Just in case anybody in London Diocese was in any doubt, Chartres has made it very clear. Three priests in the Diocese have taken this step. They have followed their consciences. For those who remain there can be no logic in the claim to be offering the Eucharist in communion with the Roman Church which the adoption of the new rites would imply. In these rites there is not only a prayer for the Pope but the expression of a communion with him; a communion Pope Benedict XVI would certainly repudiate.
At the same time rather than building on the hard won convergence of liturgical texts, the new Roman rite varies considerably from its predecessor and thus from Common Worship as well.
The rationale for the changes is that the revised texts represent a more faithful translation of the Latin originals and are a return to more traditional language.
This is a pastoral unkindness to the laity and a serious canonical matter. The clergy involved have sworn oaths of canonical obedience as well as making their Declaration of Assent.
I urge them not to create further disunity by adopting the new rites. All the bishops of the Diocese when visiting parishes will celebrate according to the rites of the Church of England allowing for permitted local variations under Canon B5. The current London Challenge expresses the commitment of the Church in London to maintain and strengthen the network of parish churches but at the same time to complement their service by even more local neighbourhood or network expressions of church life.
