Whispers in the Loggia: “Brethren in Unity” — History in Houston As Ordinariate Launches

From Whispers in the Loggia:

Clad in the pontificalia of a bishop yet still the married father of three, this Sunday made for a unique moment in the life of the Stateside church as Jeffrey Steenson — once head of the Episcopal church’s most sprawling diocese — was liturgically installed as founding shepherd of the nationwide Ordinariate for Anglicans entering the Catholic communion, dedicated to the Chair of St Peter.

While the Anglican Use Mass in the Cathedral of the new jurisdiction’s see-city of Houston had initially been slated for next Sunday to coincide with the venture’s patronal feast, the liturgy was moved up in light of next weekend’s consistory to accommodate the presence of two of the top Vatican project’s key American movers: Cardinals Donald Wuerl of Washington (Rome’s delegate for the US’ implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus) and Galveston-Houston’s Daniel DiNardo, who’s released his archdiocese’s Our Lady of Walsingham parish to serve as the Ordinariate’s de facto cathedral, technically termed its “principal church.”

According to a pre-Mass briefing, Steenson — a onetime sportswriter and Oxford-trained patristic scholar ordained a Catholic priest in 2009 — was elevated to the honorary prelature during the rite.

Though precluded from becoming a Catholic bishop due to his marriage, the new monsignor — who, unlike his English counterpart, Msgr Keith Newton, has taken to donning the violet zucchetto normally reserved for bishops — enjoys full membership and voting rights in the USCCB. Within his charge itself, Steenson essentially has all the responsibilities and privileges of a diocesan bishop or eparch, save two: the ability to perform ordinations and consecrate oils.

With the Ordinariate’s erection by CDF decree on New Year’s Day, the number of American Catholic jurisdictions now stands at 198. Some hundred priests and as many as two thousand laity are expected to enter the structure just in its first wave; the first community to directly join the Ordinariate, Baltimore’s Mount Calvary parish, was received by Steenson in late January. Given earlier indications from north of the border, the reach of the quasi-diocese is likewise to include Canadian groups seeking to take up Pope Benedict’s 2009 offer of joint entry to Anglican communities wishing to full communion en masse.

Houston Chronicle: Chair of St Peter Photo Gallery

To see pictures of the Mass of Institution for the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, click here.

Houston Chronicle: ‘Bringing ex-Anglicans into the Catholic fold’

By Kate Shellnutt in the Houston Chronicle:

The Rev. Jeffrey Steenson’s colleagues joke that during the past several years, he’s gone from a church heretic to a hierarch.

Even though he has been a Catholic priest for only about three years, Steenson was Pope Benedict’s pick to lead a brand-new structure for Catholic converts from Anglican churches, a position he officially takes on this weekend in Houston.

Catholic bishops and leaders from across the country will fill downtown’s Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart at 3 p.m. Sunday for his installation as the head of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

The ordinariate consists of Catholic parishes that maintain some traditional Anglican prayers and music in services. Like most of the members of these communities, called Anglican Use parishes, Steenson used to be an Episcopalian, an Episcopal bishop, in fact.

He converted to Catholicism in 2007, after spending most of his career studying the church fathers, striving for ecumenicalism and, ultimately, feeling God put on his conscience that the Catholic Church was the “one, true, holy and apostolic” body.

A married father of three and amateur pilot, Steenson joined the church under provisions initially made for former Anglicans in the early ’80s by Pope John Paul II. About that time, the first Anglican Use parishes formed in the U.S., including Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio and Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, now the headquarters for Steenson’s ordinariate.

The announcement came as a surprise to Steenson and members of the local parish, which years ago “had been meeting in borrowed chapels and rented warehouses. We wouldn’t have imagined it would have come to this and that Houston would be the headquarters for this nationwide (ordinariate),” said Clint Brand, a parishioner at Our Lady of Walsingham and professor at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s a recognition of what converts have carried with them into the Catholic Church. We can now reclaim the tradition that taught us to be Catholic.”

The Tablet: ‘Australian Ordinariate Named’

From The Tablet:

The Australian “home” for former Anglicans coming into full communion with Rome is to be known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.

Bishop Peter Elliott, a former Anglican charged with overseeing the establishment of the Australian ordinariate, also said that the structure should be autonomous more quickly than has been the case with its British counterpart.

