As had been rumored for several months, today the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a press release confirming that Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington has been appointed Pastoral Delegate for the U.S. for Anglicanorum Coetibus. Let us welcome Archbishop Wuerl and keep him in our prayers.
Doctrine Of The Faith Congregation Names Archbishop Wuerl To Guide Bringing Anglican Groups Into Catholic Church In U.S.
WASHINGTON (September 23, 2010) — The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has named Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington to guide the incorporation of Anglican groups into the Catholic Church in the United States.
In this position, he is a delegate of the congregation and heads the U.S. bishops’ ad hoc committee charged with assisting CDF in implementing the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. Pope Benedict XVI issued the document in November 2009 to provide for establishing personal ordinariates for Anglican groups who seek to enter corporately into full communion with the Catholic Church.
The personal ordinariate is a canonical structure similar to a diocese that covers the area of a bishops’ conference. This permits the incoming Anglicans to be part of the Catholic Church while maintaining aspects of their Anglican heritage and liturgical practice.
Other members of the ad hoc committee are Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth, Texas, and Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts. The committee will be assisted by Father Scott Hurd, who was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1993, joined the Catholic Church in 1996, and was ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2000. Father Hurd will assist Archbishop Wuerl as staff to the ad hoc committee and a liaison to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Interested Anglicans are asked to contact Archbishop Wuerl through the Washington Archdiocese.
The ad hoc committee has two tasks:
1. To facilitate the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States
2. To assess the level of interest in such an ordinariate in the United States.
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This means a grown-up is in charge. People who want to get to know Wuerl better should consult his "Teaching of Christ" catechism. An earlier edition helped lead me into the Church a long time ago.
Why are you 'Disgusted in DC'? Love "The Teaching of Christ" catechism. I think it's the best one out there for introducing people to Christ and the Church.
"Disgusted" is a handle I've used for almost two years. But, lest I give a wrong impression, I'm definitely not disgusted about Wuerl!
His contact details are:
Archbishop of Washington:
Most Reverend Donald W. Wuerl, 301-853-4500
Secretary to the Archbishop: Rev. Adam Park, 301-853-4500
On the web for the Archdiocese of Washington is http://www.adw.org/contact/default.asp#archbishop
There doesn't seem to be an address to the Archbishop's office and the three listed aren't on his committee, so some clarification is needed as what to do. Perhaps Father Scott Hurd's email address?
Brick by Brick
Might this announcement, coming within a week of Pope Benedict's historic visit to the UK, suggest that proceedings are beginning to gather pace?
Might this announcement… suggest that proceedings are beginning to gather pace?
Yes, the proceedings are gathering pace, but the Catholic Church makes haste slowly.
Sometimes, very slowly.
Please be patient. We will get there. It might even happen in our lifetimes!
Norm.
Hurray! What wonderful news! My headache is gone, and at last things are at least moving FORWARD.
I seek the opinions of readers here. I am a former Episcopalian, many years ago having entered into full communion with the Catholic Church and interested in membership in the Ordinariate. Would it be advisable for people like me to formally contact Archbishop Wuerl? On the one hand, I see groups not yet in communion as having priority. I wouldn't want individual requests gumming up the bureaucratic gears. On the other hand, perhaps the more interest shown, the faster the whole process will move. What would be the best course of action?
It would be advisable to formally contact Archbishop Wuerl in response to point number two above. God bless you on this historic opportunity you are participating in.
Note that the FIRST task is to facilitate the IMPLEMENTATION!
Alleluia!
As one myself I can say YES! Please contact him, one of his goals is to judge how many people want an Ordinariate. I'm planing on contacting him and I think you should to. As some one who has a LITTLE experince dealing with the curia, the more letters they get the quicker they tend to act. Now at last we have a person to send those letters too. God Bless,
Robbie Smith
You might want to write to them and express your interest (to help them better gauge the interest level and the demands that may be put on the ordinariate). You'll also probably have to hold your horses a little after that and give them some time to implement the provision. I imagine it could be kind of slow getting the ordinariate's up to full functionality.
This is wonderful news and something that all of us ACA, Anglican Use, Anglican converts to Catholicism and those of us in TEC and ACNA can rejoice in and rally around. Should we, especially those of us in TEC or ACNA, contact Archbishop Wuerl's office directly, or should we work through someone in our local diocese/archdiocese? Maybe someone from the Anglican Use Society has insight on this?
My suggestion is to contact Archbishop Wuerl's office directly. I think you'd probably confuse your local chancery officials if you went to them with this, and your expression of interest might not make it beyond that local office.
Yes I too would appreciate knowing what steps I need to take, as an individual who has already entered into communion with the Catholic Church. I do have hopes that there will be an Anglican Use parish in time that I can attend, but in the meantime I would like to be part of the Ordinariate.
I must say we of little faith have now had our prayers answered. I believe that the Holy Father was waiting until his visit to the United Kingdom was over before announcing this wonderful news. It took courage for him to visit countires where some wanted him arrested.
I give God thanks for giving us such a great Pope. He is very wise and has shown Anglicans such a generous gift.
