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September 22, 2021Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. [John 17: 20-21. KJV]
My journey to the Catholic faith had neither been short nor easy; for the path had come with various obstacles and challenges, some of which still remain with me to this day. I still remember the day I began this journey, which happened on the eve of the Second Sunday of Lent in 2016. Back then I was a teenager on the cusp of young adulthood, who had despaired over his beloved Grandfather’s death and lost his faith in God as a result. It was only thanks to God’s mercy and the friendships of many that I was moved to seek a deeper relationship with Him, leading me to the doors of the Catholic Church wherein I was received and confirmed the following year.
My conversion, of course, did not mean the end of my journey, for various challenges still lay ahead. First I had to face opposition from my father’s side of the family. Their religious convictions, strongly Protestant in character, made little room for me to express and argue in favour of the Catholic faith in a satisfactory manner. In fact, it is only thanks to their persistent objections that I made sure to study the Catholic faith properly and comprehensively, choosing only sources known for their fidelity to orthodox Catholic doctrine. As a result, for all the doctrinal challenges posed by the Protestant side of my family, none could make a convincing case for me to forsake the Catholic faith and return to the Protestant fold.
Yet there are also more pernicious challenges, this time from within the Church itself. Many of us have heard news of Catholic prelates caught in various scandals, many of which relate to both spiritual and physical abuse, and many of us Catholic faithful rightfully felt deep regret and revulsion towards. Thanking God, I count myself blessed for having met many good and faithful Priests who have given me godly counsel; such as the Dominican Fathers of the US Western Province (under whom I studied the precepts of the Catholic religion), Franciscan Father John Wong of Singapore (who inspired me to keep my Catholic faith and Chinese cultural patrimony hand-in-hand), as well as Father Chori Seraiah of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter (who made me realise that all the good things in Protestantism can be found within the Catholic Church – and more). Yet at the same time, I also found myself having to deal with Priests who do not live up to the pastoral roles entrusted to them. Of these I shall relate in greater detail in the next two paragraphs.
Upon my return to Indonesia after five years in the United States, I decided to attend the Parish to which I have grown attached. For almost a century, generations of ethnic Chinese Catholics have worshipped in this Parish. This parish also happens to stand next to the Methodist church where I was baptised as a toddler. Here, surrounded by friends and family I’ve left for some time; the challenge of practicing the Catholic faith, previously unthinkable back in the US, became something I’d have to live with here in my hometown. Regrettably, I was also in a state of spiritual low then, having had a few less-than-positive interactions with a Catholic community during my last year in the US. Yet as fate and Divine Providence would have it, I would have my fidelity to the Catholic faith tested to the utmost here in my hometown, in the forms of a Parish Priest and a kindly Protestant Minister.
Realising my need of being rooted in a welcoming and supportive Catholic community – upon renewed challenges posed by the Protestant side of my family – I decided to apply to become a member of this certain Parish, thinking that having all the necessary paperwork filled out back in the US, I can finally transfer my membership there. Alas that was not to be, for the Parish Priest had deemed my Certificate of Full Communion as deficient proof of my reception and confirmation into the Church. He reasoned that was due to the differing bureaucratic requirements between the Catholic Church in the US and Indonesia. Despite having asked the Priest for a week’s time to inform my old parish of the situation and ask for additional documentation, he stubbornly insisted that I be conditionally received in his Parish, and he would not have it any other way. Thankfully Father Simanjuntak, the Canon of my hometown Cathedral, was able to help me avoid administrative problems – by helping me obtain the necessary documents to prove that I have already underwent the sacraments of initiation.
Around the same time, I became acquainted with the Reverend Sunaryo, who now serves as one of the vicars of my former Methodist congregation. I didn’t know of him back in my childhood, for he’d only been ordained a year after I went to study and work in the US. I was thus surprised when I received a birthday greeting message under his name. I did not think much of it at first, but within a few months I finally had the chance to meet the Reverend himself, as he was the officiant of my cousin’s wedding. From our brief conversation, I learnt that my former congregation still kept personal records of its baptised members, despite having moved away or joined other churches. When I told the Reverend that I am now of the Catholic faith, he simply nodded, and offered to let me call and meet him at his office in his free time.
