Personal Ordinariate - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A personal ordinariate is a canonical structure within the Catholic Church enabling former Anglicans to maintain some degree of corporate identity and autonomy with regard to the bishops

Bishop (Catholic Church)

In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders and is responsible for teaching the Catholic faith and ruling the Church....

of the geographical diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

s of the Catholic Church and to preserve elements of their distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Its precise nature is described in the apostolic constitution

Apostolic constitution

An apostolic constitution is the highest level of decree issued by the Pope. The use of the term constitution comes from Latin constitutio, which referred to any important law issued by the Roman emperor, and is retained in church documents because of the inheritance that the canon law of the...

Anglicanorum Coetibus of 4 November 2009 and in the complementary norms of the same date.

The new structure is intended to integrate these groups into the life of the Roman Catholic Church in such a way as "to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared".

As an ordinariate of this kind is part of the Catholic Church, it professes that Church's principles and doctrines in their entirety and maintains fidelity to the leadership of the Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

.

Anglicans who join the Catholic Church can still choose to be part of the usual dioceses rather than of an ordinariate.

Announcement

The apostolic constitution that allows for the institution of personal ordinariates for Anglicans who join the Catholic Church was released on 9 November 2009, after being announced on 20 October 2009 by Cardinal William Levada

William Levada

William Joseph Levada is an American Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Since 2005, he has served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, making him the highest ranking American in the Roman Curia. He was previously the Archbishop of Portland from 1986 to 1995 and...

at a press conference in Rome and by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, Rowan Williams

Rowan Williams

Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...

, and the Archbishop of Westminster

Archbishop of Westminster

The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the Metropolitan of the Province of Westminster and, as a matter of custom, is elected President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and therefore de facto spokesman...

, Vincent Nichols, at a simultaneous press conference in London.

A note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...

indicated that the personal ordinariates "will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. ... pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy. ... (The Apostolic Constitution offers) a single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application. It provides for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy. Historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Constitution therefore stipulates that the Ordinary can be either a priest or a bishop. The seminarians in the Ordinariate are to be prepared alongside other Catholic seminarians, though the Ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony."

Background

The apostolic constitution is the response by the Vatican to concerns and requests coming from within the Catholic Church, particularly the Anglican Use

Anglican Use

The term Anglican Use has two meanings. First, it refers to parish churches founded by former Episcopalians, members of the United States' branch of the Anglican Communion, who have joined the Catholic Church...

parishes; from Continuing Anglican churches, particularly the Traditional Anglican Communion

Traditional Anglican Communion

The Traditional Anglican Communion is an international communion of churches in the continuing Anglican movement independent of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The TAC upholds the theological doctrines of the Affirmation of St. Louis and an Anglo-Catholic interpretation of...

; and from Anglo-Catholic sections of the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...

, such as those involved with Forward in Faith

Forward in Faith

Forward in Faith is a movement operating in a number of provinces of the Anglican Communion. It represents a traditionalist strand of Anglo-Catholicism and is characterised by its opposition to the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate and, more recently, to more liberal Anglican...

.

In October 2007 the Traditional Anglican Communion

Traditional Anglican Communion

(TAC) presented to the Holy See a petition for full union in corporate form (i.e., as a body, not merely as individuals) with the Roman Catholic Church. This worldwide grouping, under a single primate, of churches of Anglican tradition, but outside of communion with the see of Canterbury, was founded in 1991. It was formed over a number of issues, including liturgical

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

revisions, the ordination of women and open homosexuals as priests, the sanctioning of homosexuality and the importance of tradition

Tradition

A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...

.

On 5 July 2008, Cardinal Levada responded to the formal request for "full, corporate and sacramental union" with the Roman Catholic Church giving written assurance that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was giving serious attention to the prospect of "corporate unity" raised in that request. The request thus became a basis for the decision, announced by Cardinal Levada on 20 October 2009, to issue the apostolic constitution.

Anglican Use

Anglican Use

parishes have existed since the early 1980s, in line with the Pastoral Provision

Pastoral Provision

The "pastoral provision" or "statute" for United States Episcopalians entering the Catholic Church authorizes some departures for them from the normal practice of the Latin Rite...

granted by Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

at the request of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 1966 as the joint National Conference of Catholic Bishops and United States Catholic Conference, it is composed of all active and retired members of the Catholic...

