The History of the 1980 Anglican Pastoral Provision

Abstract

The reception of married convert priests in the catholic church was made possible by a set of policies and permissions established in 1980 that have come to be known as the Pastoral Provision.1 the term provision refers to a privilege or accommodation that is made for pastoral reasons, to remove barriers to or help facilitate the spiritual growth of a person or group. the accommodation for anglican converts provided for them to retain certain cultural practices, such as a traditional anglican liturgy and married clergy, to smooth their entry into the catholic faith. How is it that the catholic church came to make such a generous accommodation for anglicans? and why only for anglicans, and not other christian denominations? this article recounts the events and trends that led to the 1980 decision establishing these policies.Influences on the Pastoral ProvisionThe 1980 decision reflected a unique confluence of short and long term historical and religious trends both within and outside the catholic church. it is a tale that begins in the 16th century religious division between Protestant and catholic and ends in the contemporary religious division between liberal and conservative, with attempts, ultimately futile, to heal the divisions in between. conceived as an ecumenical initiative in the spirit of Vatican council ii, its establishment reflected the character of the centuries-old forces separating catholicism and anglicanism as well as the particular cultural situations of both churches in the 1970s. Most of all, the Pastoral Provision was an idea whose time had come.Five elements stand out as particularly important for understanding this development: 1) the 16th century english Reformation, which separated anglicanism from catholicism in unique ways; 2) the 19th century conversion of the anglican priest John Henry Newman, which set a pattern for future clergy conversions; 3) the second Vatican council, which introduced catholics to a more open stance toward Protestants, and anglicans in particular, and to a married deaconate; 4) the failure of ecumenical engagement amid diverging cultural and religious stances of anglicanism and catholicism in the 1970s; and 5) the particular interest and force of bishop bernard law, who, long before becoming embroiled in sex abuse scandal as cardinal archbishop of boston in the 2000s, was one of the american church's most effective advocates for civil rights and ecumenical unity.From Reformation to NewmanFew dispute that the english Reformation was more a matter of politics than of national conversion. though views differ on how far Protestant ideals had taken hold among the english people prior to the 1530s, no historian goes so far as to attribute the break with Rome to this cause. even a.G. dickens, probably the strongest proponent of the view that receptiveness to Protestantism was well advanced in the popular mind, only claims that changing religious sensibilities meant that when the king quarreled with the Pope over his divorce, a permanent schism did not merely become conceivable; it proved actually manageable without arousing much opposition within the realm.2The Protestant religion was imposed upon, not acquired from, the english people, and was accompanied by a violent and thorough suppression of the catholic faith. the 1535 oath of supremacy, requiring the submission of clergy and religious to the king as the supreme spiritual authority in england on pain of death, was hardly the sign of a popular movement. under elizabeth, beginning in 1559, attending the church of england was enforced by heavy fines, and celebrating a catholic Mass was punishable by death. catholic priests, and laypersons publicly affirming the catholic faith, were subject to painful and humiliating public execution, often without benefit of trial, resulting in almost 300 martyrs by 1670.3 as the oxford catholic historian eamon duffy has asserted in recent years,4 the catholic character and practice of english parishes was systematically dismantled in a stripping of the altars (the title of his study). …