A former Anglican minister was ordained a Catholic priest and about 70 former Anglicans from Orange and San Diego counties were confirmed as Roman Catholics during a July 3 ceremony at San Juan Capistrano Mission Basilica.
The return to communion with Rome was made possible by Pope Benedict’s 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which provided a way for Anglicans to rejoin the Catholic Church while retaining unique Anglican traditions and liturgical practices. Such reunions with the Church are accomplished by the creation of ordinariates — similar to Catholic dioceses — whose member parishes can then seek a formal return to the Church.
“The Ordinates were established January 1, 2012 in the United States and today the Diocese of Orange convened the first of its kind service at San Juan Capistrano Mission Basilica,” explained a diocesan news release issued July 3.
July 3 was the Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle, famously known as the disciple who questioned Christ’s resurrection in the Gospels.
During the ceremony at San Juan Capistrano Mission Basilica, Orange Bishop Tod Brown presided at the ordination of Fr. Andrew Bartus, a former Anglican priest. Bishop Brown also confirmed “into full communion” with the Catholic Church members of the Anglican-rite members of Blessed John Henry Newman parish in Santa Ana.
San Diego Coadjutor Bishop Cirilo Flores confirmed members of Saint Augustine of Canterbury Anglican-rite parish in Oceanside during the same ceremony.
Msgr. Jeffrey N. Steenson, Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, presented the nearly 70 former Anglicans for confirmation and delivered the homily. “On this feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, who carried the Gospel to lands far off, as blessed Junipero Serra did here, this desire for authentic apostolic life continues to move the hearts of Christian people,” said Msgr. Steenson. “For those who are not in communion with the Catholic Church, this desire for apostolicity is certainly present as well — it just needs to be awakened and nurtured. This important element in the mission of the Ordinariate is part of Pope Benedict’s vision for the new evangelization.”
Blessed John Henry Newman parish celebrated its first Mass on Sunday, July 8, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Santa Ana. According to the Anglican-rite parish’s website, the 3 p.m. Mass was a sung Mass “according to the Anglican use.” Confessions for the Anglican-rite community are available on Sundays from 2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. and by appointment, according to the website.
St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican-rite parish meets at 10:15 a.m. on Sundays at St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Oceanside.
“Our friends, the clergy and parishioners of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Vista, will be formally received into the Catholic Church on Tuesday, July 3rd, at the Basilica Church of Mission San Juan Capistrano at 11:00am,” noted the July 1 parish bulletin at St. Margaret’s. “They will join other Anglican communities throughout the San Diego and Orange areas. Together with Anglican communities uniting themselves back to union with Rome, these distinct communities within the Catholic Church will be called the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. At this local reception, a former Anglican minister will also be ordained as a Catholic priest and will look after the Ordinariate communities in Orange County.”
“Until another priest is ordained, Father Cávana Wallace (pastor at St. Margaret’s) will be looking after the spiritual needs of the community of St. Augustine’s at St. Margaret’s, which will become their home and place for worship,” the bulletin announcement continued. “St. Margaret’s has hosted the St. Augustine Community at various times throughout the year. We look forward to their community finding a permanent home with us and bringing with them a rich patrimony of liturgical and spiritual life.”
In the July 8 parish bulletin at St. Margaret’s, members of the Anglican-rite parish expressed their thanks to God “for granting us the blessing of entering the fullness of the Catholic Church.” In addition, said the statement, “Your congregation of St. Margaret’s, its staff, and especially your parish priest and pastor, Father Cávana Wallace, have sustained us with prayers, guidance, and Christian fellowship during our spiritual preparation for this historical moment.”
Welcome to the Catholic Church! By the way, this article is a helpful education for those Roman Catholics who THOUGHT the term “Anglo-Catholics” referred to people who were already members of our Church: they were not. Rather, they ‘considered’ themselves ‘catholic’ because of their beliefs, but we considered them to be outside of the fold; this is why such Anglicans (including Anglo-Catholics) must make a profession of faith and be welcomed into the Catholic Church; this is why their ministers must be educated in true Catholicism and be ordained as Catholic priests (we do not recognize their previous ordination).
Yes, the term to use for these Catholics (if one must differentiate) is Anglican Rite Catholics, not Anglo-Catholics.
