The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada L'église Catholique Anglicane du Canada Newsletter Title Archdiocesan news January 2012 Province of Canada Office: elcome to the new look ecclesial body in communion with 70 Bentley Avenue, Suite 102 Ottawa, ON CANADA K2E 6T8 W newsletter for the Anglican the Catholic Church. That was still Telephone: 613-233-3915 Catholic Church of Canada. Our the sentiment as recently as Synod Email: [email protected] Website: www.anglicancatholic.ca November 26, 2011 Provincial / 2010 in Vancouver; but, we had not Metropolitan of the Province of Canada Diocesan Council meeting saw a yet heard from the respective Episco- Diocesan Bishop of the Pro-Diocese of notable change to our national pal delegates in each country. Our Lady of Walsingham The Most Rev. Peter Wilkinson, OSG church body; thus, a corresponding As we now know, our rose-coloured- 209-25 Government Street change to the appearance of the Victoria BC V8V 2K4 glasses reading of the AC was, in 250-385-4444 newsletter. some key areas, quite different than [email protected] Members of the Anglican Catholic the interpretation as explained to us Apostolic Commissary – Province of Canada Auxiliary Bishop of the Pro-Diocese of Church of Canada should all be by the Episcopal delegates. So dif- Our Lady of Walsingham aware of said change; however, for ferent is it in some areas that it has The Rt. Rev. Carl Reid 6541 Michelangelo Court the benefit of our readers, a synopsis negatively altered the hopes of some North Gower ON K0A 2T0 may be helpful. in our church. 613-489-2538 [email protected] Many years ago, we established a Yes, the means is mandated in the Chancellor – Province of Canada slightly peculiar structure for the AC for former Anglicans (as we are Apostolic Adminstrator of the Diocese of Canada Anglican Catholic Church of Can- to be called) to bring Anglican forms The Rt. Rev. Craig Botterill ada — at one and the same time, we of worship and patrimony into the 10 Granby Court Halifax NS B3R 2M7 were a church of one Province and Catholic Church — a must-have for 902-444-5326 one Diocese. Normally, there most of us, otherwise ―What‘s the [email protected] would be more than one Diocese in point?‖; however, the hope for truly Assistant Bishop order to warrant the creation of a corporate reception (of national TAC The Rt. Rev. Robert Mercer, CR 3 The Limes, St. Botolph‘s Rd. Province. The rationale for our hav- church bodies) is not on the table. Worthing, West Sussex ing created the Province somewhat Corporate only goes so far as each BN11 4HY UK 011-441-903-620-772 prematurely was to simplify the individual parish, be it ACCC/TAC process of splitting the national or from any other Anglican church. Assistant Bishop The Rt. Rev. Robert Crawley, SSC church into multiple dioceses when And this has become a quite predict- 2689 Selwyn Road Victoria BC V9B 3L2 we felt it was necessary to do so. able and understandable show- Of course, at the time, the anticipa- (Continued on page 2) tion was that we would eventually Inside this issue: create multiple dioceses based on Provincial Notes and News 2 geography — western, central and eastern dioceses, still forming one The Leadership of Pope St Damasus I 3 national Provincial body. The Ark of the New Covenant 5 Along came Anglicanorum Co- Encouraging news from the field of stem cell research 6 etibus. Our initial reading of that Maggie’s Kitchen 8 Apostolic Constitution (AC) encour- aged us all to believe that we would indeed be received as a corporate stopper for some of our members. thing arises to encourage them to join the ―first wave‖ The requirement for reception as individuals, even if into the Catholic Church, that too is just fine. members of a parish group, including Confirmation, The two diocese model is meant to be flexible; and all is deemed as unreasonable by many. is to move forward in a spirit of respect and charity for From the very outset, it was suggested that there each individual‘s decision. should be a means in place to accommodate those Notwithstanding the creation of a second diocese, who were either uncertain, or simply not ready to there is only one national registered charity, "The Di- avail themselves of the offer to join the Catholic ocesan Church Society of the Anglican Catholic Church, even if in an ―enclave‖ of sorts for former Church of Canada" which, recognized by the Canada Anglicans. Revenue Agency, permits us to issue income tax re- Therefore, with the now-understood reality of the in- ceipts to individuals and parishes that donate and tithe terpretation of the AC by our Episcopal delegates, our