History
In order to fully appreciate the dynamic history of our community, it is necessary to understand the events that shaped us and the wider North American Ordinariate. Though not always straightforward, the path towards the fulness of communion in the Catholic Church, through the gift of the Ordinariate, has been discernible and, we believe, in accord with God’s divine plan.
Pre-OrdinariateFollowing a Congress of Concerned Churchmen in 1977, and the ensuing establishment of a number of 'continuing Anglican' ecclesial groups, the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) was formed in 1991 by those disillusioned with the wider Anglican Communion and its direction in matters of faith and order.
In the autumn of 2007, the TAC College of Bishops gathered primarily to discuss full communion and reunion with Rome, culminating in the signing, by every Continuing Anglican bishop in attendance, of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Then-Bishops Peter Wilkinson and Robert Mercer (who had preceded Bishop Wilkinson as the TAC Bishop for Canada, and is now himself a monsignor in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham) were chosen to present this signed catechism, together with an official letter requesting unity with the Catholic Church, to the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). |
At a parishioner’s home (November 2011 to February 2012)
|
Prior to that, in May 2006, then-Bishops Wilkinson and Mercer had a chance to meet Pope Benedict XVI following a general papal audience. They mentioned to the late Pope the desire of the bishops of the TAC for full communion. He told them to ‘keep praying’. Such prayers were answered when, on 5 July 2008, the CDF indicated that it was giving serious consideration to the prospect of an accommodation for groups of Anglicans within the Church.
A year later, on 20 October 2009, William Cardinal Levada, the Cardinal Prefect of the CDF, officially announced Pope Benedict XVI’s plan, by means of a canonical structure known as ‘Personal Ordinariates’, to allow former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Church whilst ‘preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony’.
On 4 November 2009 Pope Benedict XVI promulgated his Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, which provided ‘the general normative structure’ for the establishment of Personal Ordinariates. These were intended for ‘Anglicans [who had petitioned] repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion’.
On 12 March 2010 the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC), a Continuing Anglican Church, formally requested the erection of an Ordinariate in Canada. Later that year, in June, the ACCC held simultaneously its eighth Provincial and thirteenth Diocesan Synods to discuss and discern, with their clergy and people, the next steps towards their role in the implementation of the Ordinariate in Canada. Though the prospect of union with Rome was initially met with ‘overwhelming support’, ultimately only a handful of ACCC parishes and clergy proceeded towards full communion within the Ordinariate.
It was during this time that a group at the ACCC cathedral in Victoria, St John the Evangelist, a parish of long-standing Anglo-Catholic practice and conviction, founded by now-Mgr Peter Wilkinson, began to discern their entrance into the Ordinariate. This group was the seed of our present-day parish.
A year later, on 20 October 2009, William Cardinal Levada, the Cardinal Prefect of the CDF, officially announced Pope Benedict XVI’s plan, by means of a canonical structure known as ‘Personal Ordinariates’, to allow former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Church whilst ‘preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony’.
On 4 November 2009 Pope Benedict XVI promulgated his Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus, which provided ‘the general normative structure’ for the establishment of Personal Ordinariates. These were intended for ‘Anglicans [who had petitioned] repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion’.
On 12 March 2010 the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC), a Continuing Anglican Church, formally requested the erection of an Ordinariate in Canada. Later that year, in June, the ACCC held simultaneously its eighth Provincial and thirteenth Diocesan Synods to discuss and discern, with their clergy and people, the next steps towards their role in the implementation of the Ordinariate in Canada. Though the prospect of union with Rome was initially met with ‘overwhelming support’, ultimately only a handful of ACCC parishes and clergy proceeded towards full communion within the Ordinariate.
It was during this time that a group at the ACCC cathedral in Victoria, St John the Evangelist, a parish of long-standing Anglo-Catholic practice and conviction, founded by now-Mgr Peter Wilkinson, began to discern their entrance into the Ordinariate. This group was the seed of our present-day parish.
On 26 November 2011 the Pro-Diocese of Our Lady of Walsingham was formed within the ACCC, intended for those members seeking unity with the Catholic Church under the terms of Anglicanorum coetibus.
The next day, Advent Sunday 2011, the Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman was formed under the administration of then-Bishop Peter Wilkinson, with the support and aid of Canon Don Malins and Fr Michael Birch.
