The first principle of the Ordinariate is then about Christian unity. St. Basil the Great, the Church’s greatest ecumenist, literally expended his life on the work of building bridges between orthodox brethren who shared a common faith, but who had become separated from one another in a Church badly fragmented by heresy and controversy. He taught that the work of Christian unity requires deliberate and ceaseless effort...St. Basil often talked with yearning about the archaia agape, the ancient love of the apostolic community, so rarely seen in the Church of his day. This love, he taught, is a visible sign that the Holy Spirit is indeed present and active, and it is absolutely essential for the health of the Church.

- Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, Homily on the Occasion of his Formal Institution as Ordinary

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

From the Pastoral Provision Retreat

Instant interview with Monsignor William Stetson:

Mgr. William Stetson is the Secretary of the Pastoral Provision. The Pastoral Provision is the structure provided by Pope John Paul II in 1980 to enable married former Episcopal Priests to be ordained as Catholic priests. The Pastoral Provision also empowers the establishment of personal parishes which use the Anglican Use liturgy. A 'personal parish' is a parish defined by persons to whom the church wishes to give special pastoral care because of their particular needs--in this case non Catholic Christians from the Episcopal Church.

The Pastoral Provision was first overseen by Bishop (later Cardinal) Bernard Law. Who was called the Ecclesiastical Delegate. Since 1996 the Ecclesiastical Delegate has been Archbishop John Myers of Newark. Monsignor Stetson works for him--meeting candidates, managing the examination process and guiding the application for dispensations to Rome.

I spoke with Mgr. Stetson after breakfast here at the Pastoral Provision retreat...

Read the rest of the interview at Fr. Longenecker's blog Standing on My Head.

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