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

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

American Anglican bishop goes to Rome; brings cathedral congregation with him Circuitous road to Rome started with 1976 General Convention


By Mary Ann Mueller
Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 19, 2012

ORLANDO, FLORIDA---Traditional Anglican Communion Bishop Louis Campese was speechless on Sunday, Sept. 16, as he joyfully witnessed his flock of American Anglicans be shepherded into the Roman Catholic Church.

"Oh, I'm still on Cloud Nine or Cloud 10," the former bishop of the Anglican Cathedral of the Incarnation told VOL Tuesday afternoon. "It was just amazing."

Bishop Campese's road to Rome was long and arduous ... 36 years long. It was filled with pitfalls and stumbling blocks, crooked turns and blind alleys, wonderings, questions and uncertainty. And finally that day came - 36 years to the day that the Episcopal Church voted in favor of women in the clergy - when he humbly led his Anglican cathedral congregation into the Catholic Church and witnessed firsthand the fulfillment of a dream, the fleshing out of a vision, the answer to Christ's prayer for Christian Unity and his own prayer to live long enough to see it all happen.

The bishop's flock is nearly 200 members strong - babes-in-arms, youngsters, teens and adults - yet, one by one, 140 young adult and mature adult members of his congregation were confirmed as Catholics at the hands of Monsignor Jeffery Steenson of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, and Catholic Bishop John Noonan of the Catholic Diocese of Orlando. The younger children, family and friends looked on as another historical first was happening in the Ordinariate. This is the first time a cathedral parish has crossed over the Tiber and into the Ordinariate. Together the two Catholic ordinaries confirmed and received all who were seeking entrance to the Catholic Church at Incarnation.

"We have finally reached the promised land," Campese said likening his journey to the Israelites wondering in the desert. "My people are in a safe harbor. That's the important thing..."

Read the whole story at Virtue Online.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

2 comments:

  1. Matthew MSeptember 19, 2012 at 2:46 PM

    What is the status of the clergy of Incarnation including Mr. Louis Campese ( I am assuming he is currently in lay status) as to Ordination?

    MANY YEARS & MANY BLESSINGS to them all!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve CavanaughSeptember 20, 2012 at 7:08 AM

    the most recent update I saw on the clergy was on the Anglo-Catholic blog in July. You can read the post here. Of course, two months is time for many developments, so it is likely that the status of the clergy has changed since Christian made that post.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)