Understanding the Ordinariate (EX58)

In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI formally responded to petitions for closer unity from many of the Anglican patrimony. Thus, the Personal Ordinariates were created - a new space within the Latin Rite in which the Anglican tradition may flourish: no longer in separation from Rome but now in unity with it. Common questions asked about the Ordinariate are answered here, explaining the different Ordinariates, how they were founded, how they function and relate to other Catholics; how to enter the Ordinariate, and questions on the role of clergy, lay faithful, the Mass, marriage and other topics.

Fr Ed Tomlinson is Parish Priest of Saint Anselm’s, Pembury. Educated at Norwich Cathedral School and Cambridge University, he became one of the founding members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.