Personal Ordinariate of the

Chair of Saint Peter






Some friends are currently helping the rector and his family hastily move out of
the 'cottage' they have come to rely on, as their home, because a faction of the
congregation has pursued legal complaints during these past several months of
transition: the dissidents decided they don't want to be Catholic, and want to
remain Anglican, so they've managed to get the cooperation of the 'court' to
shut down the chapel (it's now barricaded and no one is using it) and evict the
rector.  In the process, the dissident faction is discarding personal property,
including some archives.  

They have until the end of October to vacate - "Happy Halloween?"

I might say, "Happy 'Reformation Day'?!?"


There are two websites to see for St. Mary of the Angels in Hollywood, California:

St. Mary of the Angels (dot) org

Freedom for St. Mary (dot) org




I am posting this here because this situation reminds me of what is happening
in the SSPX, and as Bishop Richard Williamson (who is a convert from Anglican,
by the way) is being 'evicted' from St. George's House in Wimbledon.  It all seems
rather ominously related, somehow.

At the beginning of this year, that is, at the end of the time when the SSPX had
been conducting 'negotiations' with Rome for a regularization, Rome issued final
provisions by which Anglican parishes, that wanted to abandon their affiliation
with the Protestants and become Catholics, could 'convert' and be known as
"Anglican Use Catholic" parishes.  They could keep their liturgy, which is practically
indistinguishable from any of the many Novus Ordo 'optional variations' in current
use, and there are some other details with which I'm not familiar.  But at large,
it has been my impression (only my impression) that any questions of doctrine
have been rather passed over, as if that is not the major topic of concern.

Hello?  Hasn't that been what's been going on with the 'negotiations' of the SSPX
and Rome too?  Rome wants to sidestep doctrine, the SSPX has always kept
doctrine front row center, and now +Fellay is halfheartedly complying with Rome's
demand that doctrine is 'not such a big deal after all.'

The Anglican Use Catholic situation approaches the issue of "Unity with Rome"
from a different direction, and it seeks a different status once the smoke clears.
They would not be Roman Catholics, but Anglican Use Catholics in union with
Rome.

The SSPX, however, has always been Roman Catholic, does not seek to become
anything else, and only desires that Rome would acknowledge the defection from
the One True Faith of Catholics that Rome has committed over the past 50 years
since the most regrettable opening of Vatican II on October 11th, 1962.



And now, as +Fellay haltingly defects in his own way, distancing himself from
the principles of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, he commissions deliberate means
of expulsion of his own brother bishop Richard Williamson, after ostensibly
negotiating with Rome to have the Society officially accepted and recognized as
Roman Catholic.  And the SSPX is now on the verge of a 'split' due to the
controversy of the Senior Bishop being cast out like so much rubbish.

And now, at the same time, this Hollywood Anglican community that had agreed
to enter into the new Ordinariate of Anglican Use Catholic, is in turmoil as a
faction of resistance seeks legal action against the rector and his family (he is
now a 'married priest' in accord with B16's provisions as of this year) to evict
them all and throw out their personal property including parish archives as if
all of this is so much rubbish.


(This is a clickable image: takes you to the website story, "Help the Pastor.")


And curiously, neither one of these tragic situations is getting much press.  I
have not seen any front page newspaper articles about them.  I haven't seen
any articles at all, actually.  Have you?  Is this not news?  

Or, do people not want to know about it?

I know that Catholics I talk to who are familiar with the SSPX generally don't
want to think that there is any problem going on, and that the priests of the
SSPX are 'all good men,' and they would never do anything to upset the
continuous Catholicity of the Society.  Is that also going on among the Anglicans?

This 'faith community' in Hollywood has been locked out of the physical chapel
they had been using since 1918, unable to have 'mass' in there for several months
now, and have instead been meeting for 'mass' in the public park (sorry, I don't
know the address of the park but I could find out if you want to know).  Now
their rector is being evicted, and must find alternate acommodations, lest he
and his family be 'out on the street.'  They're already 'out in the park' for their
religious ceremonies!

............FYI.............