The apostolic constitution which allows for the institution of personal ordinariates for Anglicans who join the Roman Catholic Church was released on 9 November 2009, after being announced on 20 October 2009 by Cardinal William Levada at a press conference in Rome.

"[7] Roman Catholic clergy who were present at an ecumenical service at Westminster Cathedral for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were reported as being "dismayed" by the sermon by Canon Giles Fraser, then chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral, which included comments that the ordinariate had a "slightly predatory feel" and that "In corporate terms, [it is] a little like a takeover bid in some broader power play of church politics.

"[7] In 2011, Bishop Christopher Hill, the chairman of the Church of England's Council for Christian Unity, described the erection of the ordinariate as an "insensitive act".

The then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, announced that he had with regret accepted the resignations of Bishops Burnham and Newton.

In the following week, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales considered the proposed ordinariate and gave assurances of a warm welcome for those who wish to be part of it.

[14] About half of St Peter's Parish, Folkestone (mentioned above), including their priest, were received into the ordinariate on 9 March 2011, along with 600 other Anglicans largely from south-east England, with six groups from the Southwark diocese.

John Hunwicke, who joined the ordinariate, had his ordination "deferred" owing to unspecified comments allegedly made by him on his Internet blog site, but was subsequently ordained to the Catholic presbyterate.

To revive interest among Anglican upholders of traditional Christian doctrine, the ordinariate's members, he suggested, should "communicate our message more fully and with more vigour and enthusiasm".

[25] In 2021 and 2022 four former bishops of the Church of England (Jonathan Goodall, Michael Nazir-Ali, John Goddard and Peter Foster) were received into the Ordinariate.

Gavin Ashenden, former chaplain of Queen Elizabeth II and former missionary bishop of the Christian Episcopal Church, was received into the Ordinariate as well.

[30] On 12 December 2012, it was announced that 11 religious sisters from the Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) intended to join the ordinariate.

[35] The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick Street, Soho, London, which belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster, was designated for the ordinariate's exclusive use from Lent in 2013.

The proper liturgical calendar of the ordinariate was approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on 15 February 2012.