Since the majority of St John the Evangelist did not join the Pro-Diocese, the Fellowship was without a home. From this point onwards, the Fellowship would, to the present day, be seeking a permanent home of its own. Though undeterred, and in true pilgrim fashion, the first Anglican Eucharist was offered at the home of Fr Malins in Royal Oak. For the next few months, this nascent community moved between various parishioners’ houses and domestic oratories as it continued to pray and wait for the formation of the Ordinariate.
The next day, Advent Sunday 2011, the Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman was formed under the administration of then-Bishop Peter Wilkinson, with the support and aid of Canon Don Malins and Fr Michael Birch.
Since the majority of St John the Evangelist did not join the Pro-Diocese, the Fellowship was without a home. From this point onwards, the Fellowship would, to the present day, be seeking a permanent home of its own. Though undeterred, and in true pilgrim fashion, the first Anglican Eucharist was offered at the home of Fr Malins in Royal Oak. For the next few months, this nascent community moved between various parishioners’ houses and domestic oratories as it continued to pray and wait for the formation of the Ordinariate.
|
|
Anglicanorum Coetibus Conference, Mississauga, (24-26 March 2011)
St Jean-Baptiste, Oak Bay
(February to November 2012)
|
Towards Full CommunionOn 1 January 2012, the long-awaited Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter was erected, allowing those Anglicans in North America who had longed for unity with Rome and the preservation of their liturgical traditions, beyond the generous provision of the Pastoral Provision in the United States, to enter finally and fully into the communion of the Catholic Church.
The still-ACCC community then moved, with the permission, of Bishop Richard Gagnon, Bishop of Victoria, to the parish of St Jean-Baptiste in Oak Bay. The Fellowship celebrated their first Anglican Eucharist there on Septuagesima Sunday, 5 February 2012. Immediately following, the Fellowship began catechism classes as they entered into an intense period of study and formation on the road to full communion. After just over a month, the final Anglican Eucharist was celebrated on Mothering Sunday, 18 March 2012, by then-Bishop Peter Wilkinson. The same day those intending to be received into the Church made their First Confessions, at St Jean-Baptiste, to Bishop Gagnon. |
ACCC clergy with Bishop Richard Gagnon &
Mgr Jeffrey Steenson (2012)
Reception into Full Communion (2012)
|
Final Anglican Eucharist (2012)
Mr Peter Wilkinson (2012)
|
A month later, 22 people (the full force of the Fellowship) were received into full communion on Low Sunday, 15 April 2012 by Bishop Gagnon at St Andrew’s Cathedral.
St Columba, Strawberry Vale
|
From the time of the Fellowship’s reception until Mgr Wilkinson’s ordination, and with the kind permission of Bishop Gagnon, Fr John Laszczyk, the Rector of St Andrew’s Cathedral, served as the Fellowship’s Chaplain, and offered all Masses.
The Fellowship moved from St Jean-Baptist to St Columba’s, Strawberry Vale, renting the church from the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia, beginning 1 November 2012, All Saints’ Day. Though a small church, with no dedicated space for fellowship, minimal parking and the need to supply, amongst other things, our own altar, it was here that the Fellowship first began to flourish, and here that an initial donation toward a home of our own was received. On 7 December 2012 the Canadian communities within the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter were formed within a newly-established Deanery of St John the Baptist. The present Parochial Administrator, Fr Kenyon, then-Parish Priest of St John the Evangelist, Calgary, was appointed the first Dean. Peter Wilkinson was ordained the second priest of the Deanery on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 2012, and offered his First Mass the following day, with Fr Kenyon serving as Deacon, and Michael Birch as Subdeacon. Then-Fr Wilkinson’s ordination and appointment as the Fellowship’s first Parochial Administrator, allowed the nascent community, though small, to begin its first steps towards a more fully independent sacramental life; a crucial step in the Fellowship’s development. On the Feast of Candlemas, 2 February 2013, in recognition of his long service as an Anglican priest and bishop, and in gratitude for his service on the interdicasterial commission Anglicanae Traditiones, it was announced that Fr Peter Wilkinson had been appointed a Prelate of Honour with the title Monsignor. |
St Columba, Strawberry Vale (November 2012 to February 2016)
High Altar
|
Later that year, on 14 June 2013, Fr Michael Birch and Fr Don Malins, our first Parochial Vicars, were ordained to the priesthood. Fr Birch celebrated his First Mass the day after, and Fr Malins celebrated his First Mass on 16 June. Both men, having been with the community since the very beginning, were now able to exercise a valuable priestly ministry, further instructing, guiding, and nurturing those who had journeyed with them - and those who came after - on the path to communion.
