The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada L'église Catholique Anglicane du Canada Newsletter Title Archdiocesan news March 2012 Province of Canada Office: Whither the ACCC? suggesting that Bishop Wilkinson 70 Bentley Avenue, Suite 102 and the other clergy in the Victoria Ottawa, ON CANADA K2E 6T8 The February issue of this newslet- Telephone: 613-233-3915 area have already left the ACCC. ter was completed in early January Email: [email protected] Web- That is simply not correct. They will site: www.anglicancatholic.ca so that your editor could sneak away remain members until April 15. with his wife for a brief Florida va- Metropolitan of the Province of Canada Diocesan Bishop of the Pro-Diocese of cation. The weather was splendid, Acknowledging this timetable, those Our Lady of Walsingham thank you! That did, however, who are already in the Pro-Diocese The Most Rev. Peter Wilkinson, OSG leave somewhat of a hole in terms of Our Lady of Walsingham (headed 209-25 Government Street Victoria BC V8V 2K4 of news developments between imminently for the ordinariate), or are poised in that direction, have met 250-385-4444 early January and this current issue. [email protected] or are about to meet with our respec- In late January, Bishop Peter Wil- tive parishes, and, in many cases, Apostolic Commissary – Province of kinson, along with Fr’s Birch, Ma- also with the local Catholic (arch) Canada lins and Henry (also representing bishop. In all cases, we have been Auxiliary Bishop of the Pro-Diocese of met with the same profoundly co- Our Lady of Walsingham Gale, Switzer and Braunstein) met The Rt. Rev. Carl Reid operative spirit of helpfulness in cre- with Bishop Gagnon of the Catholic 6541 Michelangelo Court ating sodalities as we await the for- North Gower ON K0A 2T0 Diocese of Victoria. The purpose of mation of a Canadian Deanery of the 613-489-2538 the meeting was to determine a way Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. [email protected] forward for the Victoria Fellowship When Bishop Peter was in Houston Chancellor – Province of Canada of Blessed John Henry Newman. in February he met with Mons Steen- Apostolic Adminstrator of the son for several hours. He confirmed Diocese of Canada And, just as in Waterloo a few that we would have such a Deanery The Rt. Rev. Craig Botterill months ago, the suggestion was to and Bishop Peter asked if our patron 10 Granby Court Halifax NS B3R 2M7 form a sodality—which in this situa- could be St John the Baptist, our 902-444-5326 tion, as we anticipate the extension country’s old patron, and whose [email protected] of the US Ordinariate of the Chair Octave Day is July I, our national Assistant Bishop of St Peter to include a Canadian holiday. Mons Steenson readily The Rt. Rev. Robert Crawley, SSC Deanery—means a ―parish in wait- agreed, and looks forward to com- 2689 Selwyn Road ing‖. Which is to say, while they ing to Canada again. Victoria BC V9B 3L2 will be welcomed by Bishop Other parishes are just having Gagnon, his Victoria Diocese lays their meetings, or in some cases Inside this issue: no claim on any assets; they remain the property of the fellowship/ “It IS What We Asked For” - Fr. Michael Birch 3 sodality/parish-in-waiting, as articu- “Forbearance” - J.R.R. Tolkien reflection by Donald Demarco 4 lated in Anglicanorum Coetibus. Notes & News 5 The date chosen for this to occur is Maggie’s Kitchen 6 Easter I, April 15. Pope Benedict’s Lenten Message 7 This has led to a certain amount of Healey Willan Society established by Catholics 9 incorrect speculation. Some are are some weeks away. We have communicated with Fr Dn Henry Stauffenberg the rectors in those cases, and have tried to reflect their Fr Dn Michael Trolly respective understanding of what they, in discussion Fr Ernest Skublics (All Saints, Calgary-only part, date with their faithful, understand how the cards will fall. TBD) Calgary is perhaps the biggest challenge to under- Fr Dn Glenn Galenkamp stand: there is already an ordinariate parish there (St Fr Colin O’Rourke (Christ the King, Calgary-only part John the Evangelist); some of our Christ the King peo- of parish, Apr 8) ple have already moved there, more will be going on Easter, and, of the remaining approximately half, some Fr Lloyd Gedge will moving to that portion of All Saints that intends to Fr David Skelton (Fellowship of Blessed John Henry remain in the Diocese of Canada, others will leave Newman, Edmonton-April 15) altogether. It appears that only a minority from All Fr Bryan Donegan Saints will also join St John the Evangelist, with the Fr Jim Tilley (Good