Vatican newspaper pays tribute to growth of US ordinariate

L’Osservatore Romano has published a brief article paying tribute to the growth of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, the ecclesial structure established by Pope Benedict on January 1 for Anglican communities in the United States that seek to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, the Ordinary, told the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in November that the ordinariate now has 23 incardinated priests, eight pending ordinations, 69 aspirants for holy orders, and 35 Anglican communities in various stages of the process of entering into full communion with the Church. 

An anonymous donor has purchased a $5 million, five-acre property adjacent to an ordinariate church in Houston as the ordinariate’s future headquarters.