VATICAN KEEPS CELIBACY IN RULES ON ANGLICANS

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican said on Monday that its new rules facilitating the conversion of Anglicans, including married Anglican priests, did not “signify any change” in its rules for priestly celibacy.
The announcement seemed aimed at dampening recent debate about whether in creating a new Anglican rite within the Roman Catholic Church, the Vatican had brought in a kind of Trojan horse — married former Anglican clergy — a practice that might someday normalize the acceptance of married Catholic priests.
In a watershed in Catholic-Anglican relations, Pope Benedict XVI announced three weeks ago the creation of a new structure in which Anglicans could convert to Catholicism yet keep certain parts of the Anglican ritual, including liturgy. The move was widely seen as an effort to attract traditionalist Anglicans uncomfortable with the ordination of women and gay clergy members.
On Monday, the Vatican released the rules governing the new structures. They uphold current practice; the rules say married Anglican priests can become Catholic priests only on “a case-by-case basis, according to objective criteria approved by the Holy See.”
The new norm “does not signify any change in the church’s discipline of clerical celibacy,” the Vatican press office said in a statement.
It added that the new structure was “consistent” with the church’s “commitment to ecumenical dialogue.”
The Vatican has emphasized that the new norms were not aimed at poaching Anglicans but were created in response to requests by traditionalist Anglicans. In its statement on Monday, the Vatican said the new structure was “a generous response from the Holy Father to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups.”
Nevertheless, the creation of an Anglican rite within the Catholic Church has been widely perceived as a bold and even aggressive act capitalizing on the weaknesses of the Church of England, which in recent years has been increasingly divided over the issue of female and gay clergy members.
A recent headline in The Times of London read, “Rome Parks Tanks on Rowan’s Lawn,” referring to the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, archbishop of Canterbury and the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. Archbishop Williams, who jointly announced the new norms with the Vatican at a news conference on Oct. 20 in London, is expected to meet the pope in Rome next week.
The new rules stipulate that men who were baptized as Catholics and subsequently became Anglicans cannot become priests. They also say that Anglican bishops who convert to Catholicism will remain priests but will lose the rank of bishop.
Called Personal Ordinariates, the new structures are akin to dioceses but without geographic bounds. They are to be overseen by bishops or priests chosen by the pope. The ordinariates will work in conjunction with local dioceses but will not answer to them, and will belong to the local bishops conference.
It remains to be seen how many Anglicans will take the Vatican up on the offer.

AFRICA BISHOPS TALKS OF OBAMA IN RELIGIOUS TERMS

VATICAN CITY- African bishops attending a Vatican meeting are speaking about the election of Barack Obama in divine terms—putting them very much at odds with many of their U.S. counterparts.
Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle of Accra, Ghana said Wednesday that there was "a divine plan behind" Obama's election.
"It's like the biblical story repeating itself," he told reporters, citing the Old Testament figure Joseph, who after being sold into slavery in Egypt ends up becoming a top official.
"We believe God has his own plans. God directs history," he said of the U.S. election. "We pray that it (Obama's presidency) brings blessings for Africa and the whole world."
He acknowledged that Obama has earned the wrath of many conservative American bishops because of his support for abortion rights. Earlier this year, dozens of U.S. bishops denounced the leading U.S. Catholic university, Notre Dame, for giving Obama an honorary degree.
"We are definitely aware of it," Palmer-Buckle said. "But we feel it our duty to meet him and find out what are the things that unite us more than divide us."
Earlier this week, the Ghanian prelate leading the three-week meeting on the Church in Africa, Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana, cited Obama's election in saying he didn't see any reason why there couldn't now be a black pope.
And the archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo, Monsignor Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, told the formal synod itself that it would be wise to not ignore what he called a "primordial event" in recent times.
"If the election of a black as head of the United States of America was a divine sign and a sign from the Holy Spirit for the reconciliation of races and ethnic groups for peaceful relations ... this synod and the universal church would gain from not ignoring this primordial event of contemporary history which is far from being a banal game of political alliances," he said in his speech.
Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria gave more tangible reasons for praise in meeting with reporters.
"Obama has the authority to talk straight to our bad leaders and tell them they are messing up our countries," he said. Besides, he added, "In Africa we are always happy when our brother is big."