Is There a New Context Which Will Allow the Catholic Church to Recognise the Validity of Anglican Orders?
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2014 Is there a new context which will allow the Catholic Church to recognise the validity of Anglican orders? T Flynn The University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Philosophy Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Flynn, T. (2014). Is there a new context which will allow the Catholic Church to recognise the validity of Anglican orders? (Master of Philosophy (School of Philosophy and Theology)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/121 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. School of Philosophy and Theology Is there a new context which will allow the Catholic Church to recognise the validity of Anglican Orders? MPhil Thesis in Theology Submitted by Thomas Patrick Godwin Flynn Supervised by Dr Nigel Zimmermann October 2014 Abstract Ever since the emergence of the independent Church of England in the sixteenth century, the Catholic Church has treated its orders as invalid. This practice was affirmed in 1896 by Leo XIII who for the first time published authoritative reasons for the practice. He has been widely misunderstood, not least in the formal response of the English Archbishops (1897). The Anglican formularies, especially the service of Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles, show a determination on the part of the English Reformers to abandon what they regarded as the erroneous doctrines of the Church of Rome. A “receptionist” theology of the Eucharist emerged within Anglicanism which was taught and deepened by the Classic Anglican theologians. The first Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) claimed that its agreement on all important doctrinal matters with respect to Holy Orders and the Eucharist gave rise to a new context for a favourable re-evaluation of Anglican Orders by the Catholic Church. This re-evaluation never happened. Close attention to the ARCIC documents reveals that the agreement was not as complete as was believed. The new Anglican liturgical books show a determination to preserve the core elements of Anglicanism which have always distinguished it from Catholicism. There is no new context which will allow the Catholic Church to recognise the validity of Anglican Orders. 54,969 words. Declaration of Authorship This thesis is the candidate’s own work and contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution. To the best of the candidate’s knowledge, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. _______________ ___________ Candidate’s Name Date Table of Contents 1 Literature review ...................................................................................... 1 1.1 Apostolicae curae: for and against .................................................... 3 1.2 An Anglican Magisterium? ............................................................. 14 1.3 The historical background ............................................................... 19 1.4 Anglican Theologies ....................................................................... 23 1.5 ARCIC’s new context ..................................................................... 25 1.6 Methodological approach ................................................................ 28 1.7 Acknowledgements ......................................................................... 32 2 Introduction ............................................................................................ 33 2.1 The presumptions of this thesis ....................................................... 33 2.2 Definition of terms .......................................................................... 34 2.3 Understanding Apostolicae curae ................................................... 37 2.4 The historical background to the question of Anglican Orders ...... 43 2.4.1 The Edwardine liturgical books ................................................ 43 2.4.2 The emergence of the reformed Church of England ................ 46 2.4.3 The beginnings of Catholic polemic ......................................... 48 2.4.4 The development of the Book of Common Prayer ................... 49 2.4.5 The form of Anglican ordinations ............................................ 51 2.4.6 The origins of Apostolicae curae ............................................. 52 2.4.7 The Archbishops’ Response ..................................................... 53 3 The Bull and its critics ........................................................................... 55 3.1 Apostolicae curae on the defect of form ......................................... 55 3.1.1 Leo XIII and what is needful to confer orders ......................... 55 3.1.2 Leo XIII and the 1662 Ordinal ................................................. 56 3.1.3 The Anglican form of ordination .............................................. 59 3.1.4 Leo XIII’s interpretation of the Ordinal ................................... 67 3.1.5 Leo XIII’s assessment of the Ordinal ....................................... 72 3.2 Apostolicae curae and intention ...................................................... 77 4 The status of the Bull’s decision ............................................................ 80 4.1 The language of the Bull ................................................................. 81 4.2 Not merely disciplinary ................................................................... 84 4.3 Apostolicae curae as a dogmatic fact .............................................. 86 5 The reception of Apostolicae curae ....................................................... 89 5.1 Correctly translating Leo XIII’s definition of the Catholic form of ordination ................................................................................................. 90 5.2 Defect of form and the Sacramentary of Serapion .......................... 93 5.3 The validity of Methodist Baptisms ................................................ 96 6 Anglican Orders, Apostolic Succession and the Eucharist .................. 104 6.1 Anglican Orders and Apostolic Succession .................................. 104 6.2 The Responsio and the doctrine of the Eucharist .......................... 110 6.2.1 Consecrating the offerings ...................................................... 114 6.2.2 Becoming the Body and Blood of Christ ............................... 116 6.3 The Anglican formularies on the Eucharist .................................. 119 6.3.1 From 1549 to 1552 ................................................................. 121 6.3.2 The repetition rubric ............................................................... 124 6.3.3 The revision of the Declaration on Kneeling ......................... 127 6.3.4 The Thirty-Nine Articles and the Council of Trent ................ 133 7 Anglican theologians on the Eucharist ................................................ 140 7.1 Receptionism: the dominant theological position ......................... 140 7.2 Anglican theologians and the Eucharist ........................................ 149 7.2.1 Hoadly and Waterland ............................................................ 149 7.2.2 The Eucharistic sacrifice ........................................................ 155 7.2.3 The Tractarian influence on Anglican Eucharistic doctrine ... 162 7.2.4 The Tractarian Memorial ........................................................ 170 7.2.5 The end of the sacrificing priest ............................................. 172 8 ARCIC and the new context ................................................................ 177 8.1 The ARCIC statements and elucidations ...................................... 177 8.1.1 ARCIC on the Sacrifice of the Eucharist ............................... 177 8.1.2 ARCIC on the Presence of Christ ........................................... 180 8.1.3 ARCIC’s Elucidation on the Eucharist ................................... 182 8.1.4 ARCIC on Ministry and Ordination ....................................... 187 8.1.5 ARCIC’s Elucidation of Ministry and Ordination ................. 188 8.1.6 The consequences of ARCIC’s new context .......................... 189 8.2 The reception of The Final Report ................................................ 198 8.2.1 Transubstantiation and reservation ......................................... 200 8.2.2 The propitiatory sacrifice and the nature of the priest ............ 205 8.2.3 The response to the Roman response ..................................... 209 8.2.4 ARCIC’s reply to the Catholic Response ............................... 220 8.2.4.1 The Comfortable Words and the Prayer of Oblation ........ 221 8.2.4.2 The Real Presence and Reception ..................................... 226 8.3 Common Worship and the New Context ...................................... 229 8.3.1 The Ordinal in Common Worship .........................................