Shepherd, Oshawa-April 15) majority remaining in the Diocese of Canada. We Fr David Garrett have tried to reflect this below, recognizing that this does not commit anyone to a particular position; it is Fr Raymond Ball (already a sodality of St Edmund, Waterloo) only our best understanding at the time of printing: : Fr Gérard Trinque (Christ the King, Tyendinaga-date Clergy (Parishes) remaining in the TBD) Diocese of Canada Fr Doug Hayman (St Barnabas, Spencerville-Apr 15) Bishop Craig Botterill (St Aidan’s, Halifax) Dean Shane Janzen (St John the Evangelist, Victoria) Fr Kipling Cooper (Holy Nativity, Barrhaven-date TBD) Fr Douglas Ohs Fr Richard Root Fr Doug Nicholson (St Athanasius, Montreal-date Fr Trevor Elliot (Our Lady & St Michael, Edmonton) TBD) Fr. Oswald Slattery (The majority of All Saints, and part of Christ the King, Calgary) Fr Charles Warner (Holy Cross, Sydney Forks-date TBD) Fr Howard Patterson (Holy Trinity, Medicine Hat) Fr Chris Le Page (St Thomas More, Charlottetown- (St Barnabas, Moose Jaw—now without a priest since date TBD) the sudden death of Fr Dennis Dickson) Fr Ted Bowles Undecided Fr Lee Whitney Fr Michael Shier (St Peter & St Paul, Vancouver; St Michael, Matsqui) Fr Harley Kynock (St George’s, Mosers River) Fr Jim Schovanek (All Saints, Calgary) Fr Fred Highmore (St Stephen, St Johns) Fr Douglas Skoyles Fr Fabian Ollerhead Fr Edward Fizzard Fr Richard Harris (St Michael, Fredericton Jctn.) Fr John Hall Fr Dn Robert Short Fr Ron McBrine Clergy (Parishes) seeking imminent inclusion in the Ordinariate (dates if known) Looking ahead to April 15, this March issue of the Bishop Peter Wilkinson (Fellowship of Blessed John newsletter might possibly be the last produced in the Henry Newman, Victoria-April 15) Ottawa office of the ACCC, as the records will be Fr Michael Birch moved to Victoria soon. Following that move, we Fr Don Malins might presume that, under Fr Shane Janzen’s manage- Fr Sean Henry ment, a new newsletter, for what will become a one- Fr Ralph Braunstein diocese ACCC again, will be forthcoming. Fr Edward Gale As a final note, I pray that all of us, even as we may be Fr Peter Switzer parting ways, will continue in a spirit of mutual good Bishop Carl Reid (Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin will. Mary, Ottawa-April 15) +Carl Fr David Walsh It IS What we asked for! It used to be matter of Churchmanship that tore Anglicans apart; Christendom was torn apart by a Creedal phrase (―and the Son‖), and by beliefs over what took place at the Eucharist and just what that holy Service meant. Now it is unity between Christian brethren that tears us apart. We are constantly able to demonstrate to the world (before whom we are witnesses to the truth of the Gospel) and to God our Father that we reject any leading of the Holy Spirit. We will live by our immediate feelings, which arise from hatreds and suspi- cions of past generations, and not by the fresh springs of spiritual grace. Our own little corner of Christianity is certainly a study in all this these past few years. When I entered the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, I was told of our search for a union with Rome that would place us un- der the jurisdiction of the Holy See without our having to give up our Anglican ways and be absorbed into the larger whole. It seemed like an exciting prospect, although I wasn’t sure it would ever be achieved in my life- time. At Synods, the Church seemed united in moving in this direction, although when it looked like it might well become a reality, one saw the claws coming out and people beginning to drop away or turn on their brethren. At each step of the way this process has become exacerbated as personal fear, hatred, distrust and so forth have swept over people, egged on by others who have already left us so that they can remain more purely ―Anglican‖, an ever-smaller pond in which to swim. It has been a terrible time for those whose dream was to go forward as a Church into this new relationship with Rome. It has been terrible to be turned on by those we thought were brethren joined to us in faith and the Holy Spirit. It has been terrible to find that the generosity of Pope Benedict XVI seemed to be interpreted in quite another way by Roman bishops placed in charge of the process, engendering further hatred of them by the already suspicious. We thought in Canada (and elsewhere) that we would simply morph into an Ordinari- ate entity, meeting within it other Anglicans who had come in separate from us. But in Canada the Roman authorities refused to deal with us as a Diocese, as a ―Church‖.