Anglican minister becomes Catholic priest

Father Shier joins Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter set up by Pope Benedict
By Agnieszka Krawczynski

25 March 2014

The fruits of Pope Benedict's efforts to welcome Anglicans to the Catholic faith were manifest at Holy Rosary Cathedral as Deacon Michael Shier was ordained a priest for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

"It's amazing that the ordinariate has actually happened," Father Shier said after his ordination March 15.

The Rev. Shier, a pastor for the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, and 11 members of his former parish converted to Catholicism in June 2012.

"It started when Anglicanorum Coetibus was given by Pope Benedict," explained Barbara Shier, his wife.

The apostolic constitution, written in 2009, describes the possibility of creating ordinariates, which function like dioceses, for Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church while keeping some liturgical and spiritual traditions.

"He invited us to make the transition and to bring the best of Anglicanism with us," Father Shier explained. "We sent our prayer books and missals to Rome and received back a liturgy that surpasses all our hopes and dreams."

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, created in January 2012, spans all of North America. Its ordinary, or head, is Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, who arrived from Texas and concelebrated along with about 20 other priests of the ordinariate or the Vancouver diocese.

"It is our brothers and sisters in the whole Catholic Church who have strengthened us and given us a joy in our lives. We are so pleased and so happy to be with you in full communion," he said.

Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, celebrated the ordination Mass. "(The priesthood) is both a gift and a mystery," he pointed out in his homily...

Father Bruce McAllister, archdiocesan chancellor, prepared the congregation of converts to join the Catholic Church through a series of retreats while Msgr. Steenson trained their pastor.

Father Shier "is a very scholarly person," said Father McAllister, also a former Anglican.

"He is a man of deep prayer. You'll often see him at prayer in church prior to the liturgy. And I know that he prays for many people, including those who are his former parishioners who have not come into full communion" with the Catholic Church.

Father McAllister guessed 20-25 priests in Canada are former Anglican clergymen, including those incardinated in the ordinariate and those incardinated in dioceses...

Father Shier and his congregation will use the chapel at St. Patrick's Parish in Maple Ridge.

Read the rest at The B.C. Catholic

Hat tip to Mary Ann Mueller

News from Annunciation Ottawa

The Rev. Carl Reid of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Ottawa writes in the this month's Annunciator:

Please pray for me, a sinner. My ordination dates are now firmly set: Saturday, January 12, Saint Patrick’s Basilica at 10 AM, ordination to the diaconate; and, Saturday, January 26, Notre Dame Cathedral at 10 AM, ordination to the priesthood. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ will preside at both services, and also preach the homily at Saint Patrick’s, while our Ordinary, Msgr Jeffrey Steenson will preach at Notre Dame.

It seems that a number of local Catholics intend to be present for my first Mass, which will be Sunday, January 27 (Septuagesima, being the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time). As our little church on the edge of Westboro has such limited seating capacity, Fr Francis Donnelly has suggested and graciously offered, through Fr. Galen Bank, that we use Blessed Sacrament at 194 Fourth Avenue in the Glebe. To avoid conflict with their usual Sunday morning Mass schedule, we shall, for that one last Sunday, keep the 12:30 PM time that we have become accustomed to since last April.

Please note from the calendar on the last page that, once I am ordained, we shall begin to offer Mass every day of the week. As you will see, the times vary through the week, as we attempt to accommodate differing schedules for as wide a variety of people as is possible. The apparently peculiar time of 12:15 PM on Mondays and Thursdays looks toward the hope that perhaps people from Tunney’s Pasture may find our proximity agreeable. Attendance at noon–hour Masses at other Catholic parishes, especially Saint Patrick’s in downtown Ottawa, is quite healthy. If you know people who work at Tunney’s, please let them know.

My ordination will also mark the “winding down” of at least part of our relationship with the various Catholic priests who have so generously devoted their time in ensuring that we have had Mass every Sunday since our reception into the Catholic Church. I say “winding down part of our relationship” as we are looking forward to future opportunities where we might do things jointly, or, if I am required to be away on a given Sunday, one of them might be able to fill in.

In terms of doing things jointly, an obvious one, about which several people in our parish have been asking, going back even to before our reception into the Catholic Church, is perhaps a once-per-month Sunday Evensong and Benediction. Pursuant to that, Fr Scott McCaig donated to us, on November 16 an ostensorium (monstrance) for Benediction. We shall work towards beginning this wonderful devotional service hopefully in February, inviting as many of the Companions, or any other Catholic friends as may be able to attend, to join us.

