First Anglican parish in US to join Ordinarate

St Luke's, Bladensburg, Maryland

The rector and parishioners of St Luke's Episcopal church in Bladensburg, Maryland has become one of the first Anglican communities in the United States to ask to join the Ordinariate, the Episcopal Diocese of Washington announced this week.

The statement says: "The transition is being made with the prayerful support of Bishop John Bryson Chane of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Catholic Archbishop of Washington."

Cardinal Wuerl is the Vatican's representative for the implementation of Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States. He said: "We welcome St Luke parishioners warmly into our family of faith. The proposed ordinariate provides a path to unity, one that recognizes our shared beliefs on matters of faith while also recognizing and respecting the liturgical heritage of the Anglican Church. We also recognize the openness of the community to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their faith journey."

Until an Ordinariate is established for the United States, St Luke's parish, which has approximately 100 parishioners, will come under the care of the Archdiocese of Washington.

"This was a transition achieved in a spirit of pastoral sensitivity and mutual respect," said Bishop Chane. "Christians move from one church to another with far greater frequency than in the past, sometimes as individuals, sometimes as groups. I was glad to be able to meet the spiritual needs of the people and priest of St Luke's in a way that respects the tradition and polity of both of our Churches."

Under the terms of a letter of agreement signed last week with the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, St Luke parishioners will continue to worship in their current church in Bladensburg. The agreement is a lease with a purchase option. Parishioners will begin preparations for reception into the Catholic Church later this year while Rev Mark Lewis, rector of St Luke's, begins the process to be ordained a Catholic priest.

The conversion helps "bridge and heal a wound that has existed between Rome and Anglicanism for nearly five hundred years," Rev Lewis, said on the parish website.

"I am deeply grateful to Cardinal Wuerl and to Bishop Chane for their support throughout this discernment. We look forward to continuing to worship in the Anglican tradition, while at the same time being in full communion with the Holy See of Peter," he said.

The first ordinariate was established in England in January 2011. Ordinariate parishes are fully Catholic, while retaining aspects of their Anglican heritage and liturgical tradition. This document and other material are online at www.adw.org.

Sources: RC and Episcopal Dioceses of Washington