Anglicans Going Catholic (Australia) Compass Programme

Okay, so yes, you’ve all seen it by now… I haven’t so I’ll spend the next half hour or so watching it. Hope it’s worth it…

The transcript is here.

 

Australian History Being Made with the Launch of the Ordinariate

UPDATE:  Fr Harry Entwistle named Ordinary

Australia Incognita:

Today is the official launch of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, which i under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury.

And it officially gets underway with the priestly ordination of former Anglican Bishop Harry Entwhistle, and reception into the

Church of around 70 members of his congregation, in Perth tonight at the Cathedral at 7pm.
So if you are in Perth, do go along and show your support.

Regardless, please keep all those preparing to enter the Church, and those being ordained, in your prayers.

Please pray also for those who have so far rejected the invitation to enter or return to the Church, that their hearts might yet soften.

And please do especially remember Bishop Peter Eliot, who has been the lead on this for the Church in Australia, and whose anniversary of consecration as a bishop it is today.

 

Australian Ordinariate Erection on 15th June Approaches

Over on the blog Vexilla Regis:

FEBRUARY 2012 GATHERED FOR ORDINARIATE FESTIVAL IN PERTH
(L to R ) TAC Abp HEPWORTH, CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP Hocking PERTH,CATHOLIC BISHOP PETER ELLIOTT AUX. MELBOURNE, ANGLICAN BISHOP ENTWHISTLE and CATHOLIC BISHOP SPROXTON AUX.PERTH

THE AUSTRALIAN to-day reports that on Friday 15th June – the Feast of the Sacred Heart, and  the day the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross under the Patronage of Saint Augustine of Canterbury is formally erected by the decree of the Holy Father, in St. Mary’s Cathedral Perth,WA, the Archbishop of Perth will ordain as a Catholic Priest the present Anglican ( TAC) Bishop Harry Entwhistle ,72. Father Entwhistle is expected to be followed into the Catholic Church by most of his present TAC flock of 70 people at Saint Ninian and Saint Chad’s Church in Perth , through the Ordinariate.This will be the first of the Anglican Parishes to do so.

This is a promising beginning for the Ordinariate and no doubt many more such moves will follow. “Other bishops, priests and parishes are expected to follow, including the Church of the Torres Strait and four Priests and a bishop from the TAC group in Japan”the paper reported.

We pray for the growing strength of the Ordinariate, and we look forward with interest to the appointment by the Holy Father of its new Ordinary expected to be announced on Friday.

 

Catholic Church Open for ex-Anglicans

The Australian is reporting:

A new church era will begin in Australia on Friday with the establishment of the Catholic Church’s Ordinariate for former Anglicans.

One of the first moves will be the ordination of Traditional Anglican Communion Bishop Harry Entwistle, 72, to the Catholic priesthood in St Mary’s Cathedral, Perth, on Friday evening by the Catholic Archbishop of Perth, Tim Costelloe.

Most of the 70-strong congregation of Bishop Entwistle’s St Ninian and St Chad’s Church in Perth will follow him into the Ordinariate, making it the first Australian parish to join the new community.

Other bishops, priests and parishes are expected to follow, including the Church of the Torres Strait and four priests and a bishop from the TAC group in Japan.

Bishop Entwistle, who declined to be interviewed ahead of the ceremony, is considered one of the frontrunners to be announced by the Pope as head of the Ordinariate, a position that will carry a similar status to that of a Catholic Archbishop. He is a former Anglican prison chaplain in Britain and Australia who joined the TAC in 2006 over doctrinal differences with the Anglican Church.

In a recent statement, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, Archbishop Denis Hart, said the new community would “have the status of a diocese and will be known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury”.

Similar bodies have already been established in Britain and the US after the Pope’s 2009 decision to cater for groups of Anglicans who wished to join the Catholic Church while maintaining some of the traditions of prayer and worship of Anglicanism. “I am confident that those former Anglicans who have made a journey in faith that has led them to the Catholic Church will find a ready welcome,” Archbishop Hart said.

Adelaide-based former primate of the TAC John Hepworth said the instigation of the Ordinariate was the culmination of 22 years of work seeking unity between Anglicans and Catholics.

Archbishop Hepworth drafted the original petition to the Pope which led to his issuing the document Anglicanorum coetibus (On Groups of Anglicans), paving the way for groups of Anglicans to join the Catholic Church.

 

Bishop Harry Entwistle (TAC) to be Ordained to the Catholic Priesthood

And so it begins in Australia:

Upcoming Ordinariate Ordinations

You may recall that Archbishop Hart announced that the Australian Ordinariate for former Anglicans would commence on June 15.

Well here is something to make that a bit more concrete.  I’ve been told that Bishop Harry Entwistle of the Traditional Anglican Communion will be ordained to the Catholic Priesthood at 7.00 pm on Friday 15 June 2012 at St Mary’s Cathedral Perth – ie the “start date” of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.  Also, members of his TAC flock will be received into the Catholic Church.

So Perthites, please do make a note in your diaries, and show them your support!

And if you know of upcoming ordinations/receptions into the Church elsewhere, please do let me know and I’ll publicize them too!

Please keep all concerned in your prayers.