The Ordinariate
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THE PRIMARY MISSION of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter is evangelisation.
The Ordinariate exists for those who are and who will be coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. Through the reverence and beauty of our worship, study of sacred Scripture and charity for those in need, we desire to share the joy of being Roman Catholic! With respect and gratitude for the Anglican heritage that nourished us, we seek to build bridges with all our brothers and sisters who are drawn to the Church, so that we might build up the one Body of Christ. Our mission is particularly experienced in our celebration of liturgy, which features Anglican traditions of worship while conforming to Catholic doctrinal, sacramental and liturgical standards. Through Divine Worship: The Missal - the liturgy that unites the Ordinariates throughout the English-speaking world - we share our distinctive commitment to praising God in the eloquence of the Anglican liturgical patrimony and Prayer Book English. |
In addition, the founding documents of the Personal Ordinariate (click on the image above to read them) make clear that it is intended to be an instrument of Catholic unity: an opportunity to model what the future reconciliation of separated Christian communities could be. We wish to fulfil the Holy Father’s vision for Christian unity, in which diverse expressions of one faith are joined together in the Church.
There are a number of resources available to understand in more depth the purpose and provenance of the Ordinariates. To download a Q&A sheet on the work of the Ordinariate in North America, please click here. To purchase ‘Understanding the Ordinariate’, a Catholic Truth Society booklet by Fr Edward Tomlinson, a priest of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, please click here; to order a copy of Fr Aidan Nichols’ book on the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, ‘Catholics of the Anglican Patrimony’, please click here, and to purchase of a copy of ‘The Anglican Patrimony in Catholic Communion: The Gift of the Ordinariates’, edited by Prof Tracey Rowland, please click here.
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Membership and Participation
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Most people who desire to join the Ordinariate do so in the context of an Ordinariate parish or parochial community. Anglicanorum coetibus gives us direction regarding membership in the Ordinariate: ‘Both the lay faithful as well as members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, originally part of the Anglican Communion, who wish to enter the Personal Ordinariate, must manifest this desire in writing’. (Anglicanorum coetibus IX).
No one is automatically a member of the Ordinariate unless they are a minor child of an Ordinariate member. Rather, those who want to belong to the Ordinariate must: 1. Be eligible (see here for eligibility), and 2. Submit a signed membership form (to Fr Kenyon). Your signature on the form is the canonical act by which you manifest your desire to enter the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter. Please click on the image opposite to download a Membership Registration form. |
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Subscribe
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To subscribe to The Portal, a monthly magazine of the Personal Ordnariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales, please click here. To subscribe to the regular newsletter of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, please click here.
Ordinariate Tartan
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The Ordinariate is a unique tartan created as a gift from the Ordinariate in Scotland to the three Ordinariates around the world. It was created to mark the tenth anniversary of the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, and the Canonisation of St John Henry Newman in 2019. The colours of the tartan contain symbolism from the three coats of arms of the Ordinariates, St John Henry Newman’s motto, Cor ad cor loquitur, and the instruments of the Passion. All members of the Ordinariate are entitled to wear this tartan. All items can be shipped anywhere in the world, and include a leaflet with additional information. Proceeds go to support the mission of the Ordinariate in Scotland.
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Formed
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The Deanery of St John the Baptist has invested in a subscription to Formed, an online Catholic streaming service with thousands of studies, films, audio dramas, talks, e-books and cartoons. This subscription is being offered free of charge, exclusively to Canadian members of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter.
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Formed provides professionally produced, engaging, and faithful content from over sixty apostolates, including the Augustine Institute, Ignatius Press, and the Knights of Columbus. To gain access to all that Formed has to offer, follow the steps below:
1. Click here or download the Formed app and tap ‘sign up as a parishioner’.
2. Search for ‘Canada’ and select ‘St John the Baptist Ordinariate – Canada’.
3. Follow the instructions to complete account creation.
1. Click here or download the Formed app and tap ‘sign up as a parishioner’.
2. Search for ‘Canada’ and select ‘St John the Baptist Ordinariate – Canada’.
3. Follow the instructions to complete account creation.
Bishop Steven Lopes
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STEVEN JOSEPH LOPES was born in 1975 in Fremont, California to Barbara Jane and (the late) Dr José de Oliveira Lopes. His father was Portuguese and his mother is Polish. José emigrated to the United States in the early 1960s and became an American citizen in 1970. Barbara Jane was born and raised in Detroit, where much of her family still resides.
The only child to two educators – his father taught languages and history at the university level, and his mother taught in Catholic schools for 47 years — Bishop Lopes was formed and educated by Catholic schools in the Golden State: St Pius School (Redwood City, California); St Edward School (Newark, California); and Moreau Catholic High School (Hayward, Calfornia). In high school he began to discern the possibility of a vocation to the priesthood. He continued his discernment during his studies at the St Ignatius Institute at the University of San Francisco, where he majored in theology and minored in philosophy and German. With the encouragement of his family, he entered St Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California for one year, then completed his seminary education at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. |
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He studied philosophy and liturgy at the University of Innsbruck. He then earned three degrees – including a doctorate – in sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he has also served as an adjunct faculty member.
On 23 June 2001 he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of San Francisco by Cardinal William J. Levada (then Archbishop Levada).
As a priest of the Archdiocese, he served as an associate pastor at two parishes: St Patrick Catholic Church in San Francisco and St Anselm Catholic Church in Ross, California.
In 2005, he was named an official of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office responsible for promoting and preserving Catholic teaching. For seven of his 10-plus years at the Vatican, he served as secretary to the Cardinal Prefect. He was named a monsignor in 2010.
On 23 June 2001 he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of San Francisco by Cardinal William J. Levada (then Archbishop Levada).
As a priest of the Archdiocese, he served as an associate pastor at two parishes: St Patrick Catholic Church in San Francisco and St Anselm Catholic Church in Ross, California.
In 2005, he was named an official of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office responsible for promoting and preserving Catholic teaching. For seven of his 10-plus years at the Vatican, he served as secretary to the Cardinal Prefect. He was named a monsignor in 2010.
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Pope Francis named him the Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter on 24 November 2015. He succeeded Msgr Jeffrey N. Steenson as leader of the Ordinariate on 2 February 2016.
For his motto, Bishop Lopes selected the Latin phrase, ‘Magna Opera Domini’, or in English, ‘Great are the works of the Lord’. By these words, the new bishop expresses his awe of God’s grace in drawing His people to the fullness of Eucharistic communion. Bishop Lopes is a chaplain to the Order of Malta and remains deeply committed to the Order’s service to the sick and the poor. As a bishop, he is a full member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. |
Ever committed to serving the people of the Ordinariate, his mission as bishop is dedicated to:
- Inviting new disciples into a life-giving relationship with Christ;
- Nurturing reverence and beauty in liturgy, so that the Ordinariate’s tradition of worship deepens the faith and authentic discipleship of all the faithful;
- Modeling ecumenism, fostering the unity of the Church that our Lord prayed for (John 17:21);
- Serving in evangelical charity by caring for those in need.
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