Three Anglican Bishops Were Ordained as Priests By the Roman Catholic Church
Three former bishops of the Church of England took Pope’s offer to adhere to the Roman Catholic Church and accepted to be ordained on Saturday as priests.
The three, belonging to the traditionalist Anglicans, were ordained at Westminster Cathedral in a ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Westminster and head of Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The bishops made the decision to adhere to the Roman Catholic Church as a form of protest against the ordination of woman as priests, a practice that has become usual in the Church of England.
They became members of the first ordinariate, a Catholic church’s body formed by the Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 that accepts traditionalist Anglicans to convert to the Catholic faith while allowing them to keep some of their traditions.
Fifty priests and about 30 groups of parishioners are expected to follow suit and convert to Catholicism, breaking away from mother church, the Church of England.
The decision to defect was triggered by the practice of the Church of England to ordain women as bishops.
The three priests were told by the archbishop of Winchester during the homily given on the occasion of ordination that they had a demanding and promising future.
Ordinariates are expected to be established in other parts of the world, such as Australia, and North America, where interest has been shown in the proposition made by Pope.
The English ordinariate will have as patron John Henry Newman, former English convert from the 19th century, whose beatification was proclaimed by the pope during the visit in United Kingdom last year.
The three bishops have been ordained as priests because the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize the Anglican ordination.
The Anglican married priests will be admitted to the Roman Catholic Church, while the married bishops will no longer be able to retain their status.