January also marks the beginning of formation studies for Doug Hayman and Kipling Cooper, along with several other Canadians, and a goodly number of Americans, pursuant to their ordinations, DV, in Eastertide. Let us pray for them, as they “dive in” to the joys of Canon Law...

Carl

Congratulations to Deacon Reid and all of our brethren in Ottawa. I have warm memories of his visit to the Anglican Use Society's Conference in Newark, NJ in his role as suffragan of the ACCC and am grateful that his obvious pastoral skills and calling have been validated by the Church ad majorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem.

Update from St. Edmund's, Cambridge, Ontario

The latest Update of St Edmund's Sodality in Cambridge, Ontario writes:

Our community in Vancouver (St. Peter and St. Paul) is being received into the Catholic Church on June 30 by the Archbishop of Vancouver. Congratulations!

STEALS ON THE EAR THE DISTANT TRIUMPH SONG

For our first retreat we were welcomed by our mentor priest, Fr Bruce McAllister, at Westminster Abbey (near Vancouver). Our group is a baker's dozen plus one, stretching all the way from Phoebe, 4 years old, to two or three in their seventies. The monastery has ensuite apartments and we were the guests of Archbishop Michael. Abigail and Phoebe watched with amazement as a pullout sofa bed was revealed. They screeched with delight as it marched across the room and gave it the ultimate accolade: "COOL".
Our mentor priest gave us a heart-felt welcome. There would be several sessions. We would be experiencing the monastic life of the Abbey, and later we would be visiting the Poor Clares. In another talk he explained that in the Ordinariate our baptismal rite would be conformed to Catholic practice with the anointing with the oil of catechumens and the anointing with sacred chrism added to the text. (Anglicans sometimes anoint at Baptism, though it is not actually in the prayer book.) Then in another session we learnt that at our reception at Holy Rosary Cathedral on the 30th of June we would be presented by our Catholic sponsors, we would be wearing the customary red robes, we would sing Gregorian chant and there would be communion in both kinds...

Our second weekend at Westminster Abbey began late on Friday with everyone making their confession. It was very heartening. We all slept peacefully till 6 AM when we were 'donged' back into life by the 10 Abbey Bells (purchased many years ago from the Whitechapel foundry in the East end of London).
The morning was taken up with the Papal Primacy. Archbishop Michael addressed us and fielded questions. Although there is not much about the papacy in the Catechism, the role of the Papacy is enormous...

We followed this session with a visit to the Poor Clares just down the hill from the monastery. Fr McAllister's wife Linda joined us. We attended their office and had a good discussion. The following day was Sunday and the Abbey kept the feast of Corpus Christi. After the mass there was Exposition till Benediction at 5 PM. We left grateful for two happy weekends, and thankful to the Archbishop, to Fr McAllister, to the Fr Abbot and to Fr Mark, the guestmaster and to the cook!.

By Michael Shier

Update on the Ordinariate in Canada

From the Update of the Sodality of St. Edmund, King and Martyr by Gary Freeman

Over the past 6 months a number of Anglican communities, across Canada, have been received into the Catholic Church, and are Ordinariate-bound, in accordance with Pope Benedict's Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus.

Communication is not the best, yet, but allow me to set out the 'facts' as I understand them: The first and second groups of Anglicans to be received were in Calgary - the former Anglican Church of Canada Parish of St. John the Evangelist, and the Toronto Ordinariate Group (all of whom were former members of the Anglican Church of Canada) who were both received on December 18, 2011.

The third group to be received, and the first Anglican Catholic Church of Canada community to be received, was ours, now The Sodality of St. Edmund, King and Martyr. We were received on January 1, 2012.

The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh groups to be received were Victoria (The Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman), Ottawa (The Sodality of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary), Spencerville (The Sodality of St. Barnabas), and Barrhaven (Holy Nativity), who were all received on April 15, 2012.

The eighth and ninth groups to be received were Oshawa (The Sodality of the Good Shepherd), and (the Sovereign Mohawk Territory of) Tyendinaga (Christ the King), who were received on April 22, 2012.

With the exception of 'Calgary' and 'Toronto', all the other groups were former ACCC communities. While no firm dates have been established, there are 3 other groups (all former ACCC communities) currently preparing for reception.

Contact Gary Freeman for additions, corrections, etc.

