United Not Absorbed: New Book Examines Ordinariate History & Liturgy

United not Absorbed by Daniel Seper, PhD, examines the history and liturgy of the Ordinariates for Catholics of Anglican patrimony. In this ACS interview, Dr. Seper shares his new book and how he came to be interested in this subject at the University of Vienna.

What is your book about?

In my new book, I address the history and liturgy of the Catholics of Anglican patrimony. I have described how the Book of Divine Worship, which introduced liturgical traditions of a Reformation community into the Catholic Church for the first time, came into being and later formed the basis for Divine Worship. I also trace the developments that led from the Pastoral Provision in 1980 to Anglicanorum coetibus. For this I was able to evaluate numerous previously unpublished documents from archives in the USA.
 

Tell me a bit about your background and how you became interested in the subject of Anglican liturgy.

Already during my studies of Catholic theology I was fascinated by the liturgical diversity within the Catholic Church. In Vienna, the Eastern Churches represented here, give you the opportunity to join in the celebration of the Catholic liturgy in the various rites. When I learned – already seven years ago – that there is also an Anglican liturgy in the Catholic Church, my interest was awakened and I wanted to learn more about it. I find it simply fascinating that the one faith can find its expression in so many different liturgical forms.

What has it been like studying this subject at the University of Vienna?

Admittedly, it is somewhat unusual that someone in Austria, where there are only a few Anglican Christians, is dealing with the phenomenon "Anglicans in the Catholic Church." But it is probably also due to Prof. Hans-Jürgen Feulner, the head of the Department of Liturgical Studies at the University of Vienna and a proven expert on the Anglican liturgy, that this topic is being dealt in an academic manner here.

Who do you expect will be the audience for your book?

As a scholar of liturgical studies, I did my research, especially on the structure and composition of the Book of Divine Worship, first for the scientific community. It is relevant for the whole Church when the Catholic Church with the Anglican traditions takes up "elements of sanctification and of truth", that "are forces impelling toward Catholic unity". It was exciting to examine where each element was taken up in the BDW and which prayers were replaced.

Through the interviews I conducted, with former Anglicans, who became Catholics, but also with representatives of the Catholic Church, who had a decisive influence on the development of the Pastoral Provision, such as the first Ecclesiastical Delegate, later Cardinal Law, I also realized that this topic is of great interest to the Anglicans concerned. There have been many reports from involved people about the developments around the Pastoral Provision and the connection to the Apostolic Constitution, but until now there has been no systematic overview from an external scientific perspective.

Next year a revised and shorter English translation will also be published.

What were the most interesting findings?

I was particularly interested in the events around 1980. It was not easy for the Anglicans at that time and it took many different approaches to give them the opportunity to be in unity with the Pope while maintaining their traditions.

It was also a great challenge to find out what the so-called Precedent of Amritsar was all about and what role this decision for Anglicans in India later played for the Pastoral Provision in the US.

I found it fascinating to reconstruct how a liturgical book like the BDW is created, which people were involved and which concerns were represented here and why it took so long until the BDW was finally printed as a book.

It is no secret that Anglicanorum coetibus did not fall from the sky. To show the connection between the two decisions of 1980 and 2009 and the many advances that have been made in the meantime was also very revealing. There are not only structural connections, but also personal ones. It is no coincidence that Pope Benedict XVI, who dedicated his pontificate to the service of the unity of the Church, has already played a leading role in shaping the Pastoral Provision.

Could you say something about the title you chose for your book?

The phrase "United not absorbed" goes back to the Benedictine Lambert Beauduin, who already in 1925 dreamed of a unity of the Anglican Communion with the Catholic Church, a full unity that preserves Anglican patrimony.

This was realized in a small way with the Pastoral Provision and, building on the experience gained with it, later with Anglicanorum coetibus. Here I see the special significance for the dialogue of the Church with other communities. The Catholics of the Anglican tradition are living proof that unity does not demand conformity, but rather allows diversity.

 

United not absorbed. Geschichte und Gottesdienst der Katholiken anglikanischer Tradition [History and liturgy of Catholics of Anglican Tradition]
Daniel Seper
Austrian Studies of Liturgy and Sacramental Theology 11, Wien LIT-Verlag 2020,

556 S., 49.90 EUR / 44.90 EUR (e-book), ISBN 978-3-643-50961-1

LIT-Verlag:

https://www.lit-verlag.de/publikationen/theologie/73382/united-not-absorbed

google books:

Dr. theol. Daniel Seper, born in 1986, achieved his doctorate in Liturgical Studies at the University of Vienna, where he works as an assistant professor. His research focuses on Anglican liturgy, religious rituals in film, and liturgical formation.