Anglicanorum Coetibus--top news story of 2009?

Christian Campbell, moderator of The AngloCatholic blog, comments on Ian Hunter's op ed in the Globe and Mail. Here's an excerpt with his emphases and comments in red:

here is an excellent piece in Canada’s The Globe and Mail today, written by Ian Hunter, professor emeritus in the faculty of law at the University of Western Ontario. Professor Hunter correctly identifies the Holy Father’s invitation to traditionalist Anglicans as the most significant news story of 2009 (from a religious perspective, I would argue, that Anglicanorum Coetibus will ultimately be recognized as one of the biggest developments since the time of the Reformation!). My emphases and comments.

The big news: The Pope welcomes disaffected Anglicans

Will Oct. 20 be remembered as the day when the Berlin Wall of religious separation began to crumble? [Let us remember that the foundation of this wall dividing Rome and Canterbury was first erected by politicians for political motives.]

With year’s end fast approaching, columnists and pundits will hold forth on what was the most significant news story of 2009. The story I nominate is unlikely to bulk large in their consideration, unlikely even to be mentioned, but I suggest that the most important story was Pope Benedict XVI’s overture to disaffected Anglicans.

The story really begins a couple of years earlier, when a group of breakaway Anglicans (most had left the church after 1977 over Anglican ordination of female priests) who call themselves the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) petitioned Rome en masse through their primate, Archbishop John Hepworth. [Good to see the professor get this right! The Apostolic Constitution is the direct response of the Holy See to the overture of Portsmouth Letter of October 2007, which itself was the culmination of a process of years of dialogue. Recognizing this fact is not a matter of taking credit -- it is a joyous thing that FiF UK and other groups are accommodated under Anglicanorum Coetibus -- but the Roman invitation can only be clearly understood in this context.]

The TAC, whose size is estimated at 300,000 to 500,000 souls worldwide, asked for full communion with Rome without preconditions or demands [The request of the TAC was made in humility and filial obedience.], while expressing the hope that it might be possible to retain traditional Anglican liturgy and hymnody [Actually the hope was to retain as much of our Anglican patrimony as possible. While liturgy and hymnody are very important, there are other aspects of our tradition that are also treasured -- a married priesthood, a synodical/collegial component in our polity, &c. Thankfully the Holy See will allow us to retain virtually everything that is essential to our Anglican identity.]. Their petition was cordially received at the Vatican, but for many months, there was only silence.

Then, on Oct. 20, the response of Pope Benedict XVI was a decisive, magnanimous “Yes.” The subsequently published Apostolic Constitution (Anglicanorum Coetibus) confirmed that TAC members will be permitted to join collectively and will be allowed to retain the liturgies and traditions “that are precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith.” [And these traditions have been recognized as "precious gifts" and "a treasure to be shared" with the larger Catholic Church.] Small wonder that Archbishop Hepworth called the Pope’s offer “generous at every turn … very pastoral” and “a beautiful document.”

TAC bishops and congregations will consider and vote on the Vatican’s offer in a series of national and regional synods to be held early next year.

This means, in practice, that a place will be made within Catholic liturgy for Thomas Cranmer’s 1662 Book of Common Prayer – considered by many to rival William Shakespeare’s plays as the apotheosis of the English language. Also to be welcomed is the rich treasure of Anglican hymnody. All of this is (to paraphrase Hamlet) “a consummation devoutly to be wished,” and it was greeted as such by many thoughtful Catholics and Anglicans of my acquaintance. [The positive response to Anglicanorum Coetibus on the part of so many traditional Roman Catholics has been a tremendous encouragement to Catholic Anglicans!]