Looking back at my interactions with both Rev. Sunaryo and the Parish Priest, I cannot help but be struck by the difference between their respective treatments towards me. Though never once was I tempted to forsake the Catholic faith and return to the Protestant fold, I began to realise the significance of several complaints I have heard from many Catholic friends over the years. They did not feel well-cared for in their parishes, with some being tempted to leave the Church for other ecclesial communities, where they felt their need for a welcome and supportive community being met. In a few cases, some of them were Protestant converts who were intellectually convinced by Catholic teaching, only to miss the tight-knit friendship and pastoral care they once enjoyed in their former congregations. Thankfully none of these converts, including me, were willing to forsake their Catholic faith. Then again, we must realise we are losing many of our potential best in this manner. As more Catholics feel uncared for in their parishes, so too will the exodus to other denominations continue.
This brings me to the title of this reflection essay. As a Protestant convert to the Catholic Church, I have found the Anglican Patrimony, as expressed in the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible, to be the "bridge" that made my transition between the two opposing sides of Latin Christendom possible. I love the majestic language and poetic cadences of the English Prayer-Book and the KJV, which I find to be of great personal edification to my own Christian faith, and helped prepare the way for me to pray the Daily Offices of the Church as a new Catholic. Even G.K. Chesterton, the famed English Catholic convert, had famously remarked “[the Book of Common Prayer] is strong, not in so far as it is the first Protestant book, but in so far as it was the last Catholic book. The most moving passages in the old Anglican Prayer-Book are…moving, or indeed thrilling, precisely because they say the things which Protestants have long left off saying; and which only Catholics still say.” Amidst my personal frustrations with the Parish Priest and the question of my parish membership, it was the prayers and the collects of the Prayer-Book, along with verses from the KJV, which gave me comfort and helped me to get through that difficult time. And having found supportive Priests in my hometown’s Cathedral, I got to share with them the same enthusiasm I have for the Patrimony. I was delighted that they too, reciprocated the interest. This was the reason why I finally decided to become a member of the Cathedral Parish.
Though few Indonesian Catholics know the existence of the Anglican Patrimony within the Catholic Church, as expressed by the Personal Ordinariates under Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, I look forward to a day where the Ordinariates will be known all over the Catholic Church, not just in areas with a history of Anglican presence. The reason why I think this is because the Ordinariates express the greatest possible potential of Catholic evangelisation through ecumenism, given their origins as a community of Protestants wishing to enter into full and corporate reunion with the Catholic Church as ecclesial communities instead of individuals. The Ordinariates also have in their DNA a unique pastoral heritage, given their emphasis on strong, tight-knit communities praying the Daily Office and attending Mass together. Finally there was the strong focus on catechesis and pastoral leadership; since in many Ordinariate communities, laypeople and their Priests enjoy a deep and respectful relationship, for they entered the Catholic Church together as a community. Many times it was these Priests, formerly Anglican or Methodist Ministers, who led their congregations into joining the Catholic Church together with them. Not a few, despite already being married, were given special dispensations to continue their pastoral work within the Catholic Church as both Priests and Deacons. Outside the Ordinariate, many of the Church’s best clergy and lay-teachers had once also been Protestant Ministers (among them Father John Neuhaus, Deacon Steven Greydanus, Scott Hahn, and Jeff Cavins). Looking back at Rev. Sunaryo, I could only regret the fact that this good pastor and Minister is still not a member of the Catholic Church. If only our Church, with the fullness of the Christian faith, were to convince more preachers and workers of his kind to join our ranks, we will have much stronger means to evangelise both Christendom and those who have yet to hear the Good News. As Our Lord Christ Jesus himself said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (St. Matthew 9:37-38, KJV).
Therefore, for those of you who were blessed to become members of the Personal Ordinariates, or those who were received into the Catholic Church through its mission and ministry, consider my reflection a call to prayer and evangelisation, so that we may fulfil the prayer of Our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus, who wished that we “all may be one.” May the Catholic sun shine again in the Lands of Christendom, and may our Protestant separated brethren be reunited again within the bosom of Holy Mother Church. May Anglicanorum Coetibus be used and blessed by God Himself to bring about this long-awaited day.
This essay is dedicated to the blessed memory of Saint Pope Paul VI and to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, without whom the establishment of the Personal Ordinariates for the Anglican tradition within the Catholic Church would not have been possible.
The author writes from Indonesia.
