Ut unum sint

On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus Christ prayed "that they may all be one" (John 17:21). Such unity has been splintered greatly in past centuries and is a cause of scandal for many. The unity of Christians must be in our constant prayers.

The Holy See today announced the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will issue an Apostolic Constitution to create "personal ordinariates" for members of the Anglican Communion who seek full, visible communion with the Catholic Church:

In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy.

The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution provides a reasonable and even necessary response to a world-wide phenomenon, by offering a single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application. It provides for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy. Historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Constitution therefore stipulates that the Ordinary can be either a priest or an unmarried bishop. The seminarians in the Ordinariate are to be prepared alongside other Catholic seminarians, though the Ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony. In this way, the Apostolic Constitution seeks to balance on the one hand the concern to preserve the worthy Anglican liturgical and spiritual patrimony and, on the other hand, the concern that these groups and their clergy will be integrated into the Catholic Church.

This is very good news indeed. This morning true ecumenism has taken a large stride forward. You can read the entire text of the announcement - together with Father Zuhlsdorf's comments - here.

Let each of us take up the prayer of Christ the High Priest "that they may all be one," and let us pray for all people seeking union with the Church.

I wonder if this will come up this morning at the meeting of the Virden-Girard Ministerial Association.

Update: Father Zuhlsdorf also comments on the joint statement of the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster and the Most Reverend Rowan Williams, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury.