Anglican ordinariate to be established this week?

January 11, 2011

The first “ordinariate” for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church will be established in England this week, according to Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

In a January 11 announcement, Archbishop Nichols said that he would ordain three former Anglican bishops to the Catholic priesthood on January 15. “On or before that date,” the archbishop said, “I expect the Holy See to announce the establishment of the first Ordinariate for groups of former Anglicans and their clergy who seek full communion in the Catholic Church. The three men ordained on Saturday will be the first priests of this Ordinariate.”

The archbishop, who doubles as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, welcomed the three former Anglican prelates: John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton. At the same time he paid homage to the leaders of the Anglican communion and to the Archbishop of Canterbury for their “sensitive leadership.” Archbishop Nichols said that the strong relationship between the Catholic and Anglican hierarchies is “the context for Saturday’s important initiative,” adding that the cooperative sentiment shows “the noble spirit of true ecumenism.”

The archbishop said that Pope Benedict’s goal for the ordinariate was to “serve the wider cause of visible unity between our two churches by demonstrating in practice the extent to which we have so much to give to each other in our common service of the Lord.”

 

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Further information:

• Ordination to the Catholic Priesthood of three former Anglican Bishops and the Establishment of a 'Personal Ordinariate' (Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales)