Bishop to lead US ordinariate of former Anglicans
November 24, 2015
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, 63, as Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, the ecclesial structure in the United States and Canada that ministers to former Anglicans who have entered the Catholic Church.
The Pontiff has named Msgr. Steven Lopes, a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as the Ordinariate’s first bishop.
Msgr. Steenson, a former bishop of the Episcopal Church, has been ordained to the Catholic priesthood but is not eligible for ordination to the episcopate because he is married. He welcomed the appointment of Msgr. Lopes:
What wonderful news from the Holy See this morning, that Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Steven Lopes to be the first bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter for Canada and the United States!
This is the happy outcome of much careful consultation with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to whom I first made this request almost a year ago. I welcome this news with all my heart, for the Ordinariate has now progressed to the point where a bishop is much needed for our life and mission. A bishop will help to give the Ordinariate the stability and permanence necessary to fulfil its mission to be a work of Catholic unity, whose roots are to be found in the great texts of the Second Vatican Council.
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Further information:
- Rinunce e nomine, 24.11.2015 (Holy See Press Office)
- Statement on the appointment of Bishop-elect Lopes (Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter)
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