to the ACCC. Accounts and signing officers have Council meeting in November decided, by a simple long been set up to deal with the finances of our na- bill, to proceed with the creation of the multi-diocese tional Church on this basis and no immediate change model. However, rather than a model based on geo- in this arrangement is foreseen. graphical boundaries, we have created a two-diocese We are still one national church. model based on intention. +Carl Reid A newly created Pro-Diocese (Our Lady of And, by the way, from what we can determine at the Walsingham) is now in place, with Bishop Peter Wil- time of writing, the alignment among our ACCC kinson as the Ordinary. Bishop Carl Reid becomes clergy appears to be two-thirds in Our Lady of his Auxiliary bishop. This is for those who intend to Walsingham, and one-third in the Diocese of Canada. move forward now under the Apostolic Constitution. For those intending to ―hold off‖ on the offer of the AC, the Diocese of Canada, under the Apostolic Ad- ministration of Bishop Craig Botterill is the choice. Bishop Peter Wilkinson remains as Metropolitan (a title he has always had, as did Bishop Mercer before him) of the Province of Canada – Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, of which the two dioceses are both members. At the same Council meeting in November, a secon- Notes and News dary motion was passed, affirming that both dioceses Hettie Corps, just having moved to Penticton to be remain ―committed to seeking full and visible unity closer to her sons and grandchildren, has been as- with the See of Peter, as confirmed at Synod 2010, signed a new telephone number in the 778 overlay and as articulated in the Affirmation of St Louis, area code. Her new number is: which is part of our constitution‖. 778-476-2698. Some have misunderstood this whole process, feeling Father Ray Ball is off on his annual trips; first to that the ACCC has somehow been split into warring the Caribbean and then to South Africa—places factions. Most simply stated, the two dioceses are not where he spent many years in his priestly ministry. in opposition; that which separates them is simply the Fr. Gale‘s address on Mayne Island has (we pre- immediate intentions as to unity with the Catholic sume by Canada Post) changed in removing all of Church – they are just on different timetables. the RR1, Site 8 etc. Please note the subtle differ- Neither is there any hard and fast requirement for ence in the postal code: each individual in the ACCC to engrave in stone their 576 Arbutus Drive own intentions with no possibility of change. Some Mayne Island BC V0N 2J1 may choose the Our Lady of Walsingham route; but New co-ordinates for Fr Ron McBrine: something may crop up in the months ahead that 40 Kaitlyn Street might prompt them to wish to ―hold off‖; and that is Rothesay NB E2E 0M6 just fine. Similarly, some may be reticent today and Tel. 506-216-1944 Email: [email protected] be aligned with the Diocese of Canada; but, if some- 2 Pope Damasus I and not God. Elected Pope after Liberius died in 366, Damasus took the reigns of a Church still suffering Denver, Colo., Dec 11, 2011 / 07:13 am (CNA).- On from widespread confusion four decades after its first Dec. 11, both Roman Catholics and Eastern Catholics ecumenical council. commemorate Pope St. Damasus I, who led the Church through a critical part of the fourth-century After Damasus' election, a deacon named Ursinus at- Arian controversy over Jesus' divinity. tempted to set himself up as a rival pope – resulting in riots in which more than 130 people died, and a While not necessarily a figure of popular devotion schism that persisted for some time during his papacy. today, Pope Damasus I made decisions that shaped The Pope prayed for the reconciliation of these sepa- the future of Western Catholicism and the universal rated clergy, and lived to see some of them return. Church. During his pontificate, Latin became the offi- cial liturgical lan- During Damasus' era, the Church's increased power guage of the Ro- and prestige tempted many clergy to lead corrupt lives. man Church, which Damasus took pains to enforce the decree of the West- had used Greek ern Emperor Valentinian, who urged the Pope to pre- extensively in the vent scandalous behavior among the clergy and those past. in religious life. The same Pope While Valentinian, who reigned from 364 to 375, gen- authorized St. erally fulfilled his duties as a Catholic statesman of his Jerome to revise day, the Eastern Emperor Valens promoted Arianism the Latin transla- and persecuted Eastern Catholics who upheld ortho- tion of the Bible doxy.