May They Be One! Will 2013 Be the Year of a Lutheran Ordinariate?

By Deacon Keith Fournier
1/27/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

The teaching of the Catholic Church is rooted in an ecclesiology of communion.

The heart of the Gospel message is that in and through Jesus Christ, authentic unity with God - and through Him, in the Spirit, with one another- is not only possible but is the plan of God for the entire human race. The Church is the way. It was not the Lord's plan that she be divided. It is His Plan that she be restored to full communion.

Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig M�ller and a Lutheran Bishop

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WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - On January 21, 2013, the Alessandro Speciale, writing for La Stampa's Vatican Insider, wrote an article which caused quite a stir. It concerned comments made by Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig M�ller, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith. Those comments seem favorable to the possibility of the establishment of an Ordinariate structure for groups of Lutherans, should they seek to come into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

The article caused a negative reaction in some institutional Lutheran circles. It also set the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) abuzz. This double reaction was not unlike the reaction which occurred back when the idea began to be floated that groups of Anglicans might indeed seek full communion - and before the issuance of Pope Benedicts Historic apostolic constitution making it a reality. Remember the uproar from some Anglican Leaders? Remember the outcry from the SSPX?

Yet, consider the historic and miraculous turn of events which we have lived though as the Holy Spirit moved to bring healing to the divisions in the Christian community. The Pope of Christian Unity, Benedict XVI, issued an apostolic constitution setting forth the vehicle for the establishment of Ordinariates for groups of former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while maintaining certain aspects of their patrimony.

Back in 2009 I reported on the tragic situation which had befallen the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as its leadership has allowed that community to veer into heresy and abandon orthodox Christian doctrine concerning marriage and sexual morality based on a vote. I did so because I believe that as a Catholic I should be concerned about other Christians who are struggling within the communities which descended from the Protestant Reformation which are abandoning orthodox Christian doctrine. Though the article was generally well received, there were some disapproving comments.

They ranged from a reader who wondered why such an article was "even published on a Catholic Web Site", to others which used the term "schismatic" in reference to all Protestant Christians. Some objected to my use of the term, "orthodox' to distinguish those Lutherans who adhered to what C.S. Lewis would have called "Mere Christianity" by accepting the fundamentals of the Christian faith and those who have succumbed to heresy.

Something similar happened when I reported on the assault on the basics of Christian doctrine within the Anglican/ Episcopal communities when the notion that a path to full communion for whole groups was only "in the wings" and being decried by many and belittled by others.Well, look at what the Holy Spirit has done, working through a courageous Pope with a heart that beats with the Heart of jesus for the healing of the Body of Christ.

Lutheran Pastors, as individuals, have been making the move home to the Catholic Church for years.Some have sort ordination to the Catholic priesthood. In July of 2010 I reported that Peter Kemmether, a married then 62 year old father of four children was ordained to the Holy Priesthood. Fr. Peter was granted a dispensation from the canonical discipline of celibacy attached to priestly ordination in the Roman Catholic Church. He had been a Protestant Pastor who came into the full communion of the Catholic Church as the fruit of a sincere search for the fullness of the Christian faith.

The German Bishop who ordained him was Bishop Gerhard Ludwig M�ller. So, I was not surprised to read the article concerning now Archbishop M�ller's comments on the possibility that the Holy See might consider such an ordinariate - if groups of Lutherans made such a request. He, and the Pope he serves so well, both hail from Germany. They are well aware of the situation facing Lutheran Christians in that nation. They have been exposed to a very "high church" form of Lutheran liturgical expression.

The American Lutheran communities are generally more "low church", but not always. I recently received a copy of a letter recently sent from a group of Lutherans in the United States which was written on December 12, 2012 and addressed to Cardinal Kurt Koch of the Pontifical Council Promoting Unity seeking just such a possible path to full communion for a group of Lutherans. I have reason to believe there are others, both here and abroad, and they will multiply.

