In November 2009 Pope Benedict XVI issued the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus allowing for individual national ordinariates to be set up. These would allow members and clergy of the Anglican Church who wished to join Rome to do so while still retaining their distinctive Anglican heritage and liturgical forms.
England
Furthest ahead in the process is England where the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham has been set up. As well as many lay individuals, several Anglican priests and five Anglican bishops have joined the ordinariate. Three bishops were ordained as Catholic priests in January 2011. Many other Anglican clergy are expected to follow their example. Three Anglican nuns were also received into the Catholic Church.
Monsignor Keith Newton, formerly Anglican bishop of Richborough, has been appointed the first Ordinary of Our Lady of Walsingham., thus becoming equivalent to a bishop, but without a territorial diocese. Msgr. Newton met with the Pope at the Vatican on April 1, 2011. He was accompanied by Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and Auxiliary Bishop Alan Hopes who became a Catholic priest 17 years ago, and who has been charged with setting up the Ordinariate.
In February, 300 parishioners from three Anglican parishes in Essex, East London joined the Ordinariate, with their vicars. On April 24th 900 Anglicans consisting of some 30 groups, including 60 clergy joined the Catholic Church.
On June 10, within the majestic columns of Southwark Cathedral, seven men of the Ordinariate were ordained by Catholic Archbishop Peter Smith. More ordinations were scheduled for the following weeks. (Wanderer, Jan. 16; Feb. 8, 2011; Zenit.org April 11; June 10, 2011)
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