, allowing for the creation of parishes celebrating the liturgy in an approved form of the Anglican tradition and with a married clergy composed of former Anglican priests who on joining the Catholic Church were ordained in the Catholic Church. Many of these Anglican Use Catholics left the Episcopal Church

Episcopal Church (United States)

The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

because of women's ordination, revisions of the liturgy, and changes in its moral teaching. The discussions in 1977 that led to the granting of the pastoral provision in 1980 raised some of the ideas that came to fruition in the decision of 2009. One was the setting up of a structure for former Anglicans similar to the military ordinariate

Military ordinariate

A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church, of Latin or Eastern Rite, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation....

, an idea that was not then acted on because of the small number of Anglicans involved at that time. The 1980 pastoral provision was granted only for the United States and it directly subjects those former Anglicans to whom it is applied to the governance of the existing local Latin Rite bishops.

Other Anglo-Catholics and in particular many of those involved in what is called the Continuing Anglican movement

Continuing Anglican Movement

The term Continuing Anglican movement refers to a number of churches in various countries that have been formed outside of the Anglican Communion. These churches generally believe that "traditional" forms of Anglican faith and worship have been unacceptably revised or abandoned within some...

have also expressed interest in joining the Catholic Church, if ways are found to preserve aspects of Anglican identity and tradition. This movement is composed of jurisdictions that are numerous, usually quite small in membership, and that often splinter and recombine. Similarly, the movement Forward in Faith

Forward in Faith

, which is formed of members of the Anglican Communion that share many of the same concerns over women's ordination and liturgical revisions that the TAC has, many of whom are Anglo-Catholics who have long desired to be in full communion with the Catholic Church, is not a church or a grouping of churches, each with its own bishop, as is the Traditional Anglican Communion.

In December 2009 Cardinal Levada responded to each of the bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion who signed the October 2007 petition for corporate union with the Catholic Church, stating that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had completed its long and detailed study with the aim of making available a suitable and viable model of organic unity for their group "and other such groups". The Traditional Anglican Communion then undertook discussions with those other groups and with representatives of the Catholic episcopal conferences and planned to give a formal response after a meeting of their bishops in Eastertide 2010.

Similar institutions

The personal ordinariates that the apostolic constitution envisages are similar to military ordinariate

Military ordinariate

s for the pastoral care of members of armed forces in that membership is on a personal rather than a territorial basis; but they differ in many aspects, as can be seen by a comparison of Anglicanorum coetibus with the apostolic constitution Spirituali militum cura of 21 April 1986 by which Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

restructured the military ordinariates, which were previously called military vicariates. For instance, the military ordinariates must be headed by a bishop and lack structures such as the "governing council" of the ordinariates for former Anglicans.

The personal ordinariates for former Anglicans differ also from personal prelature

Personal prelature

Personal prelature is an institutional structure of the Roman Catholic Church which comprises a prelate, clergy and possibly laity who undertake specific pastoral activities. Personal prelatures, similar to dioceses and military ordinariates, are under the governance of the Vatican's Congregation...

s, which, according to Canon 294, "are composed of deacons and priests of the secular clergy

Secular clergy

The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious order.-Catholic Church:In the Catholic Church, the secular clergy are ministers, such as deacons and priests, who do not belong to a religious order...

", with no mention of members of religious institutes or of lay people, even those who, in accordance with Canon 296, "dedicate themselves to the apostolic work of a personal prelature by way of agreements made with the prelature". Membership of a personal ordinariate for former Anglicans extends to "lay faithful, clerics and members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, originally belonging to the Anglican Communion and now in full communion with the Catholic Church, or those who receive the Sacraments of Initiation within the jurisdiction of the Ordinariate".

Nature of the ordinariates

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...

establishes, in consultation with the episcopal conference

Episcopal Conference

In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory...

concerned, personal ordinariates for former Anglicans within the episcopal conference's area. There may be more than one personal ordinarate, delimited geographically or otherwise, within the territory of the same episcopal conference. Each ordinariate, composed of lay faithful, clergy, and members of religious orders

Institute of Consecrated Life

Institutes of consecrated life are canonically erected institutes in the Roman Catholic Church whose members profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds...

originally belonging to the Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

and now in full communion

Full communion

In Christian ecclesiology, full communion is a relationship between church organizations or groups that mutually recognize their sharing the essential doctrines....

with the Catholic Church, is juridically comparable to a diocese

Diocese

. The ordinary of each ordinariate, who may be either a bishop or a priest, chosen on the basis of a terna

