Pope Benedict Welcomes the Growth of the Ordinariate in England

Edit: Our Lady of Walsingham's enthusiastic laity has been patiently growing in body and soul.   This is especially fortuitous in light of recent developments in the Church of England which has drifted still further away.

Benedict XVI has welcomed the progress of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and has said he is “glad” that its church has been established on the site of the historic Bavarian embassy chapel in London. 

Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory’s in Warwick Street is situated where the Bavarian embassy chapel, which was pillaged during the anti-Catholic Gordon Riots in 1780, once stood.

The Pope Emeritus made his comments in a letter to the Friends of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, in reply to Nicolas Ollivant, chairman of the Friends of the Ordinariate, who had written to the retired pope to express his gratitude for the gift of the ordinariate. He had also sent Benedict a brief history of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory’s.

Link to Catholic Herald... 

Anglican Bishop: Most Look to Rome to Stem Islamic MIlitancy

Edit: important that the Ordinariate in Union would bring this up, for there is surely a strong point of ecumenical interest involved.  

[Our Lady of Walsingham] The prominent Anglican Bishop, Michael Nazir-Ali, formerly the Bishop of Rochester, has spoken of the overriding importance of the Catholic Church's global voice for the future of Christianity in a world threatened by Islamic militancy and secularism. 

He said the Catholic Church potentially had "a great future and a huge opportunity" in the emerging world order and that it now had allies in upholding orthodoxy, even in unexpected quarters. However, he said that how effective it would be depended on how Rome viewed its own position and on its willingness to address its approach to certain issues. He identified these as culture and language and discipline. 

Bishop Nazir Ali, who has both a Christian and a Muslim family background and is now President of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue (OXTRAD), made his remarks to the clergy of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham - the structure set up by Pope Benedict to allow Anglicans to enter the full communion of the Catholic Church, bringing with them elements of their Anglican patrimony. He was speaking on the subject: "A Global Christianity in the Making" to the Ordinariate clergy's plenary session at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Soho Square, London (on 2 October).

Continue Reading at Our Lady of Walsingham...

Hundreds of Anglicans to Join Ordinariate this Year in UK

Edit: heads up, "I"m ok, you're ok" ecumenism is dead. The Telegraph is reporting that "hundreds" of Traditional Anglicans are going to leave the Church of England after a General Synod generating more "reforms".  Even more than before, the Church of England is becoming a museum piece.  The Director of the Ordinariate, Msgr Keith Newton, warns, however, "you can't join the Catholic Church just to escape the problems in the Anglican..."  It might not be reason in itself, but it sounds like a good place to start.

At least 20 clergy and several hundred of their parishioners are already lined up to join the Ordinariate, the new structure set up by the Pope a year ago that allows them to remain some of their Anglican heritage while entering into full communion with the Holy See.

But many more members of the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Church of England are likely to defect following a critical meeting of its governing body, the General Synod, if traditionalists who cannot accept the ordination of women are denied special provision.

The head of the Ordinariate, Mgr Keith Newton, told The Daily Telegraph: “There are in the region of 15 to 20 people who I think will be coming over this year. These are ordained Anglicans who wish to petition the Holy See for ordination.”

Link to article...