Personal ordinariate

Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life A personal ordinariate for former Anglicans,[1][2] shortened as personal ordinariate or Anglican ordinariate,[3][4] is a canonical structure within the Catholic Church established in order to enable "groups of Anglicans"[5] and Methodists[6] to join the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony.

These changes evidenced also in the consecration of a partnered homosexual man as a bishop and the blessing of same-sex couples have provoked serious tensions within the composite Anglican world, as Cardinal Walter Kasper said in 2009, leading to the requests to which the apostolic constitution was a response.

[34] In October 2007 the Traditional Anglican Communion presented to the Holy See a petition for full union in corporate form (i.e., as a body, not merely as individuals) with the Roman Catholic Church.

On 5 July 2008, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), responded to the formal request for "full, corporate and sacramental union" with the Roman Catholic Church[36] giving written assurance that the CDF was giving serious attention to the prospect of "corporate unity" raised in that request.

[45][46][47] In December 2009, Levada responded to each of the bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion who signed the October 2007 petition for corporate union with the Catholic Church, stating that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had completed its long and detailed study with the aim of making available a suitable and viable model of organic unity for their group "and other such groups".

The Traditional Anglican Communion then undertook discussions with those other groups and with representatives of the Catholic episcopal conferences and planned to give a formal response after a meeting of their bishops in Eastertide 2010.

"[67] However, Anglicans who join the Catholic Church are not obliged to become members of an ordinariate and can choose to belong to the Latin diocese of residence.

The serving bishops were provincial episcopal visitors Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet, Keith Newton of Richborough, along with suffragan John Broadhurst of Fulham, all of whom declared their intention to resign from the offices they held with effect from 31 December 2010.

[88][better source needed] Ruth Gledhill, religious affairs correspondent of The Times, said that the announcement could prompt "hundreds, possibly thousands" of lay ministers to follow the bishops' example.

"[87] On 19 November 2010, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales announced that work was proceeding with a view to establishing an ordinariate in January 2011.

[93][better source needed] At Easter 2011, about 900 laity and about 60 former Anglican clergy (many retired from active ministry) joined the Catholic Church as members of the ordinariate.

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".

[97] In December 2012, the ordinariate was given extended jurisdiction over Canada through the newly established Canadian Deanery of St John the Baptist.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith appointed Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, as its delegate for the implementation of an ordinariate in the United States.

Christopher Phillips, one of the guest speakers at the conference, celebrated the first Anglican Use Mass in Canadian history at St Joseph's Streetsville for the Feast of the Annunciation.

[100] In May 2011, preparations for members of the Traditional Anglican Communion in Canada to join an ordinariate were put on hold in view of reports about intended announcements by Collins that those intending to join the ordinariate would have to close their Traditional Anglican parishes and attend a Catholic parish for four to six months and that the dossiers submitted by the clergy concerned showed that their training was inadequate, requiring them to attend a Catholic seminary for an unspecified time.

[101] In early June 2011, in advance of the report that Wuerl was due to present to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on interest shown in joining an ordinariate, a 100-member Episcopal parish in Bladensburg, Maryland was reported to have become the first in the United States to ask to be received into the Catholic Church while keeping aspects of its Anglican traditions.

[105] At the next meeting of the Bishops Conference, on 15 November, he announced that, with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, 1 January 2012 would be the date of establishment of the new ordinariate for former Anglicans in the United States.

[106] He said that of 67 petitions by United States Anglican clergy for ordination as Catholic priests 35 had already received the nihil obstat of the Holy See and would be examined locally for possible acceptance.

He also said that two Anglican communities had already entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, one in the Diocese of Fort Worth, the other in the Archdiocese of Washington.

[109][110][111] In assuming that responsibility, he succeeded Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, a former Episcopal bishop appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the position of "ordinary" in 2012.

A former Anglican layman, Elliott is designated as the delegate of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a liaison to the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference.

[119] A statement issued by the TAC's College of Bishops following a meeting in Johannesburg in March 2012 stated that the body had voted to remain Anglican, despite Hepworth's efforts.

As announced by the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference on 11 May 2012,[120] the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith established the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross on 15 June 2012.

The Apostolic Constitution reaffirms in principle the discipline of clerical celibacy for clergy of the Latin Church, but allows ordination of married former Anglican clergy to the orders of deacon and priest in the service of an ordinariate: "Those who ministered as Anglican deacons, priests, or bishops, [...] may be accepted by the Ordinary as candidates for Holy Orders in the Catholic Church".

[141] This request is granted on a case-by-case basis,[142] not as a matter of course but by exception: "The norms established in the Encyclical Letter of Pope Paul VI Sacerdotalis caelibatus, n. 42 and in the Statement In June are to be observed.

Overall, these provisions provide considerable flexibility to preserve both the dignity of office and the opportunity for comparable pastoral leadership of former Anglican bishops who are not eligible for episcopal ordination in the Catholic Church.

[161] In this also the ordinariates for former Anglicans differ from those Eastern Catholic churches in which priesthood and diaconate are open to married men as well as to celibates.

[162][163] Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, commented on 11 January 2013 that, while the situation of Lutherans is different from that of Anglicans, the Holy See might consider an ordinariate for those among them who might wish to become members of the Catholic Church while retaining "the legitimate traditions they have developed".

[165] The ordinariate structure has also been proposed as a potential option for Hebrew Catholics seeking to restore their corporate life as a Jewish church.