Oshawa ACCC group received into full communion

by Paul Nicholls Today at the Church of St. Gregory the Great, Oshawa a number of members of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada were received into the Catholic Church by Bishop Vincent Nguyen of the Archdiocese of Toronto. Bishop Nguyen celebrated the Anglican Use mass. Former Anglican Church of Canada priests, Fr. James Tilley and Fr. David Garrett were received and assisted as altar servers during the course of the mass. Fr. Eric Rodrigues of the Archdiocese of Toronto also assisted at the mass. Rachel Mahon of Toronto served as the organist and Fr. Chris Lepage of the ACCC served as cantor. The mass was well attended by friends and family as well as by a number of Roman Catholics from the local Oshawa parishes. A number of members of the Oshawa fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order were also in attendance. A reception was held after the mass at the Church of the Good Shepherd. The group from now on will be known as the Sodality of the Good Shepherd. The congregants of the Sodality are most appreciative of the support they received from the Archdiocese and the clergy and people of St. Gregory the Great Church. Fr. Eric Rodrigues will provide the weekly Anglican Use mass until former Anglican priests are ordained...

Read the full report with photos of the reception in Oshawa, and the continuing life of the new ordinariate group in Ottawa at Deborah Gyapong's blog Foolishness to the world.

Another (in-depth) post on the reception of ACCC groups this past weekend

Canadian Anglican groups welcomed into Catholic Church

Tuesday, 17 April 2012 09:01

Written by Deborah Gyapong, Canadian Catholic News

Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast at the Rite of Reception of Anglican Catholic Church of Canada members.- Photo by Robert Du Broy, courtesy of the Archdiocese of Ottawa

OTTAWA - Bishops in Ottawa and Victoria received two groups from the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) into the Roman Catholic Church April 15, including two former ACCC bishops and about a half dozen clergy.

"Today, the Body of Christ is a little more healed, a little more unified," Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast told more than 700 people who packed St. Patrick's Basilica. "Today, after half a millennium, separated brethren are separated no more. We are brethren, rejoicing at the same banquet table. Hallelujah."

In Victoria, an estimated 600 people packed St. Andrew's Cathedral, where Bishop Richard Gagnon welcomed the former metropolitan bishop of the ACCC, Peter Wilkinson.

The two groups received on Divine Mercy Sunday will soon become part of the Canadian Deanery of St. John the Baptist of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter under Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, who was named the Ordinary when the American Ordinariate was erected Jan. 1. Steenson, a former Episcopal (Anglican) bishop, is a married Catholic priest who teaches theology at the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary's Seminary in Houston...

Read the rest at The Catholic Register.

Anglican Catholics in Canada

On the Sunday of the Divine Mercy of the Lord, the first Anglican group in Canada is received into the Catholic Church with the intent of joining an Ordinariate for former Anglicans. The group includes 40 members of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Ottawa, which has been a member of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) and of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC). They were received into full communion with the Catholic Church in St. Patrick's Basilica in Ottawa by Archbishop Terrence Prendercast earlier today.

With Benedict XVI's apostolic constitution Anglicanorum cœtibus (and complementary norms), personal ordinariates can be established in countries where sufficient number of Anglicans wish to enter into communion with the Catholic Church. Similar to a Diocese, an Ordinariate possesses public juridic personality in Canon Law, and has jurisdiction of possibly a whole country. These Ordinariates can celebrate the Holy Eucharist and other sacraments according to the Anglican tradition which have been approved by the Holy See.

Former Anglican bishops who enter an Ordinariate (as Ordinary or not) may receive ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, but only those who are not married can receive ordination to the episcopate. The head of an ordinariate is called an Ordinary. He must receive ordination as priest from the Catholic Church but would have similar power to a diocesan Bishop and be similarly vested. The only difference for Ordinaries who cannot receive episcopal ordination in the Catholic Church is that they cannot perform ordinations.

Canada does not have sufficient members to form a personal ordinariate of its own. Anglicans from the country will join the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in the United States, established four months ago. This is only the second ordinariate for Anglicans, with the first one being the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England, established in 2011. The Canadians will form a Deanery within the Ordinariate, under the patronage of St. John the Baptist, who has special significance to Canada...

read the full post at Sacrosancta Ecclesia.

Anglicans received into full communion

In Canada, this Divine Mercy Sunday sees two former Anglican bishops, Peter Wilkinson and Carl Reid received, with members of their congregations, into full communion with the Catholic Church, in accordance with Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 Apostolic ConstitutionAnglicanorum coetibus, which provides a structure for welcoming Anglicans into the Catholic Church. The ceremonies of reception will be held at special Masses, one in Ottawa, the nation’s capital; the other in Victoria on Canada’s west coast.

