900 Anglicans tentered Catholic Church at Easter

(April 26, 2011) In Britain, some 900 Anglicans, including 61 clergy, entered the Catholic Church this Easter as members of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The personal ordinariate is a new ecclesiastical structure, established by Pope Benedict XVI as a means of receiving those Anglicans who wish to enter the Catholic Church. The ordinariate allows Anglican communities to maintain their distinct liturgical and pastoral traditions, while being fully in communion with the Holy See .
Monsignor Andrew Burnham, one of three former Anglican bishops who were ordained to the Catholic priesthood in January, encouraged his flock saying that while this may be a small number to start with, there were even fewer Christians at the first Easter. “From those small beginnings," he affirmed. "Christianity moved from being a small sect to becoming the official religion of the known world. He prayed that groups of former Anglicans, may grow and flourish within the fertile soil of the Catholic Church. He said the growth of the Church lies in the contribution of each one of us.