I came home from our local Chapter of SSC yesterday absolutely seething. and now, after sleeping on it, I am still seething. What’s the cause of my wrath? Yesterday I was given the opportunity to read a Statement by the Superior General of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. (Ann and I are Life members of CBS.)It appears that the Trustees have given a grant to the Ordinariate of ………wait for it……………£1 million. This was as a result by an appeal by the Ordinary Monsignor Keith Newton for financial assistance from the Confraternity. Neither we, nor as far as I can establish any other members, were consulted about this.
According to its Web Site the Objects of the Confraternity are as follows:
Objects
The Confraternity is established for the advancement of the catholic faith in the Anglican Tradition and in particular to promote:-
· the honour due to Jesus Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood,
· prayer for one another at the Eucharist,
· careful preparation for and reception
of Holy Communion, including the Eucharistic fast,
· the reverent and dignified celebration of the Eucharist and the reservation and
veneration of the Blessed Sacrament,
· the continuance of the catholic priesthood, and catholic theological teaching,
learning and development.
Perhaps I am being obtuse but I can’t see how this grant to the Ordinariate fulfils any of these objects.
To achieve the Objects grants are made:-
Grants
To support our objects we are able, from time to time, to make Grants of vessels, vestments and tabernacles to poor and populous parishes both at home and overseas. Applications should be made to the Secetary General.
I have no problem with CBS making a grant to the Ordinariate but I do have an objection to the size of the grant made; in this instance by the Trustees with out any reference to the membership. The money held in trust by the Confraternity has been established over many years and I don’t believe it was the intention of many, if any, of the donors, that it should be used like this.
On the Web Site it says this: The Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament (CBS) was founded in 1862 as part of the Catholic Revival in the Church of England. Its aim was to be, first of all, a confraternity (brotherhood) of men and women praying and working for a greater devotion to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood. Today it is no longer confined to England alone but has spread to many places within the Anglican Communion of churches, especially in Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and parts of Africa. There is a separate, self-governing CBS in the USA.Wherever possible members of CBS meet together in local Wards for prayer, worship and mutual support under the guidance of a priest as Ward Superior.
Interestingly, there is nothing about this grant of £1 million on the current CBS Web Site!!!!
It is intended to hold an urgent meeting of CBS members in the Redbridge, Havering, and North London areas as soon as practical to consider this.
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Is there a mechanism for the CBS membership to be consulted about such matters? It appears that the Trustees have taken and acted upon legal advice. Many of those whinging about this grant have had little or nothing to do with CBS for years. So what if the two million quid in the CBS coffers has been divided in two? What an opportunity and challenge for growth. Let’s see which of the two lots of £1M will be used in a positive and constructive way? I wouldn’t be surprised if the remaining £1M in the CBS account remains dormant for years to come whilst those Associates huffing, puffing and spilling their gin all over their Belgium lace frocks continue to rant and rage. On the other hand I expect that the very generous gift to the Ordinariate has been gratefully received and will be used positively and constructively for growth in the Lord’s vineyard.
ReplyDeleteI think you will find that the only point at which the membership could be consulted would be at the AGM, held at the annual festival immediately after Corpus Christi Thursday, by which date, of course, the Superior-General and a lot of other people had already crossed the Tiber.
ReplyDeleteI suspect there is no constitutional requirement for this to happen; CBS, like so much else, works on the 'Father knows best' principle.
I think that many who have read Ruth Gledill's piece in the times, or Father Mervyn's post above will also have come across the rather trenchant comment on the matter by Father Michael Gollop SSC on <a href="http://letnothingyoudismay.blogspot.com/> Let Nothing You Dismay</a>.
ReplyDeleteMy concern is not whether the gift was "intra vires" and I note it is said that the Trustees acted on advice. My concern is whether it was wise - in human terms.
I accept that it may well be true that the safest course for a charity whose objects relate to the Blessed Sacrament may very well be to apply their funds to the Ordinariate because at least the validity of their Orders and therefore the Real Presence which it is the purpose of the Society to honour and protect is not in doubt in that "safe haven".
But there are still those within Anglicanism who believe (arguably mistakenly) in the validity of their orders and therefore in the Real Presence in the bread and wine they have consecrated.
Therefore in "human" terms it might have been wiser and more courteous to consult the whole membership of the Society particularly since a number of the ex officio trustees have a recent commitment to the Ordinariate.
Personally, there are a number of cathedrals I should like to see returned to the faith which built them, but I'm more interested in souls than property and the commandment to the apostles was to be fishers of men rather than currency.
I would be concerned if a single future aherent to the Ordinariate, whether clerical or lay were to be dissuaded by what humnans might well see as a piece of overly fast financial footwork.
Mmmmm You can't see how the donation relates to the objectives of the SSC?