“We’ve tried to respond to a request from a certain group of Anglicans, who wish for full communion now,” said Catholic Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa. “And we also realize that we have to continue to work for the full unity of the Church in whatever way Christ would like that to be, however He wants to bring it about with the remaining Anglicans.”

Archbishop Prendergast spoke about Sunday’s liturgy: “I’ve learned how to celebrate Mass in the Anglican tradition that’s been approved for this group of Anglicans to come over, and I’ll be celebrating their liturgy on Sunday afternoon. And the priest who’s has been working with them has also learned their liturgy as well, so I think that will encourage them and comfort them.”

He also put the event into a larger, ecumenical context: “I think anything that will strengthen unity among Christians is going to be a positive sign for others. One of the great scandals, of course, in our world is that there are so many Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and all that He has brought to us and yet that we go about it in such different ways. Our disunity is a countersign to the evangelisation of our world, and I think anything that will bring us closer together that recognises unity in diversity is going to be rich blessing for us and a help to evangelisation.”

Listen to the full interview of Archbishop Terrence Prendergast with Christopher Wells:

From Radio Vatican.

ARCHBISHOP PRENDERGAST WILL RECEIVE MEMBERS OF THE ANGLICAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF CANADA INTO THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Rehearsal for Anglican Use Liturgy in St. Patrick’s Basilica
The Most Reverend Terrence Prendergast, S.J., Archbishop of Ottawa will receive some 40 members of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada’s Ottawa Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary into the Roman Catholic Church on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2012 at 3:00 pm at St. Patrick’s Basilica – 281 Nepean Street, Ottawa. Archbishop Prendergast will celebrate the Anglican Use Mass, approved for use in the Catholic Church. The parish-in-waiting will eventually join the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter under Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, as part of a Canadian Deanery of St. John the Baptist. All are welcome.

“April 15, 2012 is a date for us to remember for posterity, the day of our individual and collective reception into the Catholic Church,” said the Right Reverend Carl Reid, Auxiliary Bishop of the Pro-Diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham. “And not only us from the Annunciation, but also from several other parishes and fellowships across the country,” he added. “Initially, we shall be a ‘sodality,’ which would best be described as a ‘parish in waiting.’”

“I am honoured to receive members of the Anglican Catholic Church into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church,” said Archbishop Terrence Prendergast...

Read the rest at Deborah Gyapong's blog Foolishness to the World.

Canadian Anglicans to unite with Rome

April 9, 2012
DEBORAH GYAPONG
CANADIAN CATHOLIC NEWS
OTTAWA – On Divine Mercy Sunday April 15, two bishops of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) – Bishop Peter Wilkinson in Victoria, and Bishop Carl Reid in Ottawa - will lead their clergy and people into the Catholic Church.

Other congregations and fellowships across the country, part of the ACCC's temporary Pro-Diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham, will follow on April 22 or dates soon to be announced to become ordinariate parishes-in-waiting in their respective Roman Catholic dioceses. There are groups in Edmonton, Oshawa, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, Montreal and possibly Vancouver.

Victoria Bishop Richard Gagnon and Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast will receive the groups at special Masses and afterwards provide spiritual oversight and priests for the new Catholics until their priests are ordained and the parishes can join the American ordinariate.

Until the ACCC priests are ordained, Catholic bishops will supply priests to celebrate the Anglican Use liturgy for the new ordinariate parishes-in-waiting.

These parishes will join two already received into the Catholic Church to eventually form the Canadian deanery of St. John the Baptist of the American Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter that was established on Jan. 1, 2012 with Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, a former Episcopalian bishop and married Catholic priest, as ordinary.

FIRST FRUITS
Prendergast described the move as "among the first fruits" of the response to Anglicanorum coetibus, Pope Benedict's apostolic constitution that offered a way for Anglicans to become Catholic while bringing in approved aspects of their tradition, including their liturgy.

"While the apostolic constitution left open the possibility of an ordinariate in Canada this linking Anglicans in Canada to the United States ordinariate as a deanery attached to it is a good step for now," said Prendergast.

from The Western Catholic Reporter.

Hat tip to Fr. Bartus at Anglican Patrimony.

We begin our Eucharistic fast in preparation for April 15

by Deborah Gyapong



Today we began our Eucharistic Fast in preparation for our reception into the Catholic Church on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2012 at St. Patrick’s Basilica in an Anglican Use Mass and initiation celebrated by Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast.

So we had Solemn High Mattins, the Liturgy of the Word and Spiritual Communion.

