are the traditional Catholics (Roman or Anglican) and that is how many of them will eventually end up back in the hands of the Catholic Church. It's inevitable.

After all is said and done though, property is an issue that shouldn't be entering into the equation. What we're talking about here is reunion with the See of Peter. In light of that, property is a very small thing indeed. If that is what holds any Anglo-Catholics back from the ordinariate, than perhaps they need to reassess their priorities.