We are fully Catholic and retain our Anglican tradition. Pope Benedict XVI made a remarkable invitation to Anglicans in 2009 — to come home. The Supreme Pontiff did so through the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum cœtibus which made it possible for Anglicans to become Roman Catholics as whole groups. What’s more, the invitation was to return the English spiritual heritage and Anglican patrimony
to Christ’s Church as a treasure to be shared. Since that historic invitation, three Personal Ordinariates have been established: Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales; the Chair of Saint Peter in Canada and the United States; and Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia. The Ordinariates are a key ecumenical venture exemplifying the Second Vatican Council’s vision for Christian unity, in which diverse expressions of the one true faith are joined together in union with the Pope. This extraordinary invitation from Pope Benedict XVI is given concrete expression here in Canada with the Saint John the Baptist Deanery of the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter which was established ten years ago to attend to the needs the Canadian faithful. An Ordinariate is equivalent to a diocese and the Canadian Ordinariate is based in Calgary, Alberta. The North American Ordinariate includes over forty communities — six in Canada — with the Cathedral in Houston, Texas. In the decade since our founding, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has expanded membership in the Ordinariates well beyond those original Anglican groups. Because of this enlargement of our mission of evangelisation, our communities are composed of Anglicans, other converts, as well as cradle Catholics and Catholic ‘re-verts’. The Deanery of St. John the Baptist is a small part of the Canadian Catholic Church but our bishop’s goal in the coming years is to establish an Ordinariate parish in every major city in Canada. We are currently expanding administrative capacity in order to be successful in the coming years. Ours is a beautiful and ancient tradition now rejoined with the Church after nearly five hundred years of separation. Pope Benedict made a remarkable invitation to come home. Whether you’re Anglican or protestant wishing to join the Church, or a Catholic seeking a traditional Mass, why not take him up on his offer? Our Bishop, Steven J. Lopes, is a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and shepherds us in our efforts.
