The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter has also had a five-acre property, worth $NZ6 million, donated to it next to its principal church in Houston, Texas, on which to build its first chancery.

Pope Benedict XVI established the ordinariate — which is equivalent to a diocese — on January 1, 2012, for former Anglican groups and clergy seeking to become Catholic while retaining aspects of their Anglican heritage and liturgy.

Its ordinary, Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson is a former Episcopal bishop who became a Catholic in 2007 and a Catholic priest in 2009.

Among those who have joined the ordinariate recently is Laurence Gipson, 70, a former Episcopal priest who before he retired was rector of St Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston. His parishioners included former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush.

Gipson sees the ordinariate as "advancing the cause of unity in the Church".

"It offers Anglicans a way to affirm the Catholic faith, that is, a way to affirm orthodox or right belief, while at the same time being able to worship God and practise the Christian life according to the Anglican tradition and patrimony," he said.

Gipson said he was drawn to the Catholic faith in part because of the Church's "clarity" in teachings and the "unity of faith amongst the faithful".

"What I yearned for and sought was a more centralised understanding of authority, the magisterium, the teaching authority, which could much more quickly and much more definitely interpret Scripture and decide on the faith when it was in dispute and settle those issues," he said.

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter

Image: Seward's Folly

The decision by the Catholic diocese of Richmond in Virginia has upset parishioners who have worshipped side by side, with co-pastors, in a blended parish for more than 30 years.

Continue reading

Both men are both former Episcopal priests, each with a wife and children, CNN reports.

Continue reading

On Sunday — with Lewis wearing lay clothing and sitting with St. Luke's parishioners inside the Crypt Church at Washington's Basilica of the National Shine of the Immaculate Conception — most of the parish from Bladensburg converted to Catholicism.

In doing so, St. Luke's became the first Episcopal church in the United States to convert under new Vatican rules meant to attract disaffected Protestants.

"This truly is a historic moment," said Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, who led Sunday's conversion Mass, which he called "a joyful moment of completion."

Fifty-eight of St. Luke's roughly 100 parishioners were confirmed at the applause-filled Mass, during which they were anointed by Wuerl — one by one, old and young, white and black.

Osita Okafor, a 56-year-old Nigerian immigrant, found himself first in line before Wuerl for the rite of reception. His reaction? "Oh, my God, I must be blessed."

Like many members of St. Luke's, Okafor is an immigrant from Africa — in his case, Nigeria. Many others are from the Caribbean.

Lewis, the former pastor, was anointed last in an act of symbolism. "A good shepherd must be sure his flock gets through the gate," Lewis said.

Ten other St. Luke's parishioners were welcomed back as Catholics after long ago drifting from the church. Three received their first Communion.

At least 10 other St. Luke's parishioners intend to be received by the Catholic Church later.

Full Article: Washington Post

Image: Washington Post