Ordinariate Watch: Money and buildings: the ordinariate's obstacles

You don't just have reception lines at weddings. At Archbishop's House on Wednesday night for a fundraising evening for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, guests lined up to shake hands with Mgr Keith Newton, Cardinal William Levada and Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

The atmosphere of the occasion was celebratory. After all, in two years, the British ordinariate has been formally established - the first one anywhere in the world - with 52 priests and roughly 1,000 laity.

Ecclesiastical initiatives usually take a lot longer to get off the ground. But despite the early success, the ordinariate faces an uphill task in terms of finance and organisation. The evening, which took place in the Throne Room where a painting of that famous Anglican convert Cardinal Manning, holding his last audience, hangs, was arranged by the "Friends" of the ordinariate who are helping it to raise money. To read more, click here.