I can scarcely contain my joy as I write this. What a difference ever since we made a collective decision across the country among parishes and groups in the pro-diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, a temporary diocese to accommodate those of us who want to join an Ordinariate. All the anguish of the past year is gone...

Read the rest on the blog English Catholic

Whither the ACCC?

The February issue of this newsletter was completed in early January so that your editor could sneak away with his wife for a brief Florida vacation. The weather was splendid, thank you! That did, however, leave somewhat of a hole in terms of news developments between early January and this current issue.

In late January, Bishop Peter Wilkinson, along with Fr’s Birch, Malins and Henry (also representing Gale, Switzer and Braunstein) met with Bishop Gagnon of the Catholic Diocese of Victoria. The purpose of the meeting was to determine a way forward for the Victoria Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman.

And, just as in Waterloo a few months ago, the suggestion was to form a sodality -- which in this situation, as we anticipate the extension of the US Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter to include a Canadian Deanery -- means a "parish in waiting". Which is to say, while they will be welcomed by Bishop Gagnon, his Victoria Diocese lays no claim on any assets; they remain the property of the fellowship/sodality/parish-in-waiting, as articulated in Anglicanorum Coetibus.

The date chosen for this to occur is Easter I, April 15.

This has led to a certain amount of incorrect speculation. Some are suggesting that Bishop Wilkinson and the other clergy in the Victoria area have already left the ACCC. That is simply not correct. They will remain members until April 15.

Acknowledging this timetable, those who are already in the Pro-Diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham (headed imminently for the ordinariate), or are poised in that direction, have met or are about to meet with our respec- tive parishes, and, in many cases, also with the local Catholic (arch) bishop. In all cases, we have been met with the same profoundly co-operative spirit of helpfulness in creating sodalities as we await the formation of a Canadian Deanery of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. When Bishop Peter was in Houston in February he met with Mons Steenson for several hours. He confirmed that we would have such a Deanery and Bishop Peter asked if our patron could be St John the Baptist, our country’s old patron, and whose Octave Day is July 1, our national holiday. Mons Steenson readily agreed, and looks forward to coming to Canada again.

Other parishes are just having their meetings, or in some cases are some weeks away. We have communicated with the rectors in those cases, and have tried to reflect their respective understanding of what they, in discussion with their faithful, understand how the cards will fall. Calgary is perhaps the biggest challenge to understand: there is already an ordinariate parish there (St John the Evangelist); some of our Christ the King people have already moved there, more will be going on Easter, and, of the remaining approximately half, some will moving to that portion of All Saints that intends to remain in the Diocese of Canada, others will leave altogether. It appears that only a minority from All Saints will also join St John the Evangelist, with the majority remaining in the Diocese of Canada. We have tried to reflect this below, recognizing that this does not commit anyone to a particular position; it is only our best understanding at the time of printing:

Clergy (Parishes) remaining in the Diocese of Canada
Bishop Craig Botterill (St Aidan’s, Halifax)
Dean Shane Janzen (St John the Evangelist, Victoria) Fr Douglas Ohs Fr Richard Root
Fr Trevor Elliot (Our Lady & St Michael, Edmonton)
(The majority of All Saints, and part of Christ the King, Calgary)
Fr Howard Patterson (Holy Trinity, Medicine Hat)
(St Barnabas, Moose Jaw -- now without a priest since the sudden death of Fr Dennis Dickson)
Fr Ted Bowles Fr Lee Whitney Fr Harley Kynock (St George’s, Mosers River)
Fr Fred Highmore (St Stephen, St Johns) Fr Fabian Ollerhead Fr Edward Fizzard Fr Dn Robert Short

Clergy (Parishes) seeking imminent inclusion in the Ordinariate (dates if known)
Bishop Peter Wilkinson (Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, Victoria-April 15)
Fr Michael Birch Fr Don Malins Fr Sean Henry Fr Ralph Braunstein Fr Edward Gale
Fr Peter Switzer
Bishop Carl Reid (Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ottawa-April 15)
Fr David Walsh
Fr Dn Henry Stauffenberg Fr Dn Michael Trolly
Fr Ernest Skublics (All Saints, Calgary-only part, date TBD)
Fr Dn Glenn Galenkamp
Fr Colin O’Rourke (Christ the King, Calgary-only part of parish, Apr 8)
Fr Lloyd Gedge
Fr David Skelton (Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman, Edmonton-April 15)
Fr Bryan Donegan
Fr Jim Tilley (Good Shepherd, Oshawa-April 15) Fr David Garrett
Fr Raymond Ball (already a sodality of St Edmund, Waterloo)
Fr Gérard Trinque (Christ the King, Tyendinaga-date TBD)
Fr Doug Hayman (St Barnabas, Spencerville-Apr 15)
Fr Kipling Cooper (Holy Nativity, Barrhaven-date TBD)
Fr Doug Nicholson (St Athanasius, Montreal-date TBD)
Fr. Oswald Slattery
Fr Charles Warner (Holy Cross, Sydney Forks-date TBD)
Fr Chris Le Page (St Thomas More, Charlottetown- date TBD)

