Ordinariate of St. Peter's Chair
Father Paul of Graymoor’s efforts toward at-one-ment continues to bear fruit, along with the work of many others in the ecumenical movement. The Ordinariate was created by the Vatican on Jan. 1, 2012. Members of the Ordinariate are fully Roman Catholic, while retaining elements of Anglican heritage in their celebration of Mass and in the hospitality and ministries of their Catholic parishes.
The establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was the Vatican’s pastoral response to repeated and persistent inquiries made by Anglican individuals and groups in the United States and Canada who, over time, have come to identify the Catholic Church as their home. Those joining the Ordinariate have discerned they are truly Catholic in what they believe and desire full membership in the Catholic Church.
The Ordinariate considers Father Paul of Graymoor, founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, to be a beloved source of inspiration. Father Paul and the community he founded with Mother Lurana were received corporately into full communion with the church of Rome in 1908, the first religious community to do so since the Reformation.
Father Paul of Graymoor’s efforts toward at-one-ment continues to bear fruit, along with the work of many others in the ecumenical movement. The Ordinariate was created by the Vatican on Jan. 1, 2012. Members of the Ordinariate are fully Roman Catholic, while retaining elements of Anglican heritage in their celebration of Mass and in the hospitality and ministries of their Catholic parishes.
The establishment of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was the Vatican’s pastoral response to repeated and persistent inquiries made by Anglican individuals and groups in the United States and Canada who, over time, have come to identify the Catholic Church as their home. Those joining the Ordinariate have discerned they are truly Catholic in what they believe and desire full membership in the Catholic Church.
The Ordinariate considers Father Paul of Graymoor, founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, to be a beloved source of inspiration. Father Paul and the community he founded with Mother Lurana were received corporately into full communion with the church of Rome in 1908, the first religious community to do so since the Reformation.
“It took an enormous amount of courage for Father Paul to step forward and to have created this beautiful gift to the Church, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He never stopped praying that prayer for unity and that’s what I find so incredibly inspiring about this man. ”
—
Msgr. Jeffrey N. Steenson, 1st Ordinary Emeritus of the Ordinariate established in 2012