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, February 22, 2011

Anna Arco interviews Fr Keith Newton

The Catholic Herald‘s Anna Arco interviewed the Ordinary, Fr Keith Newton, in last week’s paper: We want to be outward-looking

Shortly after the Second Vatican Council Cardinal Johannes Willebrands preached at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Protesters, including Ian Paisley, tried to disrupt the service. A teenage Keith Newton and his future wife, Gill, were among those who had come out to see the historic event. Police eventually had to move the protesters. From that day on, the young Liverpudlian longed for Christian unity.

The 17-year-old could never have imagined that he would one day end up leading an entirely new structure within the Catholic Church. Today he is, of course, the ordinary, or head, of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham...

Read the rest of the interview at The Ordinariate Portal .
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