California bishop’s role at Anglican consecration prompts questions
April 28, 2026
» Continue to this story on Catholic Herald
CWN Editor's Note: At the consecration of a bishop of the Episcopal Church, a Catholic bishop performed a “gesture that some commentators have interpreted as active participation in a non-Catholic ordination ceremony,” The Catholic Herald reported.
“Publicly available footage and images circulated online appear to show the Catholic bishop”—Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno, California—“standing with Anglican clergy during the laying on of hands portion of the rite,” according to the report.
(The Catholic Church teaches that Anglican orders, unlike orders conferred in the separated Eastern Churches, are invalid. In his 1896 apostolic letter Apostolicae Curae, Pope Leo XIII taught that “ordinations performed according to the Anglican Rite have been and are completely null and void.”)
The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
-
Posted by: feedback -
Apr. 28, 2026 9:51 AM ET USA
All Bishops are human (i.e., not immune to acting in error), and some of them, if not most, try to be extraordinarily nice to our separated brethren, also known as the Protestants. Pope Leo's recent kumbaya with the Anglican lady "archbishop" of Canterbury was undoubtedly a nice gesture towards the lady but at the same time it sent mixed messages to everybody else, Catholics and Protestants alike. https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=69238
