Father, son and Holy Church

In what is believed to be a first, a father and son, both former Anglican clergy, have been ordained as Catholic priests and are now working for the same archdiocese, Birmingham.

Father Dominic Cosslett, 36, and his father, Father Ron Cosslett, 70, were both ordained by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, pictured above by Peter Jennings. Nichols is the favourite to succeed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor as Archbishop of Westminster when he steps down early next year and the latest ordination of Father Dominic on 20 December shows he is continuing in the tradition of true Catholicity to which the British church has so long been witness.

Father Dominic was formerly an Anglican priest at the Church of Christ the King at Lourdes in Coventry. His father, Father Ron Cosslett, aged 70, also a former Anglican priest, was ordained as a Catholic priest by Nichols 3 July 2005. He is now priest-in-charge harge at St Joseph’s, Darlaston in the West Midlands.

Father Dominic, who is not married, has from a young age felt called to a celibate lifestyle. "Although as an Anglican marriage was open to me the way I live my life is naturally a celibate one," he told me yesterday. His mother converted five years ago at the same time as his father and his sister and their children followed them over about a year ago.

Father and son concelebrated, celebrating the eucharist at the older Father's parish, for the first time at Christmas.

"Both of us were in the Catholic tradition of Anglicanism," said Father Dominic. "Like a lot of us in that tradition, we had always felt the Catholic  Church was the rock from which we were hewn. It was always
part of our journey, our faith, to seek unity with Rome. We  came to the point where we felt we could not exercise our  understanding of Catholicism within Anglicanism. It was time  for us to go home."

His father started out in Monmouth, South Wales and then moved to Burslem, one of the Five Towns in the Potteries in the Lichfield diocese. The family returned to Wales and his father's last Anglican parish was St Paul's in Swansea.

Under the guidelines agreed in the Catholic church for the reception of Anglican clergy who wish to become Catholic priests, Father Dominic, who studied theology and Llampeter  and trained for the Anglican priesthood at the high church Mirfield College of the Resurrection before being priested in 1997,  underwent a shortened training as to be a Catholic priest. He spent a year in the Spain at the Royal English College at  Valladolid and then went to seminary at St Mary's Oscott.

As an Anglican, he served his curacy in Abergavenny in the  Monmouth diocese when his bishop was Dr Rowan Williams, now Archbishop of Canterbury.  He moved to his own parish in the Birmingham diocese when its bishop was Dr John Sentamu, now Archbishop of York. He speaks highly of both  men, but neither was enough to make him stay.

"I realised my own journey was to seek unity with Rome. Balanced with that was the awareness that the Anglican Church was going in a very different direction with various  decisions it was making. I just felt I could not agree with those  decisions. It comes down to authority. As an Anglican, it was  sometimes very difficult. One parish might believe one thing. another might believe something else.

"There is an incredible  rainbow of thought in the Anglican Church. Perhaps I was  looking more for a central authority of teaching that the Catholic Church has. It was something I had always been looking for."

He recognises his situation, with his father as a priest, might appear unusual to some but for him it feels normal. There is a long tradition in the Anglican church of father-and-son priests. The ministry often runs in families.

Asked whether he believes all Catholic priests should be allowed to marry, he said: "That is not my decision. The teaching of the Church is there. The Holy Father has graciously allowed those who are former Anglicans who are married  to become priests.  The teaching remains the same and that is certainly not for me to comment on."

But he was careful to emphasise that his new path was not a reaction against Anglicanism.

"Becoming a Catholic is not so much about being disatisfied with being an Anglican as about having a
positive engagement with the Catholic Church. I am very grateful for my Anglican days. But I realised there is something else in the Catholic Church. That is very much what lay behind my decision."

Archbishop Nichols, in his words of welcome at the start of the ordination, said: “This situation a unique
occasion and a great day in the life of the diocese.  Both a father and his son - after his ordination -  will be serving as Catholic priests.”

More than 60 Catholic priests, including Father Dominic's father, witnessed the ceremony.

Archbishop Nichols continued: “Just as the Angel Gabriel told Mary, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow’, so also this will manifest for Dominic.

“How else, except through this gift could Dominic ever make Christ present in the life of the Church? It is the same gift given all those centuries ago in Nazareth that is given in Coventry today.

“It is only our unity in the Church which ensures that we are faithful to what we have been given. This Ordination is part of a great Tradition - a great handing on -  from one age to the next of his gift of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

“Indeed, this sense of Tradition is crucial – Apostolic Tradition. The vital question for all of us and for Dominic is where is it to be found?

“We rejoice in the answer during this Ordination Ceremony. It is to be found, with utter reliability, in union with Peter the first Apostle, and in union with his Successor the Bishop of Rome.

"It is this visible unity which gives the Church the sure capacity to be faithful in the Apostolic Tradition; to hand on whole and entire, and to explore and develop its Doctrine in a faithful and secure manner. This unity is a great joy and a pearl of great price.

"So today we thank God for Dominic’s life and ministry as a priest in the Church of England. We rejoice as he steps into the priesthood in this full Communion of the Catholic Church through his ordination in this visible Apostolic Tradition.”

Comments

[Peter B]

Ordaining elderly married men and their celibate offspring is one thing, and a good thing it is with best wishes to both.

However, ordaining sexually active younger married men into the Catholic priesthood is quite another, and would cause controversy among regular churchgoers.

[andrew holden]

There is an incredible 'rainbow of (diverse) thought' even in the RCC where there are still both traditionalists and liberals. The difference lies in the strength of the centrally controlled authority of teaching - nothing changes 'officially' until it is decreed from the top. Many catholics remain faithful even though they believe the church is wrong/needs to change on a variety of issues.

The main reason people stay/become Roman Catholics is the conviction that the RCC is the true church in the sense that it is the authentic and original church - not that it is right about everything. I might even find this a good reason myself....!

Anyway, best wishes to Father Dominic and Father Ron in their continuing journey of faith.

[Robert Ian Williams]

How wonderful....and may many more Anglicans, ministers and people find their way home to land securely on the rock of Peter in Christ... from which they were so violently wrenched in the sixteenth century.

[Warren]

A unique journey, to be sure. As one convert to two others, welcome home! And Nigel, the joy of knowing Christ in His Church and the deep peace that comes with full communion strengthens and completes every step of the journey. God be with you in your "crossing". I'll be praying for you.

[Andrew, Venezuela]

I do wish to two Fathers the very best on their having made their decision. I also hope that, when they start feeling "homesick", they will yet be able to find an Anglican Church somewhere in Birmingham where John Merbecke's 1550 setting of the Holy Comuunion in English may still be "standard usage" for Sung Eucharists on Sundays in which the celebrant, the choir and the congregation can all join in together.
Best of luck to them.

[Nigel Nicholson]

Very interesting and encouraging article. I'm at the beginning of my own Tiber crossing from the U.S. Episcopal church, so I can certainly feel for these men. I suspect there is faith, hope and a sense of loss involved here.