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

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Married father of eight ordained a Catholic priest for Pennsylvania diocese

Harrisburg, Pa., Jun 15, 2010 / 02:49 am (CNA).

A former Protestant pastor who is a married father of eight was ordained a Catholic priest on Saturday for the Diocese of Harrisburg.

The newly ordained Fr. Paul Shenck was raised Jewish and baptized a Christian when he was 16 years old. In 1994 he left the New Covenant Tabernacle, an evangelical church he founded, and then became a pastor in western New York for the Reformed Episcopal Church. He entered the Catholic Church in 2004...

Read the rest at the Catholic News Agency's web site.

There is a fuller treatment of this story, "Pro-life Hero, Protestant Minister to Catholic Priest: Fr. Paul Schenck, Prophetic Sign of Coming Full Communion" by Deacon Keith Fournier at Catholic Online.
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