Your gift counts double until 5/31: $25,129 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Holy See establishes Australian ordinariate for former Anglicans

CWN - June 15, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI has established an ordinariate in Australia for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church and named a former bishop of the Traditional Anglican Communion to lead it.

The new ecclesiastical jurisdiction, formally known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, was established on June 15. Father Harry Entwistle, who once served as western regional bishop for the Traditional Anglican Communion in Australia, was ordained to the Catholic priesthood on June 15.

“Ordinariates have thus far been erected in England and the United States and are the response of Pope Benedict to Anglicans who have been petitioning the Holy See to enter into full corporate unity with the Catholic Church while retaining essential elements of their heritage,” the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference said in a statement.

“Pope Benedict has made it very clear that unity between Christians is not achieved by agreeing on the lowest common denominator, and those entering an Ordinariate accept the Catechism of the Catholic Church as the authoritative expression of the Catholic faith,” said Father Entwistle.

“Membership is open to former Anglicans who accept what the Catholic Church believes and teaches; former Anglicans who have previously been reconciled to the Catholic Church but who now wish to reconnect with their Anglican spiritual heritage; and those baptized in the Catholic Church who have close family members who belong to the Ordinariate,” he added.

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($25,129 to go):
$80,000.00 $54,870.55
31% 69%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church 2 hours ago
The sad decline of self-government 18 hours ago
That impromptu exorcism again 22 hours ago
The Mystery of the Spirit May 21
Against a Facile Assurance of Salvation, the Need for Mystery May 21

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8