Vatican City - Pope Leo XIV received in audience this morning Bishop David Arthur Waller, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and Bishop Steven Joseph Lopes, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. The two bishops lead two of the three personal ordinariates established following Anglicanorum coetibus, the apostolic constitution by which Pope Benedict XVI provided a stable framework for the “corporate” reception of groups of Anglicans into full communion with the Catholic Church.
How Anglicanorum coetibus came about
The text of Anglicanorum coetibus begins from an ecclesial fact: “the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to ask… to be received… into full Catholic communion”. It describes the task of the Apostolic See as a concrete response to that step: the Successor of Peter “cannot fail to provide the means by which such a desire may be brought to fulfilment”.
In its preamble, Benedict XVI recalls the Church’s nature as “the sacrament… of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race”, and reads divisions among the baptised as a wound that also weighs on the credibility of the Church’s mission: separation “is a wound to what the Church is and to what the Church exists for”. On this basis, the constitution sets out a “general norm” for establishing and governing Personal Ordinariates for Anglican faithful who wish to enter the Catholic communion together.
The legal core is set out in the opening provisions. The ordinariates are erected by the Congregation (now the Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith “within the territorial boundaries” of an episcopal conference; each ordinariate is “juridically equivalent to a diocese”, while remaining personal in nature (not territorial). Their members include lay faithful and clergy “originally belonging to the Anglican Communion” and now in communion with Rome, as well as those who receive the sacraments of Christian initiation within the ordinariate’s jurisdiction.
The constitution also highlights two elements that explain the practical appeal of this structure.
First, the liturgical and spiritual dimension: an ordinariate may celebrate according to the “liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition approved by the Holy See”, in order to “keep alive… spiritual, liturgical and pastoral traditions” as a “precious gift” to be shared.
Second, the discipline of the clergy. While the norm of celibacy in the Latin Church remains in force, the Ordinary “as a rule” admits “only celibate men” to priestly ordination, but may ask the Pope, “case by case”, for a dispensation to admit married men under criteria approved by the Holy See. For the faithful, membership is also clearly regulated: anyone who wishes to belong “must express this intention in writing”.
The personal ordinariates
Within this framework, three personal ordinariates have been erected: Our Lady of Walsingham (England and Wales), the Chair of Saint Peter (the United States and Canada), and Our Lady of the Southern Cross (Australia and Japan).
The first, the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, was erected on 15 January 2011. It has jurisdiction over faithful coming from Anglicanism who reside in England and Wales (with some communities also in Scotland) and who formally request enrolment. Since 29 April 2024, the Ordinary has been Bishop David Arthur Waller. It comprises around 1,950 baptised (2021), 97 priests, and 36 parishes.
The second, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, was erected on 1 January 2012. It extends its jurisdiction to former Anglicans in the United States and Canada. Its principal church is Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, raised to the rank of cathedral with the appointment of the first Ordinary with episcopal dignity. Since 24 November 2015, the Ordinary has been Bishop Steven Joseph Lopes; in 2023 it counted 12,031 baptised, 79 priests, and 40 parishes.
The third is the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, erected on 15 June 2012. It operates in Australia and also includes parishes in Japan. The see is currently vacant; since 1 July 2023, Bishop Anthony Randazzo has served as Apostolic Administrator, while remaining Bishop of Broken Bay. In 2023, the baptised faithful were around 1,200; the ordinariate counted 17 priests and 26 parishes.
In recent months, also in the light of developments within the Anglican Communion -including the appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, for the first time a woman - requests have increased from faithful and priests seeking full communion with the Church of Rome. Today’s audience fits into that wider picture: Leo XIV heard directly from two pastors who accompany these people day by day, and who deal first-hand with their questions, expectations, and difficulties.
d.F.B.
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