THE P RTAL
March 2012 Page 15
Letters to the Editor
From Stephen Bond
I was greatly moved by Teresa Smith ’ s letter describing her and her father ’ s ( Ray White ) reception into the Catholic Church via the Ordinariate . Anthony Prescott and I would have met them on A . C . S . preaching visits to S Francis Bournemouth . S Francis Church was a great supporter of the Additional Curates Society . I wonder if the Holy Father realises just how much joy he has brought to so many ? I am sure the Holy Spirit who worked such wonders for the early Christians is working overtime in our own day . God bless you all .
Stephen Bond St Nazaire , France
From Monica Johnson
Re letter in February edition of The Portal by Mrs . Teres Smith of Bournemouth . An active member of the Salisbury Ordinariate Group is aged 9l years young !!
Monica Johnson Salisbury
From : Graham Combs
I ’ m unaware if it has been noted that both the UK and the US Personal Ordinariates have begun during significant anniversaries for Anglicans across the world . The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham began during the 400th anniversary of the Authorized Version or King James Bible . The Ordinariate of the Chair of St . Peter begins in the year we celebrate the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer .
I entered the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil , 2009 ; a convert from the Episcopal Church . But my religious heritage is rooted firmly in England . My father served on a US Navy destroyer on the Atlantic during World War II ( escorting convoys of materiel and supplies to Britain ). After the war , her returned from England and coverted to Episcopalianism . I was consequently baptized at St . George ’ s Church in Louisville , Kentucky .
There are a few Catholics priests in Michigan where I now live who have entered the Church under the pastoral provision . Unfortunately , so far , there are no ordinariate parishes . Interestingly , most of these parishes are located in the American South . As you know , the principal church of the ordinariate is Our Lady of Walsingham Church in Houston , Texas .
They recently built a Shrine to Our Lady modeled on shrine ruins in Walsingham , England .
I still have my late father ’ s Book of Common Prayer which he received upon his confirmation and which I was given at mine . Like you I feel a special gratitude to His Holiness Benedict XVI for Anglicanorum Coetibus both for its reality and its promise . He may well be the pope known for Christian unity . And like you I pray that those American parishes which have broken away from the Episcopal Church will make a final home in the Church of Rome and the personal ordinariate . And thank you all in the UK ordinariate for showing the way no matter the obstacles .
Graham Combs Royal Oak , MI , USA
PS There is an editorial in the Friday , Feb . 3 , 2012 US edition of the Wall Street Journal by Fr . Richard Cipolla entitled Being A Catholic Priest -- and Married . He entered the Catholic priesthood under the pastoral provision in 1984 . He writes of his 28 years as a priest , the challenges for him , his family , and the Church -- and why the are worth engaging .
From The Revd Fred Beddow
I am a Catholic deacon who left the Anglican Communion in the 60s . In several places in this month ’ s Portal it is regretted that many ordinary Catholics are ignorant of the Ordinariate . This is unfortunately true but for most Catholics it is a difficult concept for them to grasp as I have found on several occasions . For them to be a Catholic is synonymous with belonging to the Roman Rite . They know nothing of the other ancient Rites in full communion with Rome .
When I have the chance I speak of the Church as a communion of Rites , of which the Roman , while the largest , is but one . Having got this across , the idea of Ordinariates , while not quite the same , becomes easier to accept . ( Is it too much to look forward to an Anglican Rite ?).
In our Cathedral Parish in Shrewsbury , it has been easier . I had known the Anglican priest for a long time and was , by chance , one of the deacons of the Mass when he was ordained to the Catholic diaconate . He was welcomed by our Dean , and presided at the main Sunday Mass following his priestly ordination and later celebrated the anniversary of his Anglican ordination . He ministers regularly in the parish .