It was very moving to be in Westminster Cathedral yesterday morning at the very moment when the Anglican Ordinariate was formally established in England and Wales, and to discover its proper name: the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, under the patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman. There are only so many historic moments you can claim to have witnessed in the space of a few months; but this, along with Pope Benedict’s visit to Westminster in September, was definitely one of them: the first time ever that Anglicans in this country have been able, as a group, to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church without having to renounce anything of fundamental importance from their Anglican heritage.
Our Lady of Walsingham
Andrew Burnham, John Broadhurst and Keith Newton were ordained to the Catholic priesthood; and Keith Newton was nominated as the first Ordinary.
Their ordination to the diaconate took place two days before at our own chapel here in Allen Hall. If you’ve never seen the chapel you can see a clip of the ordination rite here – a shot from the balcony as the three candidates prostrate themselves in the centre aisle during the litany of the saints. The huge silver crucifix that sits above the altar on the sanctuary wall was originally placed on the outside wall of the chapel, facing the street, as a powerful witness to the thousands of people passing down Beaufort Street every day – especially those on the top deck of the buses who would have had a great view. It was moved into the chapel when the sanctuary was simplified and the hanging baldacchino removed a few years ago.
Here is the text from Cardinal Levada that was read out at the beginning of the Mass yesterday:
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Ordination to the Priesthood of our three friends, Andrew Burnham, John Broadhurst and Keith Newton, is an occasion of great joy both for them and for the wider Church. I had very much wished to be present with you in Westminster Cathedral today in order to demonstrate my own personal support for them as they make this important step. Unfortunately, however, a long standing commitment of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to meet with the Bishops and theologians of India in Bangalore has meant that I am unable to be in London today. I am very happy, therefore, to have the opportunity of sending this message and am grateful to Archbishop Nichols for agreeing to represent me and for his willingness to deliver my best wishes.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has today published a Decree erecting the first Personal Ordinariate for groups of Anglican faithful and their pastors wishing to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. This new Ordinariate, established within the territory of England and Wales, will be known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and will be placed under the patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman. Its establishment, which marks a unique and historic moment in the life of the Catholic Community in this country, is the first fruit of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, issued by Pope Benedict XVI on 4 November 2009. It is my fervent hope that, by enabling what the Holy Father calls “a mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies”, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will bring great blessings not only on those directly involved in it, but upon the whole Church.
Also today the Holy Father has nominated Reverend Keith Newton as the first Ordinary of this Personal Ordinanate. Together with Reverend Burnham and Reverend Broadhurst, Keith Newton will oversee the catechetical preparation of the first groups of Anglicans in England and Wales who will be received into the Catholic Church together with their pastors at Easter, and will accompany the clergy preparing for ordination to the Catholic priesthood around Pentecost. I urge you all to assist the new Ordinary in the unique mission which has been entrusted to him not only with your prayers but also with every practical support.
In conclusion, I offer my personal and heartfelt best wishes to these three Catholic priests. I pray that God will abundantly bless them, and also those other clergy and faithful who are preparing to join them in full communion with the Catholic Church. In the midst of the uncertainty that every period of transition inevitably brings I wish to assure you all of our admiration for you, and of our prayerful solidarity.
At an audience granted to me by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 January 2011, His Holiness asked me to convey to you that he cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing upon the ordinandi Andrew Burnham, John Broadhurst and Keith Newton, together with their wives and family members and upon all other participants in this solemn rite.
Entrusting you confidently to the intercession of Our Lady of Walsingham, and to the intercession of the great saints and martyrs of England and Wales, I am
Yours sincerely in Christ,
William Cardinal Levada
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Bridges and Tangents 
Priests and wives and their families, what a wonderful step forward. I pray that these priests and their families are blessed in carving a new and holy sacred pathway through tradition, which leads to choice for others ordained, both ways should be equally valued for their beauty and example.
I believe there is no better human reflection of The Holy Trinity than mother father and child. Maybe some of our spiritual leaders could choose to be beautiful and wholesome models for the rest of mankind.
As a former member of the Anglican Church, this news was a great joy to me in so many ways. I have, for over half of my life, believed that the Roman Catholic Church is the one true Church – and I still do. However, I believe that we have much to learn from our fellow Christians of other churches. Maybe this is God’s way of making us sit up and listen and to accept that there are other ways which might just work for us.
I was obliged to look up what a ‘hanging baldachino’ was. Have you been waiting to use this particular word for some time? I discovered that the correct spelling is ‘baldacchino’ but, since I have only recently learnt how to spell cappuccino correctly, who am I to quibble?
Yes – it’s been on the tip of my tongue for many years now! Thanks for the correction – duly incorporated…
I am so pleased with this wonderful news of historical proportions. As one who has enjoyed the fellowship of wonderful Anglicans during a period of residence in the UK, I am so pleased that Rome has opened its doors so generously to them to allow them to carry on Anglican traditions within the heart of Catholicism. This is probably bigger history than we can see from our present vantage. Anglicanism has received so many graces during its times of separation from Rome. The whole ALPHA program which I experienced in Holy Trinity Brompton is one such fruit, as is the wonderful fellowships at All Soul’s Langham Place and many wonderful Anglican churches in the UK and elsewhere in the world. These graces do belong within the heart of Catholicism as the Church tells us. God be praised for such wonderful news, and every blessing on these men who will serve under the patronage of that great Englishman of faith, Blessed John Henry Newman
It was a truly historic and emotional event.
Now it’s time to dig deep into our pockets and fund the beast!
God bless you
I’m not at all sure what to think of this development. I suppose things crystallised for me last Sunday when, during Mass, one of the intercessory prayers invited us to pray in thanksgiving for the development of the ordinariate as a step towards unity between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. Inwardly, I thought ‘Towards unity or towards an imperialistic colonisation?’
I know that a belief in the truth of what we hold as Catholics should cause me to rejoice when others come to share that truth – and it does. Yet there remains something about the way in which the establishment of the ordinariate was handled and about the possible motivations of those moving from the Church of England that leaves me feeling uneasy.
The dilemma of the liberal Catholic! I hang on to the conviction that God knows what God is about in this…