More news from the Becoming One conference

Anglican Use Catholic priest Fr. Christopher Phillips talks about why parishes already inside the Catholic Church want to join an ordinariate (my bolds):

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We have sizeable Anglican Use parishes already in full communion with the Holy See. No other country can claim that. There are several parishes that have made the decision to leave their Episcopalian or Continuing Anglican jurisdiction in order to join – again, we have more parishes in that situation than can be found in any other country. The Ordinariate in this country will be able to start on a firm financial footing because we have financially secure parishes such as this one — and there are others — ready not only to join the Ordinariate, but to provide considerable resources for the founding of new parishes, to support missionary priests, and to provide for the needs of the Ordinariate and its Ordinary. And this means that there'll be a constantly increasing financial stability, because our universal experience is that when a parish enters into full and visible Catholic communion, growth inevitably happens, income increases, and the local parish ministry expands dramatically. No other country will have the stable and financially secure beginning that we'll see right at the beginning of the United States Ordinariate. The truth is, we don't want a long wait.

In fact, when the text of Anglicanorum coetibus was made public, I had no hesitation at all in wanting to be part of an Ordinariate. I happened to be in Rome at the time of the announcement, and I excitedly called my archbishop and said to him that I wanted to send in a request right away. I really excited about it, and it never dawned on me that he wouldn't be just as excited. His response? "What's your hurry?"

At the time, his question didn't make any sense to me. In fact, I pondered it all the way back from Rome. But eventually I figured it out, and at the same time I saw the immense wisdom of the Holy Father in giving us a separate jurisdiction. My archbishop – a wonderful and godly man, and now, sadly for us, moved to Los Angeles — couldn't really understand what we were about, as an Anglican Use parish. Certainly, he liked visiting here; he always showed great respect to me as one of his pastors, and to us as a parish, because we're part of his archdiocese, just like his other priests and parishes. Sure, we have a different liturgical use. But when you go around the archdiocese you'd swear that every parish has its own liturgical use! He appreciated the loyalty we gave to him as our archbishop. He was always very proud of our school as one of the finest in the archdiocese, and he was very pleased when it was recognized nationally as an excellent educational institution. Very importantly, we always pay our assessment on time. We've always been supportive of archdiocesan programs, such as pro-life efforts, the apostolate to the homeless and needy, the seminary, and a host of other things. But I don’t think he ever understood the particular charism of the parish, or the place of the Anglican Use in the Western Church. And that’s not rare among the bishops in this country. We’ve existed for nearly thirty years, but if you mention the Anglican Use to the average bishop, you’ll receive either a blank stare, or there’ll be an immediate attempt to hem it in, and squeeze it out of existence. And that’s not an uncharitable assessment – thirty years of experience tells us it’s so. I wish it weren’t so, but that’s simply the fact.

So what happens when my archbishop gets a call from me, all excited about the new Apostolic Constitution, and the possibility of becoming part of an Ordinariate? “What’s your hurry?” I didn't stop to think that he hadn't been particularly waiting for this development. In fact, it hadn't been on his radar screen at all – and that’s completely understandable. Bishops have lots of people and myriad issues to deal with; the demand upon them as Fathers-in-God and as shepherds of a huge flock means they can’t possible understand every nuance of every group of Catholics under their care.

The thing is, our immediate desire to be part of an Ordinariate isn't hurrying at all. We've been working for this and praying for this for some thirty years. When approaches were made to the Holy See back in the 1970's, we had no idea what the Church might do for us. When the Pastoral Provision was established by Pope John Paul II, it was a huge step forward, and we entered into the process as quickly as we could. Why would we have waited around? We asked; Rome responded; we fulfilled the requirements as soon as possible, and we came home. But even then, we knew that some sort of separate jurisdiction was going to be necessary if our parishes were going to grow and increase in numbers. And at the same time, other Anglican groups were traveling the same road, with the same realization, as approach after approach was made to the Holy See.