The following year, in the spring of 2014, Mgr Peter Wilkinson retired, and was succeeded in the summer by Fr Carl Reid, formerly Parish Priest of the Ordinariate quasi-parish of the Church the Annunciation, Ottawa.
The following year, in the spring of 2014, Mgr Peter Wilkinson retired, and was succeeded in the summer by Fr Carl Reid, formerly Parish Priest of the Ordinariate quasi-parish of the Church the Annunciation, Ottawa.
Ordination of Fr Peter Wilkinson (8 December 2012)
Following the Ordination of Frs Malins and Birch (14 June 2013)
|
First Mass of Fr Peter Wilkinson (9 December 2012)
First Mass of Fr Michael Birch (15 June 2013)
|
|
|
Visit of Bishop Peter Elliot (June 2014)
Our Lady of Fatima, Royal Oak
After four years, on 9 February 2016, Shrove Tuesday, the Fellowship left St Columba’s. The day after, Ash Wednesday, they moved to Our Lady of Fatima, Royal Oak. Our Lady of Fatima, being the community’s first Catholic parish home, gave the Fellowship some much-needed exposure to a wider Catholic population, and the community began to grow in number and in confidence. By decree of Bishop Lopes, on 10 November 2016 the Fellowship was raised to the status of a Quasi-Parish.
It was during the parish’s time at Our Lady of Fatima that, following 46 years of dedicated service and ministry as an Anglican and then a Catholic priest, Fr Michael Birch died on 26 November 2016 at the age of 76. His funeral requiem was on 2 December, celebrated by the then-Fr Carl Reid with Fr Kenyon preaching.
Due to forces beyond its control, the parish was forced to move again. The final Mass at Our Lady of Fatima was 26 August 2018.
It was during the parish’s time at Our Lady of Fatima that, following 46 years of dedicated service and ministry as an Anglican and then a Catholic priest, Fr Michael Birch died on 26 November 2016 at the age of 76. His funeral requiem was on 2 December, celebrated by the then-Fr Carl Reid with Fr Kenyon preaching.
Due to forces beyond its control, the parish was forced to move again. The final Mass at Our Lady of Fatima was 26 August 2018.
Low Mass (May 2016)
|
Low Mass (May 2017)
|
|
|
|
|
First visit of Bishop Steven Lopes and Confirmations (6 May 2018)
Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Esquimalt... and the Future!
|
The parish moved to Our Lady, Queen of Peace on 27 August 2018, with the first Mass being celebrated on the following Sunday. This allowed an even wider connection with the varied life of the Catholic Church in Greater Victoria. Whilst being a regular diocesan parish, Queen of Peace also serves the Hungarian and Latin Mass communities of the Diocese of Victoria. The latter was fortuitous, since it allowed for the renewal of old friendships. Long before Anglicanorum coetibus a number of the choristers at the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist, most of whom remained with the Fellowship when it entered the Ordinariate, had sung for the Latin Masses in this church. It was a kind of homecoming for the choir.
On 26 March 2019 Pope Francis appointed Fr Reid as the next Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, in succession to Mgr Harry Entwistle. He was made a Protonotary Apostolic with the title Monsignor. Mgr Reid offered his final Mass on 4 August 2019, departing for Australia the next day, and was installed as Ordinary on 27 August at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney. Fr Lee Kenyon was appointed the third and current Parochial Administrator on 1 September 2019, offering his first Mass on Holy Cross Day, 14 September. Following the happy canonisation of our patron, St John Henry Newman on 13 October 2019, the Quasi-Parish of Blessed John Henry Newman became the Quasi-Parish of Saint John Henry Newman. Thanks be to God! In our time at Queen of Peace, we have faced the unique challenge of Covid and the closure of the church for periods of many months over the space of two years. In spite of such adversity, the parish has grown steadily in number and in heart. The experience of sharing a church, especially in a time of turmoil sharpened the need for us to seek a home of our own. With a firm intention, we launched a Building Fund on 1 January 2022. A Building Committee was established in the autumn of 2022, and following a novena to the Infant of Prague, land was purchased in the spring of 2023. Under Divine Providence, we pray that this will one day allow for the new Church of St John Henry Newman to be built: a temple of prayer and praise to Almighty God, offering to him worship in the beauty of holiness; a lasting monument to the faith and devotion of those who have sought to keep alive the Anglican patrimony as a treasure to be shared with the whole Church. |
Our Lady, Queen of Peace, Esquimalt (August
2018 to the present)
High Altar
|
Parochial Administrators & Parochial Vicars
|
PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATORS
PAROCHIAL VICARS
|
|