Undecided
Fr Michael Shier (St Peter & St Paul, Vancouver; St Michael, Matsqui)
Fr Jim Schovanek (All Saints, Calgary) Fr Douglas Skoyles
Fr Richard Harris (St Michael, Fredericton Jctn.) Fr John Hall
Fr Ron McBrine

Looking ahead to April 15, this March issue of the newsletter might possibly be the last produced in the Ottawa office of the ACCC, as the records will be moved to Victoria soon. Following that move, we might presume that, under Fr Shane Janzen’s management, a new newsletter, for what will become a one-diocese ACCC again, will be forthcoming.
As a final note, I pray that all of us, even as we may be parting ways, will continue in a spirit of mutual good will.
+Carl

from the March Archdiocesan Newsletter of the ACCC

Hat tip to Br. Charles Gilman, o.s.b.

Good news from Fr. Jeffrey Steenson for us Canadian-Ordinariate hopefuls

January 17, 2012
by Deborah Gyapong

Fr. Jeffrey Steenson

Last night, I received a most kind email from Fr. Jeffrey Steenson, the new Ordinary (to be installed in February) of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, reaching out to me after reading my “lament” about the state of play for Ordinariate-hopeful folks in the Traditional Anglican Communion (or what’s left of it), especially those of us in the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada.

I feel a little like how the lost sheep must have felt when Jesus left the 99 and hauled her over his shoulders. What a difference to feel cared for and wanted at the banqueting table.

It goes a long way. Thank you, Fr. Steenson...

Read the rest, including Fr. Steenson's note, at the blog English Catholic.

Important News from the ACCC

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Fr. Christopher Phillips
This was sent to Fr. Phillips by Deborah Gyapong, a member of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, and a long-time friend of The Anglo-Catholic.

On Sunday, our priests in the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) read out an ad clerum from our bishops, notifying us that Provincial / Diocesan Council met Nov. 26 and has found a creative way for us to move forward to unity, though at different speeds.

The ACCC, originally composed of one Province with only one Diocese (of Canada), has created a new diocese: the Pro-Diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham “whose mandate shall be to shepherd those parishes, clergy, and individuals who so wish, into full Communion with the Catholic Church.”

The Council also passed the following motion: "that this church (i.e. the Province, representing both dioceses) remains committed to seeking full and visible unity with the See of Peter, as confirmed at Synod 2010, and as articulated in the Affirmation of St Louis, which is part of our constitution”.

While remaining Metropolitan of the ACCC Province of Canada, Bishop Peter Wilkinson, with Bishop Carl Reid as his auxiliary, assumes the office of Diocesan Bishop of the new Pro-Diocese. Bishop Craig Botterill becomes diocesan administrator of the Diocese of Canada...

Read the rest at The Anglo-Catholic blog.

Archbishop Collins of Toronto discusses the implementation...

of Anglicanorum coetibus in Canada.



Hat tip to Fr. Scott Hurd.

Canadian Ordinariate could be up by Christmas says mentor priest

Father Bill Foote, the mentor priest for Ontario parishes interested in joining the Ordinariate, visited the Ottawa Cathedral of the Annunciation this evening. The meeting began with Evensong.

After Bishop Carl Reid introduced Fr. Foote downstairs in the parish hall, he won us over by saying, “”I hope you appreciated that in good Anglican style, I sat in the back.”

He spoke of his journey from the United Church to the Anglican Communion, then to the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province) a non-TAC Continuing Anglican body in the United States. For years, he believed in the Branch Theory that saw three branches of the Catholic Church: Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican. But as Anglicanism began to fracture and the Continuing Church continued to fragment into ever smaller groups, he said he came to the realization there is no unity within the Catholic Church without Peter.

He stressed it was essential to understand that unity exists within the Catholic Church by virtue of being in communion with the successor of Peter. The Roman Catholic Church is not saying you lack anything less than the fullness of the Catholic faith; no one is saying you don’t believe the right things, he said, but belief is not the whole equation, he said.

