Finding a common basis for Liturgy in the Anglican Way

A discussion starter from the Revd Dr Peter Toon

The new Pope – as Cardinal Ratzinger – gave a lecture on Liturgy in Rome on October 24 1998 in which he said that there was sufficient space and right within the Catholic Church for priests to use, and the faithful to attend, both the Old Order (the so-called Tridentine Rite in Latin) and the New Order (that which was produced after Vatican II and is in Latin and the Vernacular). This message surprised many who believed that Vatican II effectively outlawed the Old Order. Ratzinger stated that what really mattered was that both forms of Celebration be in accord with the godly principles of Liturgy laid down by Vatican II in its document, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy . To use either in the right way, he said, is to be within that which is permitted within the Catholic Church.

I ask: Do we not need in the Anglican Way, at least in the English-speaking sphere of this Way, a similar message addressed to all the Provinces/jurisdictions and made part of the canon law of the Provinces/jurisdictions? It is the kind of thing that possibly the Lambeth Conference and the Primates’ Meeting could provide, with all the moral certainty available to them.

We need to read and hear in clear terms the basic principles of Anglican reformed Catholic Liturgy and then receive clear advice as to how, within these principles, to use both the classic Book of Common Prayer (e.g., England 1662, USA 1928, Canada 1962) in the traditional mode, and also the authorized services from the modern prayer books, such as Common Worship of the Church of England, in the contemporary mode. Each form needs to have its own integrity and yet each form needs to be based on certain basic and common principles and commitments, so that each one is really and truly an integral part of the one reformed Catholic Liturgy. (At this time, the general approach of Anglican bishops and liturgists generally o dismiss the Old Order as being a thing of the past, just as Roman Catholic leaders have sought to dismiss the Tridentine Order – but in Rome and Canterbury the Old Order keeps on reviving itself!)

Of course, the Anglican Way can never provide and possess the same certainty in such matters as the Roman Way, for the simple reason that the latter has a central authority, which can speak not only with moral suasion but also with legal power. This admitted and recognized, it is possible, where there is genuine communion and charity for a common, majority mind on basic liturgical principles to emerge within the Anglican Way, even if the emergence is more complicated than it was in Vatican II.

It would seem that right now, both in the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Churches in the West, the liturgical scene is dominated by those who live wholly within the modern, the New Order, and thus there is insufficient space and right given to explaining and using the Old Order. No doubt the new Pope will work to ensure that this imbalance is put right within the Catholic Church. But who will do it for the Anglican Provinces and Jurisdictions?

The Old Order is not going to fly away and the New Order is not going to disappear. A way needs to be found for them to be seen and really to be two sides of one coin, two branches of one tree, and two wings of one dove! Younger people keep on discovering the Old Order and find it fulfilling and exciting and older people find encouragement in the New Order. Let the Anglican Way find its own common ground in the worship of God Almighty and let it use with integrity and godliness both the Old and the New Orders!