Terna

Terňa is a village and municipality in Prešov District in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia.-Geography:The municipality lies at an altitude of 383 metres and covers an area of 29.408km². It has a population of about 1090 people....

of names presented by the governing council of the ordinariate, is canonically equivalent to a diocesan bishop and an ex officio member of the respective episcopal conference.,

The ordinariates are to have "Governing Councils", composed of at least six priests and chaired by the ordinary, that exercise the combined functions of the Presbyteral Council

Presbyteral Council

The Presbyteral Council or Council of Priests is a group of priests chosen to assist the local ordinary in an advisory capacity in the governance of the diocese. Canon 495 of the Code of Canon Law lays down that every diocese must have such a council...

and the College of Consultors

College

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...

of a diocese. Each ordinariate is also to have a finance council and a pastoral council to perform the same functions as the respective bodies in a diocese. An ordinariate also may establish its own tribunal to process marriage and other cases, though the local diocesan tribunals retain jurisdiction if the ordinariate does not set up a tribunal of its own.

The ordinary

Ordinary

In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...

, after having heard the opinion of the local diocesan bishop, may, with the consent of the governing council and of the Holy See, erect "deaneries", each supervised by a "delegate", that encompass multiple parishes of the ordinariate. The ordinary may also admit candidates to holy orders, establish and suppress parishes and houses of formation and approve programs of formation with the consent of the governing council.

Like diocesan bishops, the ordinary must make an ad limina apostolorum visit to Rome every five years. During this visit, the ordinary presents a report on the status of his ordinariate to the Pope through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with the Congregation for Bishops

Congregation for Bishops

The Congregation for Bishops is the congregation of the Roman Curia which oversees the selection of new bishops that are not in mission territories or those areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches who deal with the Eastern Catholics, pending papal...

and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for missionary work and related activities...

Liturgy

As currently proposed, the ordinariates would have full faculties to celebrate the Eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

and the other sacraments, the Liturgy of the Hours

Liturgy of the hours

The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...

and other liturgical functions in accordance with the liturgical books proper to Anglican tradition, in revisions approved by the Holy See

Holy See

The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...

, so as to maintain the Anglican liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions. This faculty does not exclude liturgical celebrations according to the Roman Rite

Roman Rite

The Roman Rite is the liturgical rite used in the Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church. It is by far the most widespread of the Latin liturgical rites used within the Western or Latin autonomous particular Church, the particular Church that itself is also called the Latin Rite, and that is one of...

.

The Complementary Norms clearly envision considerable pastoral collaboration between the clergy of parishes of personal ordinariates and the clergy of the dioceses within which they would be located. The Complementary Norms also specifically grant faculties to the pastor of a geographical parish that has a parish of a personal ordinariate within its boundary to supply liturgical and pastoral services consistent with the needs of the congregation of a parish of an ordinariate that does not have a parochial vicar assigned in the event of the death, incapacity, or unexpected absence of its pastor.

Anglican religious institutes

The apostolic constitution provides a juridical framework within which an Anglican religious community may join the Catholic Church as a group: “Institutes of Consecrated Life originating in the Anglican Communion and entering into full communion with the Catholic Church may also be placed under his (the ordinary's) jurisdiction by mutual consent.” The ordinary also may erect new Societies of Apostolic Life and Institutes of Consecrated Life with the permission of the Holy See.

Married former Anglican clergy and rules on celibacy

The Catholic Church does not recognize the validity of Anglican ordination (see Apostolicae Curae

Apostolicae Curae

Apostolicae Curae is the title of a papal bull, issued in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII, declaring all Anglican ordinations to be "absolutely null and utterly void"...

), so all who were ordained in the Anglican Communion must receive ordination in the Catholic Church to continue their ministry. The Apostolic Constitution does not dispense from the provisions of the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church forbidding ordination of women and ordination of those in irregular marriages, but it does make provision for ordination of married former Anglican clergy to the orders of deacon and priest in the service of an ordinariate: "Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, [...] may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders

Holy Orders

The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....

in the Catholic Church″, Ordination to the priesthood in the Catholic Church is also open to married former Anglican clergy: "In consideration of Anglican ecclesial tradition and practice, the Ordinary may present to the Holy Father a request for the admission of married men to the presbyterate in the Ordinariate.” This request is granted on a case-by-case basis, not as a matter of course but by exception: "The norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis coelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement In June are to be observed."

