Message of Cardinal Levada on ordination of former Anglicans
Message of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith His Eminence
Cardinal William Levada, read at Westminster Cathedral 15 January 2011 My Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The Ordination to the Priesthood of our three friends,
Andrew Burnham, John Broadhurst and Keith Newton, is an occasion of great joy both
for them and for the wider Church. I had very much wished to be present with you in
Westminster Cathedral today in order to demonstrate my own personal support for them
as they make this important step. Unfortunately, however, a long standing commitment
of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to meet with the Bishops and theologians
of India in Bangalore has meant that I am unable to be in London today. I am very
happy, therefore, to have the opportunity of sending this message and am grateful
to Archbishop Nichols for agreeing to represent me and for his willingness to deliver
my best wishes. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has today published
a Decree erecting the first Personal Ordinariate for groups of Anglican faithful and
their pastors wishing to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. This
new Ordinariate, established within the territory of England and Wales, will be known
as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and will be placed under the
patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman. Its establishment, which marks a unique and
historic moment in the life of the Catholic Community in this country, is the first
fruit of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, issued by Pope Benedict
XVI on 4 November 2009. It is my fervent hope that, by enabling what the Holy Father
calls "a mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies", the
Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will bring great blessings not only on those
directly involved in it, but upon the whole Church. Also today the Holy Father
has nominated Reverend Keith Newton as the first Ordinary of this Personal Ordinanate.
Together with Reverend Burnham and Reverend Broadhurst, Keith Newton will oversee
the catechetical preparation of the first groups of Anglicans in England and Wales
who will be received into the Catholic Church together with their pastors at Easter,
and will accompany the clergy preparing for ordination to the Catholic priesthood
around Pentecost. I urge you all to assist the new Ordinary in the unique mission
which has been entrusted to him not only with your prayers but also with every practical
support. In conclusion, I offer my personal and heartfelt best wishes to these
three Catholic priests. I pray that God will abundantly bless them, and also those
other clergy and faithful who are preparing to join them in full communion with the
Catholic Church. In the midst of the uncertainty that every period of transition inevitably
brings I wish to assure you all of our admiration for you, and of our prayerful solidarity. At
an audience granted to me by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 January 2001, His Holiness asked
me to convey to you that he cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing upon the ordinandi
Andrew Burnham, John Broadhurst and Keith Newton, together with their wives and family
members and upon all other participants in this solemn rite. Entrusting you confidently
to the intercession of Our Lady of Walsingham, and to the intercession of the great
saints and martyrs of England and Wales, I am Yours sincerely in Christ, William
Cardinal Levada Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 15
January 2011