by Brother Gilbert Joseph Bloomer LEB
The establishment of the Personal Ordinariates under Anglicanorum Coetibus by Pope Benedict XVI was a prophetic act of ecclesial unity, honouring the unique gifts of the Anglican tradition while integrating them into the fullness of Catholic communion. As a Hebrew Catholic, formerly an Evangelical and Charismatic Anglican, and now a member of the Australian Ordinariate, I write with gratitude for this path of reconciliation. Yet I also write with concern: the integrity of the Ordinariates' mission is threatened when voices — often influenced by pre-Vatican II nostalgia or rigid traditionalist ideologies — seek to co-opt the Ordinariates into a reactionary identity alien to the Anglican patrimony itself. This tendency undermines both the gift the Ordinariates were meant to be and the wider Catholic Church’s own journey toward healing and unity.
The Anglican Patrimony: Gift and Responsibility
The Anglican tradition — particularly in its best expression — is a complex harmony of Scripture, liturgy, scholarship, hymnody, pastoral theology, and communal prayer rooted in the English spiritual heritage. It has, at times, uniquely embraced elements of both Catholic and Reformed traditions, but always with a particular emphasis on the incarnational, the poetic, and the ecclesially pastoral. When Pope Benedict XVI described the Ordinariates as a “precious gift,” he recognized the legitimate theological, liturgical, and spiritual contributions Anglicans bring to the Catholic Church.
This patrimony includes not only the sacral language and poetic cadence of Divine Worship: The Missal, but also the pastoral sensibility that informed the Oxford Movement, the missionary zeal of the Evangelicals, and the dynamic openness to the Holy Spirit witnessed in the Charismatic renewal. These are living gifts to be cherished, developed, and shared — not relics to be replaced or eclipsed by imported ideologies that have little to do with authentic Anglican sensibility.
The Traditionalist Temptation and the Threat of Misalignment
It is increasingly evident that certain individuals and groups, disenchanted with the post-Vatican II Church, are drawn to the Ordinariates as a perceived sanctuary from what they see as the “modernist” trajectory of Catholicism. This attraction sometimes includes an overt preference for the Tridentine Latin Mass, coupled with an anti-Papal, anti-conciliar, and in some cases even anti-Jewish rhetoric. While legitimate love for the older forms of the liturgy can be spiritually enriching when rightly ordered, the Ordinariates were not instituted to serve as a platform for revanchist liturgical agendas or reactionary polemics.
Such tendencies risk hijacking the Ordinariates from their mission. More concerning, this misalignment can erode the Ordinariates’ witness to unity under the Roman Pontiff, compromise the authentic development of Anglican liturgical forms, and contradict the very Catholicity they profess to embrace. This is especially dangerous when it manifests in hostility toward the Second Vatican Council, the Jewish roots of the faith, or the current magisterium.
A Hebrew Catholic Perspective: Continuity, Not Supersessionism
As a Hebrew Catholic, I am acutely sensitive to currents within certain traditionalist circles that harbor latent (or explicit) anti-Jewish sentiment. A true Catholic identity recognizes that the Jewish roots of the faith are not merely historical artifacts but living sources of grace and understanding (cf. Nostra Aetate, 4). The Ordinariates must remain vigilant in resisting any ideology that would reintroduce the toxins of supersessionism or ecclesial elitism. The Anglican patrimony, with its deep biblical literacy, its love for the Psalter, and its embrace of prophetic justice, can uniquely contribute to a renewed appreciation of the Jewish roots of the Church — especially when celebrated in fidelity to the magisterium and in the light of Divine Mercy.
Evangelical and Charismatic Memory
My own journey through the Evangelical and Charismatic streams of Anglicanism compels me to affirm that the Holy Spirit is not confined to the past, nor to a specific liturgical form. Evangelical Anglicanism taught me to love the Scriptures; the Charismatic renewal taught me to expect the Spirit’s presence in worship and healing. These are not incompatible with the Catholic tradition; indeed, they find their fulfilment within it. The Ordinariates must retain this openness to the Spirit and not allow themselves to become ossified or insular. The temptation to trade the living patrimony of Anglicanism for an imagined golden age of Latin uniformity is, in fact, a betrayal of the very journey that brought us home to Rome.
Fidelity to the Petrine Mandate
The Ordinariates were established not as enclaves for discontented traditionalists but as bridges of communion, manifestations of Pope Benedict XVI’s vision for a healing and reconciling Church. To remain faithful to this Petrine mandate, we must continually centre our mission on the authentic treasures of the Anglican tradition — scriptural devotion, sacramental beauty, poetic worship, pastoral charity, and a humble fidelity to the Holy Father. In doing so, we serve not only our own communities but the wider Church, offering our patrimony as a gift rather than a grievance.
Let the Ordinariates be what they were meant to be: signs of unity, vessels of beauty, and heralds of the Spirit, rooted in Anglican soil and grafted fully into the Catholic Vine.
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