This is what we mean by Catholic–profession belief in the Catholic faith and communion with Peter...

Read the rest of this encouraging post at the English Catholic blog.

Reports on the Ordinariate Meeting in Canada

The Anglo-Catholic blog has two reports on the meeting this past weekend about the Ordinariate in Canada that was hosted by Archbishop Collins:

The Cracked Jar - Healing the Western Church and Canadian Ordinariate Conference. I commend both to your reading.

Meanwhile, Deborah Gyapong has posted serveral accounts, with many great photos, of the conference, at the English Catholic blog. Anglicanorum coetibus Conference: Day Two, Evensong and Father Phillips -- All Glorious!, and More Pictures from the Anglicanorum coetibus Conference, and more, are all worth looking at.

Canadian Ordinariate has a home on the web

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Canada has created a page on their web site for the Ordinariate. There is not a lot of information there yet, but there is notice of a conference to be held for anyone interested in Anglicanorum Coetibus. From Archbishop Collins' invitation, which is posted on the site:

To help move our dialogue and planning forward, I would like to extend an invitation to
all those interested in Anglicanorum Coetibus to join me for a conference dedicated to
this topic, to be held at the Queen of Apostles Retreat Centre in Mississauga, Ontario on
March 24-26, 2011.

Hat tip to the Anglo-Catholic blog.

--

A nice article on the above mentioned conference has appeared in the BC Catholic newspaper out of Vancouver, written by Deborah Gyapong, a blogger at both The Anglo-Catholic and the English Catholic blogs. Entitled "Toronto Archbishop welcomes Anglicans", it gives a good deal more info than that currently available on the Canadian ordinariate site.

Hat tip to the English Catholic blog.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Anglicans headed to the Ordinariate are becoming one in spirit at Texas meeting

By Mary Ann Mueller in San Antonio
Special Correspondent
www.virtueonline.org
November 17, 2010

Perhaps in three hundred years, historians and journalists will look back on a mid-November 2010 meeting on the edge of a Texas desert and realize that it was the first time the various Anglican "cousins" of the emerging Anglican Ordinariate in America met and began forging the bonds that would weave them into a united ecclesial family under the patronage of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman and in full unity with the Vicar of Christ, the successor to the Throne of Peter.

A year ago, these vastly flung Anglican "cousins" heard the words of Pope Benedict XVI when he announced the establishment of the Anglican Ordinariate in his publication of Anglicanorum Coetibus, thus throwing open wide the doors of the Catholic Church to fully embrace those various Anglicans who want to reunite with the See of Peter while retaining their own unique Anglican patrimony and thereby helping to enrich the Catholic Church in the process.

"This is historic," proclaimed the Rev. Christopher Phillips, founding pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Anglican Use Catholic Church. "A great change was set into motion - a change so tremendous that Anglican/Catholic relations will be seen in terms of 'before Anglicanorum Coetibus' and 'after Anglicanorum Coetibus'."

Just as Rome threw its doors open wide, Fr. Phillips has thrown open the doors on his church to welcome American bishops, archbishops, priests, deacons, abbots, religious, hermits and laity to his San Antonio church so that the various Anglican cousins could come together as one in united prayer, unified praise, and common Anglican fellowship.

More than 125, from all points on the map responded to Fr. Phillips open invitation to come together and begin forming a united family centered around their common desire to become one in the Catholic Church.

A wide spectrum of the Anglican alphabet soup was represented at the three-day "Becoming One" gathering in Texas. Anglicans from the Episcopal Church (TEC); the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC); and Catholic Church (RC); the Anglican Church in America (ACA); the Federation of Anglican Churches in America (FACA) and a number of other Anglican jurisdictions came to the desert Southwest.

"The Pope wants Anglicans not acronyms," Fr. Phillips explained. "TAC, FIF-NA, ACA, ACNA, AU ... Anglicanorum Coetibus envisions none of those things continuing within an Ordinariate.

"With the implementation of the Holy Father's Apostolic Constitution, they will have served their purpose," the Texas priest continued, "and as necessary as they were to get us here, they will be needed no more."

He noted that Forward in Faith and the Traditional Anglican Communion were instrumental in helping the See of Peter recognize and respond to the spiritual yearning of Anglo-Catholics committed to reunifying with the Great Latin Church of the West and to help fulfill the Lord's heartfelt pastoral prayer that "they all may be one ..." Now a new era is dawning and the next stage of development has begun.