What is interesting is that in the very near future Anglo Catholics will have three American Cardinals that are very much associated or have good track records with the Anglo-Catholic movement. That is current Cardinal DiNardo of Houston, former Archbishop of San Antonio Gomez who will soon be Archbishop of LA, and, of course, in the near future will be a Cardinal. As the now the Archbihop of D.C that sould get a cardinal's hat soon. That will be helpful.
I just got off the phone with the archbishop's office. They're a little perplexed right now. His secretary said she would get back to me tomorrow with a specific phone number to call or other contact method. I'll post that here just as soon as I have it.
This is get news. Unfortunately I got hit with a computer virus. I had Fr. Scotts email, face book, phone.
Contact Fr. Scott directly. He knows what is going on. I spoke with him several weeks ago. He told me this announcement would come out after the UK visit. Don't speak with the front desk, go straight to Fr. Scott. That would be my advice.
meant great….."get" that is what happens while holding a 2 month old lab puppy while attempting to type at the same time.
Glad to still have a keyboard!
It is also great that Bishop Vann of Ft. Worth is named — he is well known and respected by the Texas Anglo-Catholics.
Keep in mind that when Pope Benedict XVI was here in the US. The Archdiocese of Washington DC, under Wuerl's oversight, produced the worst NO Mass of the papal trip. I really want proof from him how devoted he is to ALL of the Holy Father's wishes. And that especially means liturgical ones!
I'm not too worried about that Bob, as Archbishop Wuerl is merely functioning as a temporary delegate. His job ends just as soon as the ordinary bishop is installed. I suspect he will be quite eager to pass on the responsibility when the time comes. In the mean time however, I have full confidence in his ability to coordinate and gather information.
Once there is an Ordinariate established and an Ordinary choosen, all issues will be decided by the Ordinary and the CDF, not the local Bishop. Of course the Ordinary will confer with the local Bishop and work within the Conference of Bishops, at least that is my understanding.
Also I don't think that Pope Benedict is going to let any Cardinal/Bishop stand in the way of his wishes on implementing the Ordinariates or how they are organized. He seems to be his own man.
To say I am happy to see the process moving forward is an understatement. I will be contacting Fr. Scott in the morning to let him, once again, know this REC priest is interested.
My next door neighbor, a sweet Catholic Lady who has been praying for my conversion for 17 years, called me to tell me. She was excited and hopes to be able to worship in an Anglican-Catholic Mass with me very soon. She saw Fr. Phillips video and fell in love with the liturgy.
Praise be the Name of the Lord.
Isn't it beautiful that the first Psalm of Vespers this evening is Psalm 132:
Ecce, quam bonum, et quam iucundum, habitare fratres in umun…
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity…
Gratia et pax,
"Doc"+
So true.
Praise be to God for prayers answered. I am so happy and content.
Great news! Since I am in Canada, I contacted Abp. Collins by email and received an encouraging reply the next morning. Things ARE moving, praise God.
Excellent news.
Well in a previous post that was made here, before Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Britain, I mentioned that after his visit things would begin to happen. Some were getting a little worried or impatient. And I'm glad that I was right!.
God Bless all of you Anglo-Catholics!!!. And welcome home!!. My prayers go out to each and everyone of you.
Great news ! I live in Denver and attend the only " High Church " Anglo Catholic parish allowed in Colorado by the Episcopal Church. How do my family and I swim the Tiber ? We are ready, heck my son attended a Jesuit High School.
Arthur,
Are there any others who feel the same way as you? If so you can gather them together and start a group with Evening Prayer. Although I am already Catholic, I converted when the Anglican Use in my area was denied. I still don't know if a parish will be established close enough for me to drive to, but I am going to write to Archbishop Wuerl asking to be part of the Ordinariate.
Hopefully once we have an Ordinariate and an Ordinary and parishes are a reality, others will want to find out what they are all about and AU parishes might start what I guess you could call a seed church.
Just keep praying as it has been many years since I converted and many prayers said before this great opportunity was given to us. Although I attend a Latin Rite parish, it is very traditional and although I can't convey in words the feeling of peace I have since becoming Catholic. There is a spirit of community, not in the social sense, that I had never felt in the Episcopal church. I guess I was always Catholic at heart so it is difficult for me to understand some of the fears of others. I can see why clergy have issues, because they might have to sacrifice much more than lay people. At least from what I have seen the Anglican Use priests although sacrificing to become Catholic priests have been blessed by their committment to God.
You are very fortuntate.
>> 1. Check out the mass at 6:30 PM at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Colfax Avenue. It's the Archbishop's stational mass, unless he's out of town, so it's about as "high church" anything as you'll ever find in Denver.
>> 2. At the end of the mass, express your wishes to +Charles Chaput, O. F. M., personally. He generally greets departing worshippers at the center rear door, near the baptismal font.
And Archbishop Charles is also a great preacher!
Norm.
Christian,
Would it be possible to keep this post and the contact information for Abp. Wuerl as the top post of this blog? I think I would have missed it if I didn't have the time to read through a few posts. This is fantastic news that should not get buried away.
If it is not possible to keep the post at the top, perhaps a link could be set up in the toolbar.
Many thanks.
Anthony in TX
Ask, and ye shall receive! See:
http://www.theanglocatholic.com/2010/09/as-we-move-forward/