On the basis of objective criteria determined by the ordinary in consultation with the episcopal conference and approved by the Holy See, the ordinary may petition the Pope, on a case-by-case basis, to admit married men to the priesthood as a derogation of canon 277 §1 of the Code of Canon Law, but the general rule is that the ordinariate will admit only celibate men. No married man may be ordained a bishop.

Provisions for former Anglican bishops

Ordination of married men to the episcopacy is excluded in the Catholic tradition, but the Apostolic Constitution's Complementary Norms include provisions which take into account the position of married former Anglican bishops.

A married former Anglican bishop may be ordained as a priest, in the same manner as a married former Anglican priest.

A former Anglican bishop may be appointed as the ordinary and thus exercise ecclesiastical governance equivalent to that of a bishop. If married, he will be ordained as a priest. The ordinary is, ex officio, a full member of the episcopal conference
Episcopal Conference
In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory...

regardless of the degree of holy orders to which he is ordained.

The ordinary may call upon a former Anglican bishop who is a member of the ordinariate to assist in its administration. This provision could encompass a role analogous to that of an auxiliary bishop within a diocese or as the "delegate" in charge of a "deanery".

Any former Anglican bishop who is a member of an ordinariate may be invited to participate in the meetings of the episcopal conference
Episcopal Conference
In the Roman Catholic Church, an Episcopal Conference, Conference of Bishops, or National Conference of Bishops is an official assembly of all the bishops of a given territory...

, with the status of a retired bishop.

In addition, a former Anglican bishop who has not been ordained a bishop in the Catholic Church may nonetheless receive permission to use episcopal insignia. This has precedent in the Catholic Church with cases of unordained abbots and abbesses.

Overall, these provisions provide considerable flexibility to preserve both the dignity of office and the opportunity for comparable pastoral leadership of former Anglican bishops who are not eligible for episcopal ordination in the Catholic Church. Note that a former Anglican "diocese" with a married bishop could in fact remain intact as an "ordinariate" with its former bishop, ordained as a priest but granted permission to wear episcopal insignia, serving as its "ordinary".

These provisions do not extend to former Anglican bishops who are in so-called "irregular" marriages.

Difference from Eastern Catholic churches

While members of some Anglican parishes and similar groups have been received into the Catholic Church and have there preserved elements of their Anglican heritage (see Anglican Use

Anglican Use

), the new structure would accommodate corporate union with the Catholic Church of larger grouping of Anglicans. The personal ordinariates are canonically within the Latin or Western Church and thus differ, even jointly, from the Eastern Catholic Churches, which are autonomous particular Churches.

The personal ordinariates for former Anglicans, being part of the Western Church, come under the discipline of this Church, which, as a rule, restricts to celibate men ordination to the priesthood and even to the diaconate, except where, by decision of the episcopal conference, married men "of more mature age" (at least 35 years old) who are not intended to become priests may be ordained to the diaconate. In this also the ordinariates for former Anglicans differ from those Eastern Catholic Churches in which priesthood and diaconate are open to married men as well as to celibates. The Holy See may grant for the ordinariates, as it does also for other components of the Latin Rite, exceptions to the general rule on a case by case basis.

Acceptances by some Anglican groups

A number of Anglican groups soon petitioned the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for acceptance into ordinariates.

On 3 March 2010, in Orlando, Florida, the eight members of the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America voted unanimously to become part of the Catholic Church along with 3,000 fellow communicants in 120 parishes in four dioceses across the country. Following the vote, the bishops and the Anglican Use
Anglican Use
The term Anglican Use has two meanings. First, it refers to parish churches founded by former Episcopalians, members of the United States' branch of the Anglican Communion, who have joined the Catholic Church...

parishes sent a joint petition to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requesting the establishment of an ordinariate in the United States and making some suggestions about how that could be done. However, three of the four active diocesan bishops later decided not to proceed and sought common ground and unity with other continuing jurisdictions.
On 12 March 2010, the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada
Anglican Catholic Church of Canada
The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada is an Anglican church that was founded in the 1970s by conservative Anglicans.-Affiliation:With 30 congregations in Canada, the ACCC is the third-largest of the Anglican churches in Canada, after the ACC and the Anglican Church in North America.The Anglican...

formally requested the erection of an ordinariate in Canada. Several congregations later left the small (300-500 member) denomination, refusing to join the Catholic Church.
The Anglican Catholic Church in Australia
Anglican Catholic Church in Australia
The Anglican Catholic Church in Australia is the regional jurisdiction of the Traditional Anglican Communion for most of Australia and also provides episcopal oversight for New Zealand and Japan...