Not only has a new era dawned for Anglo-Catholics as they are welcomed into full Communion with the Church of Rome, a new day has also dawned in The Episcopal Church under the leadership of its current Presiding Bishop.

"...to those who reject the Ordinariate because they want to 'maintain a pure form of Anglicanism' - all I can say is 'good luck with that." commented Fr. Phillips. "We can all see how well this so-called 'pure Anglicanism' is working out."

Fr. Phillips said that he can foresee a day when The Episcopal Church will no longer be considered a Christian denomination because the Christian faith is being jettisoned as Biblical truths are redefined.

"We've heard from people who recoil at the idea of 'becoming Roman Catholics'," he said. "And isn't it ironic? Isn't it 'Rome' which is actually preserving and nurturing the Anglican patrimony."

The former Episcopal priest has personally struggled long and hard to leave the spiritually decaying Episcopal Church behind him and find his spiritual home and ministry in the Roman Catholic Church.

In one fell swoop -- within a breath and two heart beats -- the former Episcopal priest found himself stripped of his pulpit, unemployed, homeless and without insurance coverage for his growing young family. He left without a retirement pension when he admitted to his Episcopal bishop that he felt the call of God to fulfill his priesthood in the Catholic Church and enter into the Pastoral Provision process. His Episcopal bishop immediately stopped his salary, his insurance and his pension, took the keys to his church and rectory, and deposed him of his Episcopal priesthood.

"My family and I willing sacrificed everything we had - family, friends, home, salary, insurance, pension - all gone," he recalled.

Eventually, Fr. Phillips was ordained an early Pastoral Provision Catholic priest. He went on to found Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church - the strong mother church of the Anglican Use in the United States. From those humble beginnings, with 18 souls in his spiritual care, Fr. Phillips, under the direction and leadership of the Holy Spirit, went on to build a vibrant Anglican Use congregation, one soul at a time.

"Episcopalians and Anglicans of various stripes came to see what it was all about and many of them chose to join with us." Fr. Phillips remembers the early days of Our Lady of the Atonement. "Lapsed Catholics found a place where they could rediscover their faith and were restored to the Sacraments. People who had no particular religious background found a small and welcoming community of believers and so made their way into the Catholic Church."

Now hundreds attend Sunday services. An attached classical education academy teaches more than 550 students in the Four Rs - 'Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, and Religion. The Atonement Academy is growing faster than they can build classrooms. Every available space is being used with more buildings are on the drawing board.

Just as Our Lady of the Atonement grew out of very humble beginnings, Fr. Phillips envisions a time in the Anglican Ordinariate that his success story will be replicated time and again as the Ordinariate grows one soul at a time and one congregation at a time.

On Tuesday evening he said he was thrilled to see so many of his Anglican "cousins" show up at Our Lady of the Atonement with a single-mindedness to come together and become one in faith, and practice and as a unified Catholic spiritual family.

"Our job is to become one with each other," Our Lady of the Atonement's pastor noted, while looking to the day when the unity among us will find its fulfillment in the unity of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church."


---Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline

Anglican Catholic Church of Canada Votes Overwhelmingly to Unite with Rome

Posted to Virtue Online on July 29, 2010
ACCC will establish Canadian Anglican Catholic Ordinariate

July 24, 2010

The Dean's Report on Synod 2010

The Eighth Provincial Synod and Thirteenth Diocesan Synod of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada were held simultaneously at the Rosemary Heights Retreat Centre in Surrey, B.C., July 12 to 16, 2010.

In attendance were the Canadian House of Bishops (Bishop Peter Wilkinson, Metropolitan and Bishop Ordinary; Bishop Craig Botterill, Suffragan for Atlantic Canada and Chancellor; Bishop Carl Reid, Suffragan for Central Canada and Apostolic Commissary; Bishop Robert Mercer, Assistant Bishop; along with the TAC Primate, Archbishop John Hepworth); eighteen members of the House of Clergy; and thirty members of the House of Laity; together with a number of observers and guests. The first evening began with Evensong, dinner, and then a wine and cheese reception hosted by the ACCC Parishes of the Lower Mainland.

While there was ample time for fellowship, much of our time was dedicated to the business of Synod. The Synod delegates received an address from the Primate, Archbishop John Hepworth, on the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, together with a discussion of the various issues involved and a time frame for the implementation of a proposed Ordinariate for Canada (as well as other Provinces within the Traditional Anglican Communion)...

Read the rest at Virtue Online.