A New Ordinariate Group is Born

Welcome to our new blog.

The Marylebone Group of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham began formally on Saturday 3 September 2011, the Feast of St Gregory the Great, when three former members of the congregation of St Mary's Bourne St were received into the full communion of the Catholic Church by Monsignor Keith Newton, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

 

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established on 15 January 2011 for groups of Anglican faithful and their clergy who wish to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. It has been placed under the patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman.

The establishment of this Ordinariate in England and Wales was the first fruit of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, issued by Pope Benedict XVI on 4 November 2009. The Constitution and the Complementary Norms published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith provide the essential norms which will enable members of the Ordinariate to preserve within the Catholic Church those elements of Anglican ecclesial prayer, liturgy and pastoral practice (patrimony) that are concordant with Catholic teaching and which have nurtured and nourished their Christian faith and life.

Our members usually attend the 10.30 Solemn Mass each Sunday morning at St James's, and it is hoped that eventually occasional Ordinariate masses will be said at St James's, in addition to the active liturgical life of this busy and very welcoming parish. 

We are very grateful to Fr Christopher Colven, Rector of St James's Spanish Place, for his welcome, understanding and much valued assistance. 

A word of thanks also to the clergy of the Ordinariate who have been instrumental in bringing us into the Catholic Church.  We thank Fr Christopher Pearson, as well as Monsignor Keith Newton and Deacon James Bradley for their time, patience and dedication.

Please check this blog from time to time for updates, sign up to follow it, or join our Facebook group (link on the right) to be updated automatically.