I was incorrect. Thanks to Peggy for pointing out the error. Anglican Rite Catholics (or those who call themselves that) are not in communion with the Church.
K, this second post of yours was not correct, Anglican Rite Catholics are real Catholics because they have already come over to the Catholic Church and are in union with Rome. Pope Benedict VII has allowed them to keep most of their old Anglican rite with corrections, of course. It is those who call themselves Anglo – Catholic who are not yet in union with Rome. I know it is confusing to many. Mac Donald is right in his post of 7:00am on July 10, except he did not explain about the Anglican Rite Catholics. Actually a better term is Catholics who use the Anglican Rite. Perhaps there are some Anglicans who are not in union with Rome who use the term Anglican Rite Catholics, but I do not think so. That would only add to the confusion. Anyway, just ask a person or priest who calls him/herself Anglican Catholic if they are in union with the Pope of Rome, and they will tell you.
And yes, welcome home to the Anglican Catholics who have become full fledged Catholics.
Two who are not in communion are Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church and Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite.
and here i just thought “anglo” catholics were the white folks in the pews, as opposed to hispanics, asians, etc. silly me…
Max, not all “white” folk are Anglos. Some are Teutonic (German); Celtic (Scots, Welchmen and Irishmen) and on and on. I hate that broad term for “white” people (Anglo) since we are from different tribes and are not all Anglos. I am Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Teutonic and Frankish, and probably even Danish as the English are mixed with the Danes.. I think the fad of using the term Anglo for all whites is because most of them can speak English, but so can Hispanics, too, so the phrase is passe as far as I am concerned.
I always say I am part Anglo. That should get the message across charitably.
dear ANNE T., i’m sorry, but i was making a little play on words with ‘anglican’ and ‘anglo’ and ‘anglo-catholic.’ sorry for the confusion.
as you so correctly point out, the word ‘anglo’ when applied to all white people is not very accurate.
of course, i’ve heard lots of people refer to latinos (or hispanics or whatever the word du jour is) as ‘spanish,’ which is i guess a reference to the language they speak. unless they’re from brazil.
ah, how complicated life can be…
I wish that they had weekday Masses so I could go and celebrate with them. The first time I experienced a Catholic Anglican Mass was at a Wanderer Forum, and I found it to be much closer to the Tridentine Mass than the Novus Ordo.
God bless, yours in Their Hearts,
Kenneth M. Fisher
I had the pleasure of attending services at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church – a very high Anglican church – in Providence, Rhode Island, located on Brown University hill. I was extremely impressed with the loftiness of their ritual and music. It was very beautiful and moving. The church had nuns, a Mary chapel, and even holy water fonts. We can learn much from this group in terms of tastefulness in execution of ritual and music.
Will they now have “rite reverends”?
oh, JLS, we already have those, in KENNETH’S parish. when he first told us about his church (our lady help of christians in garden grove, california) i looked it up and was confused about the terminology of their priest, “The Right Reverend Monsignor Patrick J. Perez O.S.J.,” but now you’ve got me thinking this is some sort of anglican terminonloogy?
O.S.J.??????? Oh my goodness. Don’t google it unless you have a lot of time. This was a mimic order that now claims legitimacy through a Syro-Malakaran bishop from India, Bishop Joseph Mar Thomas. The official name of the order is Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem. This organization is listed on some websites as an organization which was started by a “conman” in 1956. It is said that he invented a history for it. Of all the traditionalist Catholic things I have looked at, this is absolutely the strangest. The chivalric order that is recognized by the Vatican is called the Sovereign Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem or the Order of Malta. It dates back to the 11th century and has its headquarters in Rome. Father Perez says that his order was a branch that was under the Orthodox bishops and returned to Rome and was “regularized” with Rome in July of 2011. I can’t find verification for that.
k, you got me all curious, and i found another guy with this OSJ acronym after his name, and a very fancy website: “His Beatitude, Metropolitan Dr. Mar Mikhael of Edessa, O.S.J.”
just glancing at his website, easterncatholicchurgh.org, it seems pretty clear that one of his favorite things is NOT whiskers on kittens, but rather writing proclaimations to excommunicate people who have ruffled his feathers. what a kick!!!