He made his comments in an article for the breakaway Traditional Anglican Communion’s online journal The Messenger after his visit to England last month for first anniversary celebrations of the British ordinariate.

He added: “At this stage the [British] ordinariate is … a ‘nursling in arms’. It needs much support, care and encouragement as it gradually finds its place in the wider Church.”

Bishop Peter Elliott’s report on the Ordinariate in England

From the Personal Ordinariate of  Our Lady of Walsingham’s official website:

The first birthday of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was celebrated fittingly on Sunday January 15^th  2012  at St James, Spanish Place, with Solemn Evensong, Sermon, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament, Te Deum and Benediction. Together with other clergy, I assisted in choir at this act of thanksgiving on the last night of a fascinating two week visit to London.

The Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton presided and preached. What I found most encouraging was not only his “upbeat” message, full of his own warmth and pastoral confidence, but the sense of achievement and joy among the large congregation who had gathered for the celebration.

The choir of St James brought forth the best of the Anglican Patrimony, wedded to the English Catholic heritage,  We entered to Parry “I was glad when they said unto me” (vivid memories of the coronation in 1953). Stanford provided the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis. “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus!” accompanied the Eucharistic procession, while the canopy over the Sacrament was borne by four robed Knights of Malta. Stanford again gave us his Te Deum, while Elgar provided a limpid O Salutaris, not forgetting the traditional translation of Benediction used across three centuries by the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.

What I discerned in London is an Ordinariate that is growing steadily, facing challenges, especially church sharing, yet moving ahead. Nevertheless, some Catholic journalists have claimed that undue control is being exercised over the Ordinariate by the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales. Frankly I do not share that concern.

The Bishops I talked to want the Ordinariate to flourish and are not overprotective. But, to be realistic, at this stage the Ordinariate is very young, a “nursling in arms”. It needs much support, care and encouragement as it gradually finds its place in the wider Church. It will not be absorbed and it will not be turned into an ecclesiastical nature reserve. Nor should we heed mischievous rumors that some people are reverting to Anglicanism out of disappointment. Long ago, that tale was spread about Blessed John Henry Newman himself. It is a standard fantasy, the gossip of those who feel insecure about other people’s choices. In fact, new groups are forming and emerging and individuals are quietly making their choice for unity.

Former Anglican Vicar received at Spanish Place

From the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsigngham’s official website:

The Reverend Scott Anderson, formerly Vicar of St Andrew’s, Willesden Green, and St Mary the Virgin, Lewisham,  has been received into the full communion of the Catholic Church at St James’, Spanish Place for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. He was joined by friends and colleagues, including Fr David Irwin (Westminster), his predecessor at Willesden Green, Fr Chris Marshall (Ordinariate), a former colleague at Kelham Theological College, and fellow curates from Sheffield who acted as his sponsors. Also present was the Rector of Spanish Place and long-time friend, Fr Christopher Colven, who received him as they gathered to celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas). Scott now joins the London (South) Ordinariate Group.

Fr Jeffrey Steenson: Pastoral Letter

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings in the Name of the Lord! The Ordinariate is finally off and running, after much anticipation, work, and prayer. We have many exciting things that are happening, and we want you to be aware of them as we launch this new endeavor. We are going to try to use our website and our Facebook page as our vehicles to keep you informed of current news until our communities and our communication are better organized.

Candidate Formation Weekend

We have just completed a wonderful Formation Weekend in Houston for the priest candidates and their wives for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.  With deeply moving contributions from His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, the formation faculty of St. Mary’s Seminary, Marcus Grodi of the Coming Home Network, Fr. Paul Lockey (Pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Houston), Fr. Scott Hurd (Vicar General) and Dr. Margaret Chalmers (Chancellor), we have begun to take the first steps in preparing a group of very dedicated men for ordination.

As the Ordinariate was only established this month, this was our first opportunity to come together in mutual discernment and encouragement.  There were many questions asked, and we certainly don’t have all the answers, but we know where to look.  The goal of coming into full communion with the Catholic Church orients us in the right direction, and we are joyfully confident of our future.  I am deeply moved by the courage and the faith of these men and their wives, who are going to be used by God to contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ.

