Almost a year after being appointed to shepherd Anglican communities
seeking to join the Catholic Church, Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson says
the past months have been showered with blessings.
“I think the real joys have been to see communities that have
struggled with the decision of discerning whether to become Catholic and
have made that choice, and they have come in,” he told CNA in a
November interview.
He described “the joy on their faces” as they enter the Catholic
Church and said, “That’s the thing that sticks in my mind the most.”
Msgr. Steenson leads the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St.
Peter, which was canonically erected on Jan. 1, 2012. Pope Benedict XVI
approved the creation of the ordinariate, which is similar to a diocese
but includes communities throughout the entire U.S. and Canada.
Based in Houston, the ordinariate allows for entire communities to
enter into full communion with the Catholic Church while retaining
elements of their Anglican heritage and liturgical practices, such as
the Book of Common Prayer.
As of Nov. 1, the ordinariate included 1,336 members. It contains 23
priests, 69 seminarians and 35 communities, including large groups in
Texas, Maryland, Florida and Pennsylvania.
A former Episcopal bishop, Msgr. Steenson and his wife entered the
Catholic Church in 2007, and he was ordained a Catholic priest in 2009.
He holds a doctorate in patristics – the study of the Early Church
Fathers – from Oxford University and played an important role in
designing the formation program for former Anglican priests who seek to
be ordained under the new ordinariate.
Because he is married, Msgr. Steenson cannot be a bishop. Instead,
he is an “ordinary,” who carries all the authority of a bishop except
that of being able to ordain priests.
The past year has brought both joys and challenges for the new
ordinariate. Msgr. Steenson said that he has to be “very patient with
people because this is a big, life-changing decision for them,” and for
some people, “all of their mind isn’t really there at the same time.”
“Sometimes people think that it’s a very simple matter to become a
Catholic, that it’s like changing your uniform,” he reflected. “That’s
not the way it is. It requires a profound transformation at so many
levels.”
“It’s challenging, because not everybody sees that right away in the middle of this,” he explained.
It is also important to ensure that those who are entering the
Church “are genuinely becoming Catholic and not just running away from
something,” he said, adding that the ordinariate cannot simply be a
“refugee community.”
Among those who have chosen to become members of the ordinariate,
Msgr. Steenson has seen a common understanding that “we need Peter.”
“I think they’re very grateful, too, to the Catholic Church for
making it possible for them to continue with a tradition of prayer and
worship that they’ve known all along,” he said, noting that some people
who had previously converted and found themselves missing “the prayers
that shaped their lives” are now joining ordinariate communities.
Over the past year, Msgr. Steenson has found great encouragement in
the “incredible support” of American Catholics, particularly the U.S.
bishops.
“We’re small, we’re starting modestly, and yet the excitement and
the support from people have been really, really great,” he said.
He described how numerous diocesan bishops have “gone way beyond the
call of duty,” helping to fund initial assessments and health insurance
for some men in the ordinariate priesthood and finding positions for
them during their transition period.
In addition, Msgr. Steenson said that he has begun to develop a deep friendship with the bishops.
“It’s really quite astonishing how welcoming they’ve been,” he said. “I feel it’s home for me now.”
The current Year of Faith is a special blessing for members of the
ordinariate, Msgr. Steenson said. During the year, which runs Oct. 11,
2012 – Nov. 24, 2013, the Holy Father is encouraging Catholics to grow
in their faith through prayer and study of Vatican II and the catechism.
Msgr. Steenson explained that the catechism “has been our textbook.”
He hopes that both clergy and laity in the ordinariate will come to
know the catechism cover-to-cover and recognize it as an incredible
resource as they move forward in their new faith.
Even before his conversion, Msgr. Steenson said that he had been
using the Catholic catechism. He recalled his time as an Episcopal
priest in the 1990s, feeling lost and wondering where he could find the
resources to teach his people the faith. He was attracted by the rich
substance in the catechism, which he views as “an incredible
intellectual achievement.”
Looking forward, Msgr. Steenson hopes that the ordinariate will be
able to grow in its relationship with the rest of the Church and provide
“a real enrichment of Catholic life with this culture and patrimony.”
“We’re never going to lose our accent,” he said. “And in many
different ways, we’ll be able to bring that gift into Catholic life.”