also found this:
“In brief, the O.S.J. claims to be both a sovereign state and a Catholic religious order possessing some rather extraordinary privileges. Its apologists claim that it is the only true descendant of the Roman Catholic religious order commonly called the Knights of Malta, and they base their claims primarily on the decrees of Czar Paul I of Russia (1796-1801), a Russian Orthodox schismatic who attempted to claim the office of Grand Master (Superior General) of the Order. They maintain that the Czar had created “hereditary” members of the Order, and that a descendant of one such “hereditary” member of the Order “transferred” the Order to the United States. They further claim that the religious Order known as the Sovereign Military Order of Saint John of Jerusalem (which is recognized by the Catholic Church, is headquartered in Rome, and to which, for the purposes of our discussion, I will refer as the “SMOSJ”) is not the “true” Order.”
the thing does raterh boggle the mind…
max, Wow! They claim to be autocephalous Orthodox.
First, I am an Eastern Catholic (Chaldean-Syrian). Mar Mikhael has his faults, but he is as “Catholic” as your pope. His father was an Orthodox priest, his mother RC. The men of his family traditionally became either soldiers or priests. He chose the priesthood. He has studied all over, including Rome. His choice of the Chaldean-Syrian had to do with, since he had all options open to him, trying to find the OLDEST known church. His studies indicated it was this one. For what it is worth, if you go back in history you will find there were various “catholic” churches, most of which disagree with the Bishop of Rome being the “head” of the church, and have for a couple of thousand years. Check out the Coptic church for one. I went to a Maronite church last year and when one of the parish members approached me and asked and I told him I was Chaldean-Syrian he said “oh, yes, I met a lot of your people when I was deployed to Iraq.” He was absolutely correct. Now, the claim is not to be “autocephalous orthodox”, it is just autocephalous. Go look it up. In the simplest of terms we have our own “head” or are essentially self governing. That was set up long before we had the ability to contact everyone everywhere all the time. As to tall of the titles, well, does your Pope have just that title? Or are there a host of modifiers? Again, go look it up, if you aren’t aware, your Pope has a bunch of titles and qualifiers. Being as I am US born and a combat veteran I struggle with all of the titles, as an American there are few things more disconcerting than a host of due due making you seem superior….but this stuff, regardless of church was probably quite necessary in antiquity. My last thought would be to ask that you not look down your nose at any Christian, regardless of their denomination, especially any form of Catholic. Look, we are in a fight for our lives, the government and most of the world have made it quite clear that they hate Christ, and all of his followers, again, regardless of what flavor of Christian we are.
God bless
max, r i t e not right, as you seem to have interpreted.
I recall with great fascination the appearance in the March for Life of about 1985 or 86 of some Anglican monks in the procession up Constellation or Constitution or whatever the street running from the White House back lot up to the Congress building … Their black hoods were exaggerately pointed … extremely medievalish. Would be great if that group made the transition also.
JLS, if you behave, they might let you into their order. as long as you avoid using worlds like medievalish, of course. anglicans, or in this case former anglicans, can be very fussy about the enlgish language.
max, culturally, my roots are not specifically English. I find more attraction to other cultures. The closest I come to English roots is Scots, Irish, Dutch and Welsh … which tend to be Catholic more than Anglican. But in my family lore from this sector I’ve noted some Mormon concepts. One sister and one niece have become LDS, probably responding to this loric element in our inculturation. It was this sector of family tree that came to America in no later than the 18th century and then wound their way through Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Luisiana, Texas and finally California … and which has begun to redistribute itself back into middle America where it developed its American roots. I am indeed the only known Catholic in this family tree; it would be extremely difficult for a cradle Catholic to have even a remote idea what it takes to do this conversion. You actually have to learn the religion and the differences between it and close competitors. For one thing, the cultural dimensions I find in Catholicism are radically different from those in my family tree. Maybe that is why I am so feisty on some issues, because I know that the various Catholic cultures are not the only ones that work well. They seem better at business, govt and science, but not so good with engineering and manufacturing. This may explain why the industrial west is not Catholic dominated and that the Catholic dominated regions tend to have much weaker middle classes. All speaking of the western sphere. Then there are the up and coming material power such as India, China, and Russia. That is the demographics … but in the religious domains you’ve got Islam and Judahism to work with. Can your novus ordo resolve these frictions? No? Gee wouldn’t you imagine that touchy feely emo liturgies would bring everyone together?