In December of 2012, Zenit News published a wide ...

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1 - 6 of 6 Comments

Ryan
3 months ago
Sounds like it would be easier for the Lutherans to get in than SSPX. Well I guess if you accept Vatican II all is forgiven and you can believe whatever you want. Our Lady said that Rome will become the Seat of the Anti-Christ. Here is it folks, all in the name inclusion.
michael
3 months ago
A Rev. John Cornelius, an episcopalian "minister", entered into the True Church just a few years ago. He will be reordained in the very near future. When interviewed he stated that he looked forward to such an event because he missed saying Mass and hadn't done so in two years. Obviously Rev. Cornelius wasn't trained properly, for he has never said Mass in his life.

The reason I bring this up is because of the danger of putting a unified front ahead of the Faith. Unity finds its fulfillment in love, but is founded on Faith. Lutheranism, be it high or low, is even more revolutionary than Anglicanism. Much conversion is needed before such individuals can enter into Holy Church.

Just two more points: First, the Church is already one and always has been one in Faith, Hope, and Love in the Catholic Church, which, despite an above comment, is not an offshoot of Judaism, but rather the true Religion carried on that began at the time of Adam. Secondly, the above picture of Archbishop Muller with a Lutheran "bishop" is disturbing. St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Alphonsus Liguouri, and every moral theologian of note clearly teaches that active participation in non-Catholic worship by a Catholic, especially a cleric, is against Divine Law, and is the gravest of matter. Note, they state that it is against Divine Law which in no way can be excused. These joint prayer sessions, joint blessing, and exchanging of pulpit services, are objectively mortally sinful and must be stopped lest the wrath of God come down upon us. Our Lord is patient with sins of the flesh...but when it comes to sins involving worship, His wrath flares more immediately.
DarthJ
3 months ago
The picture shown is Archbishop Muller, now head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Inquisition), having a joint "blessing" with a Lutheran "priest." How he did this when the Lutherans have an invalid Priesthood is beyond me. The idea of a Lutheran "Rite" is as absurd and contradictory as it sounds. But Heaven forbid the SSPX be recognized as being within the Church.
andrew
3 months ago
The cast is set and God will do the rest. Fractures in a living body are bound to unify and I pray it happens this year.
abey
3 months ago
The negative reaction of some of the Lutheran circles is not to a worry, but the reaction of the society of St. PIUS X is a concern, for it concerns Biblical prophecy that which the parent Church lacks today to its various problems & confusions is to know that Jesus Christ Himself is the Spirit of Prophecy, which is the testimony, for the strength to the standing of the Church rests on this.
Mathew Thankachen O.Praem
3 months ago
History repeats itself. The Polytheists of the Ancient times forges into unity to profess 'Monotheists' of the Semitic Religions.This unity is attributed to David and dis integrity of the Nation begins with Solomon, despite his high profile wisdom. Catholic Church and Christianity being the off shoot of Semitic religions, had a tremendous emphasis on unity in the structure, culture, faith and morals of the Church which was attributed to Jesus spiritually and emperor Constantine politically. whatever be the historical evolution, the schism and division of the " one holy apostolic Church' paved way for intrusion of Islam into the heartland of Christianity. The god of individualism of the 19th c. unraveled the core of man in term of 'personal liberty', interpreting the Bible, tradition, faith and morals to suit one's end. It is here we stand at the low alter ( not liturgy) of homo-sexual ism, Equivalency, abortion, euthanasia, terrorism, fanaticism and the very survival of the Christianity itself. It is only but logical that an " internal profession of faith in one God" be expressed in the external " unity" of faith in the Catholic Church. in the previous year of the 'Unity Week', the leaders of the Christian denominations were presenting a " Rainbow Church" for which I commented that " in those seven colors came together, it would have been such a marvelous light radiating " pure white" of the Resurrected Church. I wish, a true conversion among the churches like St.Paul himself for a " Home Coming".
Mathew Thankachen O.Praem

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