The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter has posted details of May 3-14, 2020 Pilgrimage in honor of the 10th Anniversary of Anglicanorum Coetibus for those coming from North America.

Led by Bishop Steven Lopes and Ordinariate clergy, the pilgrimage starts in London and includes visits to Oxford, Cambridge, Norwich, and Walsingham.  May 9 is a free day to sight see in London, capped by a Solemn Mass with the three Ordinariates and lay faithful from North America, the UK and Australia to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution that paved the way for groups of Anglicans to join the Catholic Church through their own diocese-like structures.

On May 10, the pilgrims will fly to Rome for several days that will include Mass every day in various historic churches in Rome, including St. Peter’s Basilica, and participation in the weekly Papal audience on Wednesday, May 13. Continue reading →

I expect news any day now from the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter on the joint 10th Anniversary of Anglicanorum coetibus pilgrimage to Rome led by the three Ordinaries.

Our Lady of the Southern Cross has published the details of the Australian end of the pilgrimage here.

Do you remember where you were when you first heard  Pope Benedict XVI would be publishing an Apostolic Constitution allowing for the creation of Ordinariates for Anglicans wishing to become Catholic and at the same time allowing them to preserve aspects of their patrimony?

I was at the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) annual plenary.  The picture above is from last year, as I no longer have pictures from 2009.

How did you feel?  Were you shocked? Exhilarated?  Disbelieving? Overcome with gratitude and thanksgiving? Wary?  Concerned about your future? Where were you when you heard? What did you do? Who did you talk to?

It’s hard to believe it is now almost exactly ten years since that day.  We have so much to be thankful for.  It’s pretty amazing when you look at how far we have come! Continue reading →

Pope Francis announced today that he will canonize Cardinal John Henry Newman on Oct. 13.

The Catholic Herald reports:

In February, the Pope signed a decree recognising a second miracle attributed to Blessed John Henry Newman, the inexplicable healing of a woman with a “life-threatening pregnancy”.

Blessed John Henry Newman was one of the most prominent converts to Catholicism from Anglicanism of the 19th century.

He was already an esteemed Anglican theologian when he founded the Oxford Movement to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots, before himself converting to the Catholic faith.

He was renowned as a brilliant thinker and was made a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII.

This is excellent news for those who have registered already for Symposium 2019 to mark the 10th anniversary of Anglicanorum coetibus.

Here is the link to register for the Symposium.  Spaces are limited.

Accommodation in Rome close to the centre city might be hard to find.  I have stayed with the Suore Brigidine at their via della Isole location.  It’s about 5 km outside the centre city, so you’d need to take a bus or a cab, but it is clean, quiet, and relatively inexpensive for Rome.

From the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter website:

June 29, 2019 – Ordination to the Sacred Priesthood of Rev. Mr. Robert Chapman Kirk and Rev. Mr. Gregory Blake Tipton. Through the imposition of hands and the invocation of the Holy Spirit by Most Reverend Steven J. Lopes, Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, Texas.

I continually wrestle with the fact our parish is not especially seeker-friendly.  I recall how I was as a seeker  30 years ago and recognize I probably would not have come back for a number of reasons:  no women up front; people standing or kneeling to recite prayers in unison from a book (how weird!); and the stress on believing and reciting creeds.

Twenty years ago, when I first started attending Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I was ready for all of the above.   At the time, Annunciation permitted a kind of open Communion—if you believed in Real Presence in the Eucharist, you would receive.  I wonder now if I would have continued to attend services at Annunciation if we had the Catholic discipline we have now: that one must be a baptized Catholic in good-standing in order to receive Holy Communion.   I  totally accept this discipline now.  

I was reminded of this by a recent post by Fr. Christopher Phillips on his Atonement Online blog:

Continue reading →

If you have not signed up for Symposium 2019 in Rome Oct. 15, now might be the time to do so.  Spaces are limited and accommodations in Rome are quickly filling up.

Pope Francis is expected to announce the date of Blessed John Henry Newman’s canonization following a consistory of cardinals on July 1.

Edward Pentin reports at the National Catholic Register:

Informed sources have speculated that Sunday Oct. 13 could be the most likely date for the canonization Mass. Indian bishops will be in Rome for their ad limina visit during that time, which would coincide with the canonization of Blessed Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan. It would also fall during the Oct. 6-27 Pan-Amazonian Synod when many bishops will be in Rome.

Another reason such a date would be fitting, given Blessed John Henry Newman was a convert from Anglicanism, is that this coming November marks the 10th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus which provided personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church.

To coincide with the anniversary, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is holding a symposium on Oct. 15 at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where ecclesial and ecumenical implications of the document will be discussed.