ReplyDelete· the honour due to Jesus Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of his Body and Blood,
· prayer for one another at the Eucharist,
· careful preparation for and reception
of Holy Communion, including the Eucharistic fast,
· the reverent and dignified celebration of the Eucharist and the reservation and
veneration of the Blessed Sacrament,
· the continuance of the catholic priesthood, and catholic theological teaching,
learning and development.
Please... You think that the C of E is doing this stuff? The way I see it is that the CBS has decided that its allegiance is to the Blessed Sacrament rather than the C of E. There comes a point. And that point has come. The objectives of the CBS are better served in the Ordinariate not the C of E...
Sorry, CBS rather than SSC in first sentence, though the same principles apply.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is time for those who have decided to stay in the CofE to now seriously consider which charities they donate to. I, for one, am considering whether to continue to support FinF. What about the Society of Mary, the Guild of All Souls? Those who have decided to leave the Church of England should leave - leave as they entered!
ReplyDeleteI have just sent the following message to Fr Pearson.
ReplyDeleteI am a member of the CBS and am very interested in the Ordinariate.
I have been a Trustee of many charities over many years.
In my opinion the Trustees of CBS should not have made the Grant to the Ordinariate because many of the Trustees of CBS have a personal and financial interest in securing the future of the Ordinariate, in that they are (or will be) paid employees of the Ordinariate. Therefore they have made a grant from one charity in which they have no financial interest to another charity in which they have a beneficial financial interest in that it will pay their wages. There is a very clear prejudicial conflict of interest. Although the making of the grant may be within the charitable objectives of CBS, it was wrong for the Trustees to make the decision without consulting the wider membership of CBS although they may not have had any legal obligation to do so.
I do hope that the decision will be referred to the Charity Commission.
Stuart
Given that some of the Society's objects can no longer be achieved within the CofE I think the grant makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteI cannot see any justification within the current charitable aims of CBS to make a large or any donation to a Roman Catholic organisation which does not recognise Anglican orders and will not allow Anglicans to receive the Blessed Sacrament at its Masses. Why did CBS not take the matter to its members and the Charity Commission before unilaterally changing its aims and principles? Were the trustees being entirely honest with themselves or were they just plain naive? Of great offence to many CBS members was the decision to grant £10,000 to the Walsingham nuns who left their sisters to join the Ordariate without, it seems, a thought for their well-being. All monies should be returned and the Ordinariate take time to reflect on the wisdom of its unseemly dash to the Roman Catholic fold. "Marry in haste and repent at leisure" as the saying goes.
ReplyDelete"You think that the C of E is doing this stuff?"
ReplyDeleteNo, of course the C of E isn't doing it. THAT is why the CBS was needed in the first place, to give support to Catholics who weren't getting it from the C of E. Individual grants to parishes and groups in the Ordinariate, perhaps, just as have always been made to Anglicans; but this stripping of most of the assets in favour of a non-Anglican institution amounts to such a radical change of policy that a mandate ought to have been sought from the Confraternity at large, whatever the law might strictly say.
Paul said,
ReplyDelete"You think that the C of E is doing this stuff?"
Reply: Paul, Do you think the C of E ( as a whole) was ever doing this? Of course it was not. CBS was set up to promote devotion to the Blessed Sacrament with the Anglican communion - something it has successfully done.
The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is not within the Anglican communion - so it fails on a significant point to qualitfy for any financial help from the CBS.
The idea that CBS resources shoud be paid to Roman Catholic Clegy for their up keep is a vagrant misuse of CBS money.
Mourad said
"the safest course for a charity whose objects relate to the Blessed Sacrament may very well be to apply their funds to the Ordinariate because at least the validity of their Orders and therefore the Real Presence which it is the purpose of the Society to honour and protect is not in doubt in that "safe haven"."
Reply: Morad this is a rather clumsy attempt at a justification for what many will consider an immoral (if not illegal act.) Since when as the Roman Catholic recognised Anglican orders? When as the RC Church considered the C of England a "safe haven" for valid orders?
If the CBS is now to think all anglican orders are invalid because the RC church says so- then it would clearly have been founded by idiots who once thought the the RC church considered Anglican Orders valid - despite everything that Pope LEO XIII expoynded.
The RC Church has not changed its position on Anglican Orders - which is why priests - who themselves thought they were validly ordained, have been ordained by Rome. They were not conditionally ordained, (or re-ordained - which would be heresy) - but ordained for the first time [as far as Rome is concerned.]
The CBS has always believed that anglican orders are valid - now it is in a position where Anglicans are struggling to maintain the validity of those orders - but they are still validly ordained preists in the Anglican communion - it is those priests that the CBS should be supporting and the catholic faithful who rely upon their priestly ministry.
The CBS should not be providing money to an Ordinariate within the Roman Church, when that Church has theologically and canonically rejected the validity of Anlican Orders - and this long before the issue of women 'priests' came along.