'Anglo-Lutheran Catholics' to Enter Catholic Church through Anglican Ordinariate

By Deacon Keith Fournier
2/27/2011
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Pope Benedict XVI is the Pope of Christian Unity

Pope Benedict XVI has placed the commitment to the full communion of the Church at the forefront of his Papacy. This is evident in his love, respect and repeated overtures toward our Orthodox brethren, whom we recognize as a Church and whose priesthood and Sacraments we also recognize. However, this love is also evident in his outreach to the separated Christians of the Reformation communities of the West. I am not alone in calling Pope Benedict XVI the Pope of Christian Unity.

May They be One

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KANSAS CITY, MO (Catholic Online) - On Thursday I received an E mail from Archbishop Irl Gladfelter, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church entitled, "New Information About The Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church." Readers of my articles on Catholic Online know I have written extensively concerning the Anglican Ordinariate. I mentioned this group of sincere Christians who desire full communion with the Catholic Church on July of 2010 in a piece entitled "Are Lutherans Next? Lutherans Seek Full Communion with Catholic Church".

In that article I wrote: "I am in a dialogue with Archbishop Irl A. Gladfelter, CSP, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church, a group of Lutherans who have embraced the Catholic Catechism and the teaching of the Magisterium. They are humbly knocking at the door of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith seeking a way into full communion. . .Some have said that their smallness and placement on "the fringes" of the Lutheran community makes them less representative. I recall that those were the same comments made about the "Traditional Anglican Communion" in their early efforts. They became the prophetic vehicle the Holy Spirit used to open up an historic breakthrough."

In a lengthy interview the Archbishop shared the journey of this group and their overture to Rome. I decided to write little about them to protect their effort. However, I did write: "To be Catholic is to enter into the prayer of Jesus for the Unity of His Church. In Pope Benedict XVI's first Papal message he signaled his commitment to this unity:

"Nourished and sustained by the Eucharist, Catholics cannot but feel encouraged to strive for the full unity for which Christ expressed so ardent a hope in the Upper Room. The Successor of Peter knows that he must make himself especially responsible for his Divine Master's supreme aspiration. Indeed, he is entrusted with the task of strengthening his brethren (cf. Lk 22: 32). With full awareness, therefore, at the beginning of his ministry in the Church of Rome which Peter bathed in his blood, Peter's current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, his impelling duty."

Pope Benedict XVI has placed the commitment to the full communion of the Church at the forefront of his Papacy. This is evident in his love, respect and repeated overtures toward our Orthodox brethren, whom we recognize as a Church and whose priesthood and Sacraments we also recognize. However, this love is also evident in his outreach to the separated Christians of the Reformation communities of the West. History is demonstrating that this Pope is making some very prophetic overtures toward that end. I am not alone in calling Pope Benedict XVI the Pope of Christian Unity.

On January 14, 2011,upon the Holy Father's return from his apostolic visit to the United Kingdom where he raised Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman to the altar, I wrote "Prophetic Gesture? First Priests of the Anglican Ordinariate to be Ordained." In it I wrote: "Toward the end of his historic visit to the United Kingdom where he presided over the beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman, an Anglican convert who prayed for the reunion of the Anglican communion with Rome, Pope Benedict XVI gathered with all of the Bishops. At the end of the address he spoke these words:

"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."

When I read the Archbishops letter Thursday I was moved to prayer and rejoicing! Let me share some excerpts:

"Good Afternoon, Deacon Fournier:

"On February 21, 2011, it became public that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has invited the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church (ALCC) to enter the Catholic Church "through the provisions of Anglicanorum coetibus," and that the ALCC has officially and unconditionally accepted their invitation. I am writing to inform you that this information is correct. ...

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1 - 10 of 10 Comments

Monsignor Victor Cianca, NAORCC
4 months ago
May, we all be one united, through the Vicar of Christ, and the Holy Roman Catholic Church. I have worked directly with the agreement sign by us,(NAORC) and the ALCC here in Pittsburgh. Both groups work for the faith and glory of God, hoping all roads lead to Rome. Blessings in all things.
Rev. Scott Yakimow
2 years ago
Be very, very careful when dealing with statements from the ALCC.

I am a pastor in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and have had long dealings with Irl Gladfelter in a Lutheran online forum run by the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. The long and the short of it is that eventually Irl ceased participating in that forum when it became painfully apparent that the ALCC is a questionable enterprise. If you like, peruse a couple of pages of interaction from a few years ago to see the kinds of questions that don't get answered:

http://www.alpb.org/forum/index.php?topic=1528.msg60676#msg60676

And more recently:

http://www.alpb.org/forum/index.php?topic=3688.msg206732#msg206732

For starters, Irl used to run (I don't know if he still does) a marriage mill out of his house, has no theological education to speak of (I believe his training is in dentistry and he used to be military), and if you Google map the "parishes" referenced on his website, you'll see that they are almost universally private homes in suburbia (I have been unable to find a single church building among them -- it would be an interesting exercise to show up at one on a Sunday during the scheduled mass and see what's going on).

Which is all to say -- be sure to do some research of your own on the ALCC in general and Irl in particular. Even in the article above note that the documentation he provides nowhere references an actual acceptance letter, and if it did, then I would question the integrity of the process behind the Anglican ordinariate (which is otherwise a very good thing).

I pursue matters like this because I used to be a missionary in East Africa and had multiple unfortunate dealings with groups claiming to be legitimate Lutheran denominations that were nothing of the sort but rather ways to achieve money and power. So when I see questionable "denominations" in the U.S., I believe it's worth pursuing to see what's really going on behind them.

Which is all to say: caveat emptor.
Tony Fernandez
2 years ago
Good News. "That we all may be ONE.
Barbara Thomson
2 years ago
Christian Unity could well be the most outstanding evidence of the workings of the Holy Spirit in the world today.

I am just a lay person, but based on my experience, the key issue at least among the lay people in various Christian denominations could be:

1) real lack of thorough understanding of exactly how and why the break with Rome occurred. A lot of misinformation keeps individual with "suspended belief"!

2) I regret to say that some of the "prejudice against the Roman Catholic Church
is based on prejudices engendered in their youth.

3) Very sadly I must confess that for those in other Christian denominations or the Roman Catholics themselves who are "marginal Catholics" suffer poorly all the scandals in recent times. Of course the worst press is the "mediocre Catholic"

4) Lay people of real devout beliefs will experience a time of "grieving" when separation or better union with Rome is decided. I know that the gentleness of the Pope will make the journey to Rome very spiritually significant.

So the task of Unity is on the shoulders of each Catholic just as much as it is on the shoulders of Pope Benedict XVI.
Tom
2 years ago
This is truly the work of the Holy Spirit. All praise and honor is his. I hope one day we all will be one church.
Mary42
2 years ago
Davide, Amen to that. What a blessing to be alive to witness Christ's Prayer for the Unity of His Church beginning to be fulfilled. + Laudetur Iesus Christus +
martin kerslake-griffiths
2 years ago
Laus Dei!

Pray for our Holy Father Pope Benedict in his work for christian unity.

I hope and pray that the Fraternity of Saint Pius X will soon be given canonical status.
Croy
2 years ago
Deacon,

I'm afraid you've been had. This is one of those independent catholic groups -- the kind that have 10 people, 9 of whom are clergy. In fact, this church lists 12 bishops and 4 priests.Their Metropolitan Archbishop was ordained by Peter Paul Brennan who was ordained by Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo (subsequently excommunicated).
Troy
2 years ago
Great new! God is working wonders to bring His sheep together.
Davide
2 years ago
This is Wonderful news

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