The obe­di­ent are not held cap­tive by Holy Mother Church; it is the dis­obe­di­ent who are held cap­tive by the world!

Papa Benedetto has done it again! In a mag­nan­i­mous ges­ture that was sen­si­tive and pru­dent, the Holy Father opened wide his arms and pro­vided gen­er­ous norms for the incor­po­ra­tion of Angli­cans into full, vis­i­ble com­mu­nion with Holy Mother Church. In some­thing par­tic­u­larly impor­tant to me – who have a spe­cial love of Eng­lish litur­gi­cal tra­di­tion – these norms per­mit the reten­tion of some of the Church of England’s most trea­sured tra­di­tions of liturgy, whilst also pro­vid­ing flex­i­bil­ity of appli­ca­tion. Those incor­po­rated into full com­mu­nion will be per­mit­ted to say both the Ordi­nary Form of the Roman Rite and by exten­sion the Extra­or­di­nary Form.

This is noth­ing short of another act of that genius which we have come upon to rely and expect from this pon­tif­i­cate. Long may our Holy Father glo­ri­ously reign! May his be good health and long life! And may he con­tinue to pur­sue Truth cooked in Sale­sian Charity!

Praise be to Jesus Christ, unto the ages of ages!

Apos­tolic Con­sti­tu­tion Angli­cano­rum Coetibus: – Pro­vid­ing for Per­sonal Ordi­nar­i­ates for Angli­cans Enter­ing Into Full Com­mu­nion With The Catholic Church, Novem­ber 4, 2009

Eng­lish, Italian

Com­ple­men­tary Norms for the Apos­tolic Con­sti­tu­tion Angli­cano­rum coetibus, Con­gre­ga­tion for the Doc­trine of the Faith, Novem­ber 4, 2009

Eng­lish, Italian