THE P RTAL
December 2011 Page 3
Portal News Good News comes in twos ! by Will Burton
You know how people say that you wait for a ‘ bus and then two come along at once ? It seems that this is also true of good news for the Ordinariate . We have two pieces of wonderful news to report this month .
You will have read about them elsewhere , we are sure . However , The Portal could not let them pass without comment .
Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark
First the good home news . Archbishop Peter Smith has designated St Anselm ’ s Pembury as being the church for the Ordinariate . This is , of course , good news for Fathers Tomlinson and Leviseur and the people of the Ordinariate Group in Kent , but it is also good news for the Ordinariate in the UK .
Fr Ed Tomlinson is a good friend of The Portal . On his blog , he has produced the letter Archbishop Peter Smith wrote concerning this wonderful news . You may read it at www . tunbridgewells-ordinariate . com / blog /.
As has often been said , without buildings , the Ordinariate will always struggle . The letters page of
The Portal has carried correspondence addressing this problem . Damian Thompson , on his blog - http :// tiny . cc / dt-blog , has voiced his opinion . Buildings are important . This is not a criticism of those who have been so generous to the Ordinariate Groups around the country . We have been royally welcomed . Bishops , priests and people have welcomed us into their buildings and their hearts . Yet having a place of one ’ s own is the aspiration .
The Portal is grateful to Archbishop Peter Smith for his foresight and generosity in this matter . We hope it is sign of things to come .
The second piece of good news comes from the USA , and concerns the setting up of an Ordinariate over the water .
Cardinal Donald Wuerl
The American Ordinariate will begin on January 1st 2012 . Cardinal Donald Wuerl will welcome people to the American Ordinariate . All readers of The Portal must pray for our brothers and sisters approaching this historic moment .
There will be problems , of course . They may even be those who wish the new Ordinariate harm . But there will also be love , charity , acceptance , encouragement and joy .
In the end it is Our Lord who decides these things . As long as we do His will , to quote Mother Julian , “ all will be well , and all manner of thing will be well .”
The American Ordinariate will be fairly large , and the various Groups will be able to remain in their current buildings . The U . S . Ordinariate , which has not yet been named , will be the second one erected in the world .
“ My phone has not stopped ringing with people who are thrilled ,” said Father Christopher Phillips , a former Episcopal priest who is pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement , an Anglican-use parish in San Antonio , Texas . Father Phillips came into the Catholic Church 30 years ago under the provision .
“ Many of us in the community of former Anglicans have been waiting and asking , ‘ When will it happen ?’” he said . “ Now we have a date that the Holy Father has approved . It makes it official . If I were to die today , I ’ d die happy , because I got to see this happen .
“ For me , and for many of us who came into the Church years ago , this is the final maturity . When we came into the Church , I said , ‘ We don ’ t know what will happen to us , but we are building for a new generation .’ Now that generation is here . In 500 years , we ’ ll be reading about this in the history books .”
It is expected that sixty-seven former Anglican priests will join the new Ordinariate together with their laity .
When all is said and done , this news is a sign of growth . In the January 2012 edition of The Portal , we hope to have a first-hand report of the new Ordinariate from our very own American Correspondent .