Praise God for more good news like this! The others that did not join are now on the news giving their evil blessings to same sex marriage!
ABECA, i missed this. did this news come out today? good ghrief. oh, well, the weirder the episcopalians become, the more of the normal ones we’ll get when they decide to “swim the tiber” and join us.
ABECA, thank for the heads-up…i just found the weird thing you had referred to: “Episcopal bishops approved an official prayer service for blessing same-sex couples Monday at a national convention that also cleared the way for transgender ordination.”
in an equally peculiar story, i just read this morning about a marriage ceremony for dogs: “Scruffy Rubin and Snickers Carter had a wedding many couples dream of, featuring 100 guests, a wedding cake, open bar, receptionist and even security. But while the newlyweds are reportedly happy together, that are not actually human. The Desert Sun reports that actual humans Ernie Rubin and Ann Carter got together to throw Scruffy and Snickers a $5,000 wedding at the Palm Desert Resort Country Club in Palm Desert, Calif., on Sunday. As the two dogs—dressed in custom couture dress and doggie tuxedo—walked down a faux grass carpet aisle , they were accompanied by a ring bearer, flower boy, groomsman and usher. However, it’s worth noting that the groomsman was a Pug named Max.” [and, no, i was NOT this groomsman!]
To Holy trinity Church Dubbo Dear sirs, I am ctinucodng a family history research and am tring to locate a copy of a book written by Geoffrey Lovejoy in 1940 called In Journeys Often . He was a bush brother known as Brother Peter from 1934 1939 (Gilaandra/Berwarinna area) for the Brotherhood of the Good shepherd, Dubbo NSW. Any assistance you might be able to give would be very greatly appreciated. Does the Brotherhood still exist as an entity? Is there any other body I could approach that you know of? If anyone wishes to know wwhat happened to Uncle Geoffrey after 1939 I would be very pleased to supply what information I have. Thank you again. Regards Richard M. James.
Dear Richard,
If you receive this reply I may be able to help you locate a copy of this book.
Douglas
*** There is NO Anglican RITE… please post a correction. These folks are Latin RITE, but Anglican use (liturgical form)… it is important to be very clear. I am surprised that the reporter did not check this out before using this incorrect phraseology over and over again in this article.
Thank you! But, not all parishes of the Personal Ordinariates established in three areas (England and Wales, US/Canada, and Australia) will use the Anglican-use liturgy; the Book of Divine Worship (for the Mass) is Scottish-based, and doesn’t appeal to those congregations who are English, or have roots in English liturgy. Often the OF Mass is said instead; this will change in England and Wales when the Customary, Missal, and Lectionary are approved. I expect these will be eventually opened to use by all current Anglican-use pastoral provision parishes and the other ordinariates
in addition, some priests such as Fr Hunwicke in England are attracted to the EF which they, as Roman-Rite priests, have the automatic faculty to say.
Peggy, you are correct. They are Latin Rite. They have permission to use the liturgy of the Anglican Communion. They are a personal ordinariate. It is called the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. They are not Anlican Use. According to wikipedia, none of the Anglican Use parishes have joined it. I stand corrected that Anglican Rite Catholics is not the proper name for this. Those who call themselves Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church are not in communion with the Catholic Church. Neither are those who call themselves Holy Catholic Church Anglican Rite.
how very confusing! i keep hoping the prayer of JESUS will one day come true, “that they may all be one.”
it would sure make the terminology dilemmas easier.
max, terminology: “… and the word was God … and dwelt among us”. The word “dwelt” here appears to be in past tense, but this is not so in the context of that Scripture. It is in the eternal tense, not commonly used. You see, the language we use is not sufficient, but Jesus is sufficient, and He is the sufficient language, as Bl Teresa of Calcutta demonstrated.
Father Wallace at St Margaret’s also offers a Missa Cantata every Sunday according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. There schola has become quite accomplished over the past few years that this mass has been offered.
The Motu Proprio setting up the Anglican Personal Prelatures has been an unqualified success. Welcome! Benedict XVI is a very wise Pope. Pity the SSPX did not accept a similar structure to rejoin the Church. That was a wasted opportunity.
the anglicans joining the catholic church are obviosuly more humble and sensible than the SSPX crowd, who keep talking about the “errors of rome.”
who died and made them pope?
oops — no one — we already HAVE a pope.