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| Mary, Mother of God |
For the Catholic Church in the United States, today marks an important movement towards greater diversity and at the same time a reaffirmation of the universality of what Jesus Christ established. On the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which falls on Sunday January 1, 2012, a Personal Ordinariate for former Anglicans (Episcopalians) who wish to be fully initiated into the Catholic Church will be erected. This follows the January 15, 2011 establishment of a Personal Ordinariate in England and comes just before an official announcement about progress towards the erection of a Personal Ordinariate in Australia.
Donald Cardinal Wuerl, Ecclesiastical Delegate for the establishment of a Personal Ordinariate in the United States, prepared remarks for the full body of Bishops at the USCCB meeting in Baltimore. Many questions remain to be answered and there is no rush to frenetically and prematurely answer questions to hypothetical situations which may or may not bear out. For the moment, what we know is that the Holy Father, in an audience granted to His Eminence William Cardinal Levada, approved the erection of an Ordinariate in the United States. As things fall into place the Catholic Church in the United States will figure out what needs to be done. Under Cardinal Wuerl's able leadership and with the collaboration of Fr. Steenson and Fr. Hurd, the first steps towards making this a practical reality are being put into place. FAQs can be seen here.
Along with the announcement of an Ordinariate, Cardinal Wuerl also announced that I have been appointed the new Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision by the CDF. I succeed Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark and am grateful for the trust placed in me to participate in this historic fraternal embrace of those Anglicans who seek the same. Thank you to Cardinal Levada, Cardinal Wuerl and Archbishop Myers and so many others for their support and friendship as I move forward on this journey.
Here are the remarks that I shared with the Conference today:
Thank you Cardinal Wuerl, for this time in the presentation, and for your personal encouragement.
As Cardinal Wuerl mentioned, I have been appointed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as the new Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision. Not long after my appointment to Fort Worth, I was appointed the Vice Delegate for the Pastoral Provision with special responsibility for Texas. So, in these years, I have learned much about the history of the Pastoral Provision since its establishment in 1981. Being the Bishop of a Diocese where the Pastoral Provision has been a part of life for nearly twenty years, and as well, where in the ecclesial landscape there are good and fraternal relationships between the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth and the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth [clergy, lay and episcopal] I can personally testify to the blessings that the Pastoral Provision has brought to the Diocese of Fort Worth and how the life of the Pastoral Provision and the priests ordained through it [and in that context a parish community] can truly be a blessing in building up the communion of Faith in a Diocese. Both are integral to the life of our local Church.
I want to especially thank my long time friend Archbishop Myers for his personal encouragement and help and his dedication as Ecclesiastical Delegate these past six years. I want to make special mention of Msgr. James Sheehan, the secretary of the Pastoral Provision who went home to the Lord earlier this year.
The Pastoral Provision is set up so that an Episcopal Priest can undertake a journey of discernment, formation, and theological assessment so that he can ordained as a diocesan priest, incarndinated in a Diocese. Its focus and purpose is in some ways complementary, but different from the Personal Ordinariate.
I am grateful that the theological faculty which assists in this vital work will remain at Seton Hall in Newark. As I work in these next weeks and months ahead to organize the ongoing work for this, I appreciate also the chance to continue the communication with those involved in the new Ordinariate. In this same vein, I will certainly do whatever I can to continue to build on all that has been to assist any of you in your questions about the Pastoral Provision, or in your assistance to any Episcopalian priest who may approach you about priestly ministry. I ask you also for your patience and understanding as the administrative staff that will process these requests is set up in Fort Worth.
I wish to thank Cardinal Levada for his confidence, and to thank all of your for your encouragement and support in the work of the Pastoral Provision. I believe it is a concrete expression of the unity of Christ and His Church, and of the will of that same Lord that "all may be one."
God bless you and thank you.
Here are the remarks that I shared with the Conference today:
PASTORAL PROVISION REMARKS
Thank you Cardinal Wuerl, for this time in the presentation, and for your personal encouragement.
As Cardinal Wuerl mentioned, I have been appointed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as the new Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision. Not long after my appointment to Fort Worth, I was appointed the Vice Delegate for the Pastoral Provision with special responsibility for Texas. So, in these years, I have learned much about the history of the Pastoral Provision since its establishment in 1981. Being the Bishop of a Diocese where the Pastoral Provision has been a part of life for nearly twenty years, and as well, where in the ecclesial landscape there are good and fraternal relationships between the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth and the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth [clergy, lay and episcopal] I can personally testify to the blessings that the Pastoral Provision has brought to the Diocese of Fort Worth and how the life of the Pastoral Provision and the priests ordained through it [and in that context a parish community] can truly be a blessing in building up the communion of Faith in a Diocese. Both are integral to the life of our local Church.
I want to especially thank my long time friend Archbishop Myers for his personal encouragement and help and his dedication as Ecclesiastical Delegate these past six years. I want to make special mention of Msgr. James Sheehan, the secretary of the Pastoral Provision who went home to the Lord earlier this year.
The Pastoral Provision is set up so that an Episcopal Priest can undertake a journey of discernment, formation, and theological assessment so that he can ordained as a diocesan priest, incarndinated in a Diocese. Its focus and purpose is in some ways complementary, but different from the Personal Ordinariate.
I am grateful that the theological faculty which assists in this vital work will remain at Seton Hall in Newark. As I work in these next weeks and months ahead to organize the ongoing work for this, I appreciate also the chance to continue the communication with those involved in the new Ordinariate. In this same vein, I will certainly do whatever I can to continue to build on all that has been to assist any of you in your questions about the Pastoral Provision, or in your assistance to any Episcopalian priest who may approach you about priestly ministry. I ask you also for your patience and understanding as the administrative staff that will process these requests is set up in Fort Worth.
I wish to thank Cardinal Levada for his confidence, and to thank all of your for your encouragement and support in the work of the Pastoral Provision. I believe it is a concrete expression of the unity of Christ and His Church, and of the will of that same Lord that "all may be one."
God bless you and thank you.