Ordinariate Ordination of Former TAC Bishop Peter Wilkinson

Over at Foolishness to the World.

Former Anglican Bishop in Victoria, British Columbia, to be Ordained a Catholic Priest

Former Anglican bishop Peter Wilkinson of Victoria, British Columbia, will become part of history on Saturday, Dec. 8 when he is ordained a Catholic priest for the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. The ordinariate was founded by Pope Benedict XVI earlier this year to welcome former Anglican groups and clergy seeking to become Catholic. They retain many aspects of Anglican tradition and liturgy.

Victoria Bishop Richard Gagnon will ordain Wilkinson on Dec. 8, 10 a.m. St. Andrew’s Cathedral, 740 View Street, Victoria, BC V8W 1J8. Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, the leader of the Ordinariate, will concelebrate the Mass.

Wilkinson is the former Bishop Ordinary of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC). A native of Victoria, BC, he was ordained a priest for the Anglican Church of Canada in 1965. In 1977, he joined the ACCC and in 1999 he was elected Suffragan Bishop. Six years later, in 2009, he became Bishop Ordinary. He received his undergraduate degree at Victoria College of the University of British Columbia, and attended seminary at the College of the Resurrection, in England. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from St. Bede’s Anglican Catholic Theological College.

He became Catholic in April 2012 and currently leads the Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman in Victoria (www.blessedjohnhenrynewmanfellowship.ca). The group holds sung Catholic Mass, using an approved liturgy that is based upon the traditional Anglican liturgy, on Sundays at St. Columba, 40 High Street, View Royal, BC.

Since January 1, 2012, 25 former Anglican priests have become Catholic priests for the ordinariate, including two others in Canada (Fr. Lee Kenyon of Calgary and Fr. John Wright of Chestermere), and over 1,500 people in 35 communities throughout the United States and Canada have joined the ordinariate. In several cases, entire parishes entered the Catholic Church together. By the end of the year, nearly 30 men will have become priests for the ordinariate; more than 60 others are in or are seeking to be accepted for the formation process.

Equivalent to a diocese, but national in scope, the ordinariate was created on Jan. 1, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI for Anglican groups and clergy in the United States seeking to enter the Catholic Church. It has since expanded to include Canada. Three ordinariates exist in the world, in the United States, United Kingdom (Our Lady of Walsingham) and Australia (Our Lady of the Southern Cross). The North American ordinariate is led by Msgr. Steenson, a former Episcopal bishop who is based in Houston, Texas. In speaking about the ordinations this year, Msgr. Steenson noted that they “mark a significant moment in the history of Catholic unity.”

 

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