We dealt particularly with the theological foundations for the Ordinariate, very much in line with Pope Benedict’s moving words about the nature of the Ordinariate in his address to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Jan. 27.  He spoke of the importance of distinguishing the Tradition with a capital T from particular traditions by pointing to the groups of faithful coming from Anglicanism, “who wish to join the full communion of the Church, in the unity of the common and essentially divine Tradition, preserving their own distinctive traditions, spiritual, liturgical and pastoral, that are in keeping with the Catholic faith.”  It is indeed a journey to full communion that we are on, but our identity is embraced by the Catholic Church.  “There is, in fact, a spiritual wealth in the various Christian confessions that is the expression of the one faith, a gift to be shared and to be discerned within the Tradition of the Church.”

Installation of the Ordinary

On Feb. 12, Cardinal Wuerl and Cardinal DiNardo will help to inaugurate the Ordinariate at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston.  At this mass at 3 p.m., I will be invested liturgically with the responsibility of leading the Ordinariate.  Your prayers and your presence are very welcome!  I have been overwhelmed with the prayers and good wishes of so many in the Catholic Church who have opened their arms and their hearts to us.  And very touching too have been the words of encouragement from other Christians as well who rejoice to see God’s people listening to and following their consciences.

We are now working diligently to lay proper foundations for the Ordinariate, both canonical and civil, and once this has been completed, we expect to be able to receive groups and congregations in the near future. We know that communities have lots of questions regarding the entry into the Ordinariate. There is an information form on the website (www.usordinariate.org) for those who may wish to explore this further – particularly in the “Resources” section of the site.

We are expecting that the Ordinariate will include three categories of corporate membership – parishes, quasi-parishes more commonly known as missions, and smaller groups of people that could be designated public associations of the faithful.  All former Anglicans who are now in full communion with the Catholic Church or who are preparing to be received are eligible to belong to the Ordinariate. We will work carefully with the local Catholic bishop to facilitate this process of discernment for those communities who approach us.

‘Christian Unity in full communion with the Church Christ founded’

The Provost of the London Oratory writes:

It is one of the most ancient traditions of the Catholic Church that catechumens are baptized and converts received into full communion at Easter. Lent is the final stage of preparation for a convert’s sacramental initiation into the mystery of Christ. At Easter, as the new life of the resurrection floods into His Mystical Body the Church, more souls are added to that Body, for God’s greater glory, and their own salvation.

Bishop Kevin Vann: The Ordinariates and Christian Unity

Bishop Vann, of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, writes in the North Texas Catholic:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
One of the blessings about the life of Faith here in the Diocese of Fort Worth, especially with an eye to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, has been the lived experience of the Pastoral Provision and the recent announcement of the establishment of the “Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter” on January 2, 2012 at Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, Texas. As I said at the news conference, both are, I believe complementary, yet distinct expressions of the Lord’s will that “all may be one.” They are first ecclesial movements toward something — full communion with the See of Peter — and not away from something.

Read the rest here, beginning on page 2.

Catholic Herald: All former Anglicans can join ordinariate, says bishop

From the Catholic Herald:

An English bishop has confirmed that Anglicans who were received into the Catholic Church years ago can join the personal ordinariate created by Benedict XVI last year.

The Pope established the world’s first personal ordinariate for groups of former Anglicans that wished to enter into full communion with Rome in January 2011. There was discussion at the time about whether Anglicans received before 2011 could also join the structure under the terms of Anglicanorum coetibus, the apostolic constitution describing the nature of personal ordinariates.

Writing in the January 2012 issue of The Newman, the journal of the Newman Association, Bishop Alan Hopes clarified that the ordinariate was open to all former Anglicans.

The bishop, who serves as an auxiliary in Westminster diocese and as episcopal delegate to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, wrote: “The personal ordinariate is for former Anglicans – but Anglicans who converted some years ago can, if they so wish, say that they would like to become members of the ordinariate. There is that dual possibility.

“The decision-making body is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They are the people who will be the final arbiters in any question that might arise. There are points in the constitution [Anglicanorum coetibus] that will have to be fleshed out.”

The bishop, a former Anglican who was received into the Catholic Church in 1994, said that the long-term future of the ordinariate was unclear.

“As for the future, it may be God’s will that it should be the present structure, but maybe in 50 years’ time the ordinariate will become fully integrated into the Catholic Church. Who knows? We must wait and see,” he wrote.