What is the Ordinariate Leaflet by Catholic Truth Society

Members of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham are fully integrated into the life of the Catholic Church, but they retain some of the distinctive elements of their rich Anglican heritage and traditions. These traditions, which have helped bring their Christian faith to maturity, are often referred to as “Anglican patrimony”. They include their spiritual inheritance, prayers, hymnody and strong choral tradition. Ordinariate clergy also have a particular way of engaging pastorally with wider society, which is born out of their experience of Anglican parishes, where the clergy tend to minister to the entire local area rather than just to those who belong to the parish.

The liturgy s well as being permitted to use the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman Rite, priests of the ordinariates may celebrate Mass

In 2013, approval was given for what is informally referred to as the “Ordinariate Use”, a form of the Mass which integrates into the Roman Rite elements from the Book of Common Prayer and other centuries’ old words, hallowed by the prayers of generations of Anglicans. Other services approved for use include the traditional Anglican celebrations of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (Evensong) and Marriage and Funeral rites similar to those well known because of their use at televised Royal occasions. The Ordinariate Calendar, like any diocesan liturgical calendar, complements the General Roman Calendar. The Ordinariate Lectionary uses the Revised Standard Version of the Sacred Scriptures (Second Catholic Edition), which draws on the English Bible tradition and includes many phrases and sayings found in English literature and poetry.

and other services using certain texts which draw on elements from the Anglican tradition and have been specifically approved for use by the ordinariates by the Holy See. The name chosen by the Holy See for the entire liturgical provision for the ordinariates is Divine Worship.

Only those elements of the Anglican tradition which are compatible with the Catholic faith are authorised for use by the ordinariates; other Anglican elements may be revised to bring them into conformity.

Mission and evangelisation ithin the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham there is a particular enthusiasm for mission and evangelisation. The Ordinariate exists to teach and spread the Catholic faith, to proclaim the Gospel through the rich treasures of its traditions and to promote the unity of all Christians with the Apostolic See. An emphasis on the importance of the conversion of all people into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ will always be at the heart of its daily work.

What is the Ordinariate?

Find out more If you wish to find out more about the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, you can visit the website: www.ordinariate.org.uk. If you are considering becoming a Catholic through the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, you can find your nearest group on the website. Each group has a priest who will be able to guide you through the process. The Friends of the Ordinariate is a charity set up by lay Catholics to support the Ordinariate’s work. It can be contacted via the Ordinariate website. If you would like to receive further information please contact the communications officer, Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, 24 Golden Square, London, W1F 9JR communications@ordinariate.org.uk

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A Vision of Christian Unity from the See of St Peter

What is the Ordinariate? he Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2011 to allow groups of Anglican laity and their clergy, as well as religious, to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church whilst retaining elements of their Anglican heritage which are in keeping with the Catholic faith.

The ordinariates here are two other personal ordinariates, both established in 2012: the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter in the United States and the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia.

The ordinariates came into being as the result of the promulgation in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVl of the Apostolic Constitution called Anglicanorum cœtibus. This was Pope Benedict’s response to requests from Anglicans who longed for corporate unity with the Catholic and Orthodox churches. In effect, the ordinariates are personal, non-territorial structures, similar to dioceses, whose members have come from the Anglican Communion or who come to the Catholic faith through the Ordinariate.

The Ordinary he head of the Ordinariate is called the Ordinary. He is appointed by the Pope from a list of names proposed by the Ordinariate’s Governing Council, which has its own statutes approved by the Ordinary and confirmed by the Holy See.

Membership ince their establishment, membership of the ordinariates has been open to those who come from the Anglican tradition or who have family already in an ordinariate.

The Council is composed of at least six priests, half of whom are elected by all the priests of the Ordinariate. The Ordinary, who must be a bishop or priest, has overall responsibility for his personal ordinariate. An Ordinary has most of the canonical authority of a diocesan bishop. Clearly, an Ordinary who is not a bishop cannot confer the Sacrament of Holy Order. The Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is a full member of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

In 2013, Pope Francis amended Anglicanorum cœtibus to extend eligibility to those who were baptised in the Catholic Church but did not complete the Sacraments of Initiation and who subsequently return to the practice of the faith.

Married priests? hilst the Ordinariate upholds and defends the Church’s discipline of celibacy, former Anglican clergy who are married may, on a caseby-case basis, be ordained for service in a personal ordinariate. The decision is the Ordinary’s and must be approved by the Holy See. However, married priests, including those who were formerly Anglican bishops, may not, in deference to the tradition of celibacy, be ordained as bishops in the Catholic Church. The first ordinaries of the three ordinariates, who are married, are priests rather than bishops.

To be members of the Ordinariate, laity and religious must be formally enrolled and their names included in the appropriate register; priests

Real Catholics? hen former Anglicans become members of a personal ordinariate, they cease to be members of the Anglican Communion (or other Anglican body) and become full members of the Roman Catholic Church with all the rights, privileges and obligations of any other Catholic. They are subject to the 1983 Code of Canon Law and accept the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church as set out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As Catholics in every sense, they may receive the sacraments in any Catholic church. Likewise, any Catholic may receive the sacraments from a priest of the Ordinariate. Thus, participating at a Mass on a Sunday for an ordinariate congregation also fulfils the obligation of those who do not themselves belong to an ordinariate.

Anglican patrimony he Ordinariate is organised in groups around the country, each led by a priest of the Ordinariate, who will often also serve the wider Church as a chaplain in a hospital, prison or a school, or as a parish priest or assistant parish priest. Each group will normally have a regular Ordinariate Mass in the local Catholic parish church, though members also, of course, frequently attend the diocesan Masses.

and deacons are directly incardinated into the Ordinariate through ordination, that is, they are placed under the jurisdiction of the Ordinary.