Scottish Catholic Observer

By Madeleine Teahan

The head of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has said that he expects ‘several new groups’ to join in a letter marking their first anniversary.

“We expect several new groups to be received at Easter and we are preparing for a number of ordinations to the priesthood around Pentecost,” Ordinary Mgr Keith Newton wrote in a pastoral letter on Sunday. “In addition several young men are exploring the possibility of ordination within the ordinariate.”

Anniversary

On the first anniversary of the erection by the Holy See of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, which welcomes Anglicans into the Catholic Church in groups, Mgr Newton described the year as ‘extraordinary.’

“It has been an extraordinary year as we have moved from places we have known and loved to find a new and welcoming home in the Catholic Church,” he said. “I echo the words of St Paul writing to the Church at Corinth ‘I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given to you in Christ Jesus’  (1 Cor 1:4.) I give thanks to God for your courage and faith sometimes at great personal cost.”

He added: “Many people have travelled a similar road before us, our patron Blessed John Henry Newman being one of many, but what is unique is that we have travelled together responding to the generous invitation made by our Holy Father Pope Benedict specifically to people like us.”

Wider Communion

Mgr Newton said that the ordinariate was a practical response to Pope Benedict’s call for Christians to be united in common faith as expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and in Communion with the successor of Peter.

“Of course, there have been some misunderstandings; partly because the ordinariate has begun in a modest way, many Catholics have had no personal contact with ordinariate groups or individuals,” he said. “It is up to all of us to help people understand and to make a reality the vision that Pope Benedict has set before us, that the ordinariate should be ‘a prophetic gesture’ to contribute to the wider goal of visible unity between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

“It is to help us to experience in practice how we can share the gifts we have received to strengthen each other for our mission to a world that desperately needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. As we keep the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this month we should pray even more urgently for the unity of Christ’s Church which Pope Benedict reminded us, during his visit to the United Kingdom last year, is a particular charge and care for the successor of Saint Peter.”

He continued by expressing his gratitude for the ‘Catholic congregations and countless individuals, lay and ordained, who have so wonderfully supported and encouraged us over the year.’

Road ahead

There have been many exciting developments in the past year for the ordinariate, including its first ordination in Scotland, that of Fr Len Black, and the establishment of an equivalent ordinariate in the US. However UK ordinariate members are still without a Church and a lack of finance and resources are growing concerns.

Nonetheless, Mgr Newton said that the potential for an expanding ordinariate was encouraging.

Celebrations

An estimated 500 people gathered together at St James, Spanish Place, in London to celebrate the anniversary of the ordinariate.

Mgr Newton presided over Solemn Evensong, Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction for a service of traditional Anglican Evening Prayer. There was music from the Anglican choral tradition and hymns such as Blessed John Henry Newman’s Praise to the holiest in the height.

Also present at the anniversary celebrations were, Bishop Peter Elliot, Auxillary Bishop of Melbourne and Episcopal Delegate for the establishment of the Ordinariate in Australia and Mgr John Armitage of Brentwood Diocese.

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