(a province of the Traditional Anglican Communion
Traditional Anglican Communion
The Traditional Anglican Communion is an international communion of churches in the continuing Anglican movement independent of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The TAC upholds the theological doctrines of the Affirmation of St. Louis and an Anglo-Catholic interpretation of...

) and Forward in Faith Australia
Forward in Faith
Forward in Faith is a movement operating in a number of provinces of the Anglican Communion. It represents a traditionalist strand of Anglo-Catholicism and is characterised by its opposition to the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate and, more recently, to more liberal Anglican...

, mostly members of the Anglican Church of Australia
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...

, jointly applied for an ordinariate in Australia. However, two congregations later left the denomination over the issue.
The Church of Torres Strait, another province of the Traditional Anglican Communion
Traditional Anglican Communion
The Traditional Anglican Communion is an international communion of churches in the continuing Anglican movement independent of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The TAC upholds the theological doctrines of the Affirmation of St. Louis and an Anglo-Catholic interpretation of...

in Australia, covering parts of Northern Queensland and the Torres Strait, also applied for a separate ordinariate.
The Traditional Anglican Church (the TAC
Traditional Anglican Communion
The Traditional Anglican Communion is an international communion of churches in the continuing Anglican movement independent of the Anglican Communion and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The TAC upholds the theological doctrines of the Affirmation of St. Louis and an Anglo-Catholic interpretation of...

Province for England, Scotland and Wales), with a membership of less than one hundred, also applied for an ordinariate. The Traditional Anglican Communion in Ireland, with an even smaller membership, had no intention of joining an ordinariate. The Church of Ireland (Traditional Rite) is far more Protestant in its understanding of sacraments.
In October 2010, the parish council of St Peter's in Folkestone voted to enter the Roman Catholic Church. However, it was later announced that the parish would stay within the Church of England and only some of the congregation would leave.

Ordinariate for England and Wales

On 8 November 2010, three serving and two retired bishops of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

announced their intention to join the Roman Catholic Church. The serving bishops were Suffragan Bishops Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet, Keith Newton of Richborough, and John Broadhurst

John Broadhurst

John Charles Broadhurst is an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church. Broadhurst was formerly a bishop of the Church of England and served as the Bishop of Fulham in the Diocese of London from 1996 to 2010...

of Fulham, who declared their intention to resign from the offices they held with effect from 31 December 2010. The retired bishops were Bishop Edwin Barnes

Edwin Barnes

Edwin Ronald Barnes is a Catholic priest and a former Church of England bishop. He was the Bishop of Richborough from 1995 to 2002 and was also formerly the president of the Church Union.-Anglican ministry:...

, formerly of Richborough, and Bishop David Silk

David Silk (bishop)

Robert David Silk is an English priest of the Roman Catholic Church. He was formerly an Anglican bishop and was the Bishop of Ballarat in the Anglican Church of Australia....

, formerly of Ballarat in Australia. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, announced that he had with regret accepted the resignations of Bishops Burnham and Newton. The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.-About:...

gave assurance of a warm welcome for those who wished to be part of an ordinariate. In a pastoral letter concerning his resignation as Bishop of Richborough, Bishop Newton stressed that he had done so not for "negative reasons about problems in the Church of England but for positive reasons in response to our Lord's prayer the night before he died, [that] 'they may all be one'." Ruth Gledhill, religious affairs correspondent of The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, said that the announcement could prompt "hundreds, possibly thousands" of lay ministers to follow the bishops' example. She added: "It's quite significant as it means the ordinariate - that quite a few people have been saying might not get off the ground - could be a force to be reckoned with."

On 19 November 2010, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales announced that work was proceeding with a view to establishing an ordinariate in January 2011, at about the same time as the putting into effect of the decision announced by the Anglican bishops on 8 November 2010 to be received into the Roman Catholic Church. The announcement stated that all five Anglican bishops would receive ordination "to the Catholic Diaconate and Priesthood" before Lent 2011 would then assist in the reception of other Anglicans. Other Anglican clergy and groups would begin a period of preparation before Lent leading to their reception, probably in Holy Week, followed during Eastertide by diaconal ordinations and priestly ordination around Pentecost of those former Anglican clergy whose requests for ordination would have been accepted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The announcement identified Bishop Alan Hopes, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and a former Anglican priest, as both the delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the liaison from the Conference of Bishops of England and Wales to co-ordinate the implementation of the ordinariate.

