The Traditional Anglican Church

Visit of Pope Benedict

A letter of welcome from the Vicar General has been sent. TAC Bishops were made very welcome, as were Bishops associated with Forward in Faith, at the Beatification of Cardinal Newman.

Note the Pope's concluding instruction to the English and Welsh hierarchy: . . . I asked you to be generous in implementing the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. This should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all. Let us continue to pray and work unceasingly in order to hasten the joyful day when that goal can be accomplished.

2010 Assembly

The most important resolutions of the Assembly are as follows.

1. That this Assembly, having now seen the publication of the Apostolic Constitution and the Norms, and studied the Pope's generous offer to Anglicans therein contained, endorses its earlier decision to seek to enter the Ordinariate. (This refers to the 2009 resolution below.)
2. That this Assembly welcomes the fact that some clergy and people in Forward in Faith are preparing to accept Pope Benedict XVI's generous offer of full communion with the See of Peter, as set out in Anglicanorum Coetibus, thus fulfilling the Concordat between the Traditional Anglican Communion and Forward in Faith. We look forward to positive collaboration with all those involved in the establishment of the Ordinariate in England and Wales.
3. We continue to pray that all Anglicans may one day find reconciliation with the See of Peter.

The 2009 Resolution was as follows.

That this Assembly, representing the Traditional Anglican Communion in Great Britain, offers its joyful thanks to Pope Benedict XVI for his forthcoming Apostolic Constitution allowing the corporate reunion of Anglicans with the Holy See, and requests the Primate and College of Bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion to take the steps necessary to implement this Constitution.

Background information of continuing importance

The reliable background about the news of 20th October 2009 (the response to the TAC petition) is the Vatican statement (with a subsequent clarification) and the statement by Archbishop Hepworth. The Apostolic Constitution "Anglicanorum Coetibus" is now available, as are the "Complementary Norms". The process envisaged by TAC can be seen in the following statement by Archbishop Hepworth. He released, following the formal reply to the TAC petition, a pastoral letter "On the Gathering of Anglicans" which includes answers to some important questions. He has recently (30th November 2010) issued a pastoral statement. See also the section "Unity and Diversity" below. It emerged in the course of the 2010 Assembly that a large majority of the priests of TTAC had supplied personal dossiers. There have been various problems of format, but the dossiers are now being scrutinised.

Robert Mercer, for whose ministry amongst us and other parts of TAC many are grateful, was received into the Ordinariate on January 7th 2012 at St. Agatha's, Portsmouth.

In general, however, this site should not be seen as a place for Ordinariate news, or opinions.