Parting is such sweet sorrow

The article below was posted by Bishop Edwin Barnes who is due to be received as a Catholic Priest in the English Ordinariate. For Bishop Barnes it has been a true act of faith to leave the Church of England having served as an esteemed Bishop with all of the benefits afforded by the English Church and enter the Catholic Church as a simple Priest.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

With so many clergy and lay people leaving the Church of England for the Ordinariate, it is not surprising that on either hand there are people speaking or writing intemperately. It can seem that the actions of other people is a judgment on us – we have been timid and held back, we have been headstrong and acted too quickly, what we have done casts aspersions on those taking a different path. Somehow, we need to do what we can to stop this, and restore Christian charity among brethren. I can't speak for other people; but I have been greatly supported and encouraged both by people determined to remain in the Church of England, and by Catholics coming to terms with what the Ordinariate might mean. It has been difficult on both hands; our Anglican brothers and sisters seeing us go, our Catholic brothers and sisters not knowing how they should accommodate us – and especially those priests living a celibate life who see us becoming priests while enjoying family life with wife and children and grandchildren, consolations they have never known.

First, at the ordination of the three former Anglican Bishops, I found the words of Archbishop Vincent Nichols a great help. No one was being asked to deny anything of their previous ministry. It had been fruitful. What they were entering into was an extension and a continuation of that former ministry. People sometimes express surprise that I am to be ordained priest within a few weeks of being received – surely I cannot have had enough time to prepare? But for me, the whole of my ministry until now has been a preparation for the Catholic Priesthood. There is no great breach between the two. The eucharists I have celebrated until now might have been lacking in the certainty which attaches to Catholic sacraments; but if this is so, then it must be that the Lord has intervened miraculously and with extraordinary generosity - for I know that those celebrations have borne fruit, not thistles. This, I believe, is what the Archbishop of Westminster was saying when he spoke of the fruitful ministry of the former bishops of Ebbesfleet, Richborough and Fulham.

For those unable or at present unwilling to join the Ordinariate, I have great sympathy. That is exactly where I was through the 1990's, believing that the Church of England would make proper provision for Catholic Anglicans. That is why I became a 'Flying Bishop', a PEV, helping people remain in the C of E who would otherwise have left it. I now feel sure the Church of England has gone too far down the path to consecrating women as bishops for it to reconsider or withdraw. If others, though, believe there is still a chance, however slim, of that decision being frustrated or reversed, then good for them. They will certainly continue in my prayers, and I hope in the prayers of all former Anglicans now or soon in Communion with the See of Peter. The most recent letter from the twelve 'SSWSH' bishops admits that the chances are slim; but it is an honourable path to stay until the last possible moment. We don't though join, or refuse to join, the Catholic Church simply over one debatable issue, but because we find in it, or fail to find, the Church which Our Lord handed into the care of his Apostles.

This morning at Mass we prayed for a dear lady from the congregation in Lymington who is suffering from cancer. She was there with her husband, and at the end of Mass she came forward to be anointed. The little group of us present gathered round to pray for her. That is where the heart of the Church is, not in disputes over property, or the validity of orders, or words like "renegade" or "aff-cath". Each of us will be answerable to Our Lord for ourselves and our actions, not those of other people. So let's all of us seek to be the best possible Anglican that we can be, the best possible Catholic that we can be. If we succeed in that, then the man-made divisions will become much less formidable, much more easily crossed.

Thank you everyone, Catholic and Anglican, who is praying for Keith Newton and the rest of us in the Ordinariate. We shall do our best to continue to love and pray for you on either bank of the Tiber. And please pray for Freda anointed at Mass this morning and for her husband John.