On 1 January 2011, Bishop Alan Hopes received Broadhurst, Burnham and Newton, together with their wives and three former Anglican nuns of a convent at Walsingham, into the Catholic Church. Bishop Hopes subsequently ordained the three former Anglican bishops to the Catholic diaconate on 13 January 2011. Two days later, on 15 January 2011, they were ordained to the priesthood.

On 15 January 2011, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith established the first personal ordinariate "for those groups of Anglican clergy and faithful who have expressed their desire to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church" and Pope Benedict XVI appointed Keith Newton as its first ordinary. Territorially the ordinariate, officially named the "Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham", covers England and Wales, the area of competence of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is the episcopal conference of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.-About:...

. Newton, being married, is not permitted to receive Catholic ordination to the episcopate. The decree of erection designates Blessed John Henry Newman as the principal patron

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...

of the ordinariate, but does not designate either the location of the see or a principal church.

At Easter 2011, about 900 laity and about 60 former Anglican clergy (some retired from active ministry) joined the Catholic Church as members of the ordinariate. There were about 20 members in Scotland, but none in Wales.

In September 2010, under the leadership of some Church of England bishops, the Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda

Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda

The Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda or, more fully, the Mission Society of St Wilfrid and St Hilda is an association led by some bishops of the Church of England that aims at creating "an ecclesial community that is both loyal to the traditions of the Church of England and yet, because of the...

, a new grouping which intends to stay within the Church of England, was founded for Anglicans who do not accept the ministry of the Pope at least "as presently exercised". This association published a pamphlet critical of the ordinariate.

Australia

At the end of November 2010, Bishop Peter Elliott, an auxiliary bishop in Melbourne, Australia said that the Australian bishops intended to follow the example of England and Wales so that an initially "very small" ordinariate could be established in that country, with specific churches designated for its use, by Pentecost 2011. A former Anglican layman, Bishop Elliott is designated as the delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a liaison to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. He expected that, once established, the proposed Australian ordinariate would attract "a much larger number of people". An Australian ordinariate implementation committee was formed in mid-December 2010.

A national Australian ordinariate festival was held in February 2011 at Coomera in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. The conference was hosted by Elliott and Archbishop John Hepworth

John Hepworth

John Anthony Hepworth is an Australian bishop. He is currently the primate and archbishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion, an international body of continuing Anglican churches. He is also the ordinary of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia.Hepworth began his seminary studies in 1960...

of the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia

Anglican Catholic Church in Australia

The Anglican Catholic Church in Australia is the regional jurisdiction of the Traditional Anglican Communion for most of Australia and also provides episcopal oversight for New Zealand and Japan...

(and primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion

Traditional Anglican Communion

).

People from the Catholic Church attended, as well as members of the Anglican Church of Australia

Anglican Church of Australia

The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...

, the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia

Anglican Catholic Church in Australia

The Anglican Catholic Church in Australia is the regional jurisdiction of the Traditional Anglican Communion for most of Australia and also provides episcopal oversight for New Zealand and Japan...

, the Church of Torres Strait and the Ukrainian Catholic Church, as well as some Anglican religious who wish to be part of the ordinariate. The implementation committee had its inaugural meeting after the conference.

The consensus of the festival was that unity can be achieved while also preserving the distinctive Anglican heritage of the churches. Bishop Elliott said that membership in the ordinariate by interested persons is sought by a formal application in writing. All clergy transferring to the ordinariate will require a Catholic priest as sponsor and ordination within the Catholic Church.

In a radio discussion on 20 February 2011, Archbishop Hepworth said that some 800 people of his own church, the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia

Anglican Catholic Church in Australia

The Anglican Catholic Church in Australia is the regional jurisdiction of the Traditional Anglican Communion for most of Australia and also provides episcopal oversight for New Zealand and Japan...

, were committed to joining an ordinariate and that he believed, once implemented, it would grow strongly. The possibility of the Church of Torres Strait (some 9,000 people) joining was also discussed on the radio program.

A conference and synod of the Church of Torres Strait, held from 3 to 5 June 2011, decided unanimously to accept the idea of the church becoming a Catholic ordinariate and set a target date of the First Sunday in Advent in 2011 for its implementation after first finding out how many of its membership wish to join the ordinariate.

In his address to an ordinariate information day in Melbourne on 11 June 2011, Bishop Peter Elliott said that the Australian ordinariate is expected to be established in 2012. He also confirmed that the petition of the Church of Torres Strait had been sent to Rome.

United States and Canada

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith appointed Cardinal Donald Wuerl

Donald Wuerl

Donald William Wuerl is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the sixth and current Archbishop of Washington, serving since 2006. He previously served as Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle and Bishop of Pittsburgh...

, the Archbishop of Washington, as its delegate for the implementation of an ordinariate in the United States. Cardinal Wuerl also led a liaison committee of three bishops of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

for implementation of the ordinariate.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also appointed the Most Reverend Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, as its delegate for implementation of an ordinariate in Canada. Archbishop Collins also led a liaison committee of bishops of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In November 2010, the Parish of Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, Texas, an Anglican Use

Anglican Use

parish, hosted a seminar called "Becoming One" to build relationships and to disseminate information about the possibility of establishing a personal ordinariate in the United States. It was well attended by interested parties from the United States and Canada.

A pastoral letter dated 30 November 2010 from John Hepworth

John Hepworth

, primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, stated that announcements similar to those for England and Wales and for Australia were expected to be issued soon concerning Canada and the United States. He also stated that Robert Mercer, a retired bishop resident in England who was formerly the Anglican Bishop of Matabeleland and then a bishop in the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada

Anglican Catholic Church of Canada

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada is an Anglican church that was founded in the 1970s by conservative Anglicans.-Affiliation:With 30 congregations in Canada, the ACCC is the third-largest of the Anglican churches in Canada, after the ACC and the Anglican Church in North America.The Anglican...

(a Continuing Anglican church), intended to join the ordinariate for England and Wales.

However, most of the "continuing" Anglican Church in America (TAC) drew back from joining the ordinariate. Only three parishes from the Episcopal Church (Anglican Communion) were interested, and two of these were embroiled in multi-million law suits over their church property. In Canada only one mainstream Anglican parish (out of 1,800) announced its intention of joining the ordinariate.

In May 2011, preparations for members of the Traditional Anglican Communion in Canada to join an ordinariate were put on hold in view of reports about intended announcements by Archbishop Collins that those intending to join the ordinariate would have to close their Traditional Anglican parishes and attend a Catholic parish for four to six months and that the dossiers submitted by the clergy concerned showed that their training was inadequate, requiring them to attend a Catholic seminary for an unspecified time. Archbishop Collins denied the reports.

In early June 2011, in advance of the report that Cardinal Wuerl was due to present to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on interest shown in joining an ordinariate, a 100-member Episcopal parish in Bladensburg, Maryland was reported to have become the first in the United States to ask to be received into the Catholic Church while keeping aspects of its Anglican traditions. Other accounts give Mount Calvary Church in Baltimore as the first, and the Bladensburg church as the second.

In his report to the Bishops Conference, Cardinal Wuerl stated that the Holy See had indicated its wish to establish an ordinariate in the United States before the end of 2011. At the next meeting of the Bishops Conference, on 15 November, he announced that, with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, 1 January 2012 would be the date of establishment of the new ordinariate for former Anglicans in the United States. He said that of 67 petitions by United States Anglican clergy for ordination as Catholic priests 35 had already received the nihil obstat

Nihil obstat

Nihil obstat is a declaration of no objection to an initiative or an appointment....

of the Holy See and would be examined locally for possible acceptance. He also said that two Anglican communities had already entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, one in the Diocese of Fort Worth

Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, USA, was established August 9, 1969, after being part of the Diocese of Dallas for 79 years. At present, the Diocese has more than 560,000 Catholics in 89 parishes and missions, served by 123 priests, 110 deacons, 24 sisters, and 5 brothers...

, the other in the Archdiocese of Washington

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. It comprises the District of Columbia and Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and Saint Mary's counties in the state of Maryland....

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Announcement

Background

Similar institutions

Nature of the ordinariates

Liturgy

Anglican religious institutes

Married former Anglican clergy and rules on celibacy

Provisions for former Anglican bishops

Difference from Eastern Catholic churches

Acceptances by some Anglican groups

Ordinariate for England and Wales

Australia

United States and Canada

See also

External links