Anglican Ordinariate Grows: Former Bishop Edwin Barnes Ordained Deacon

Though some of the ordinations of these Catholic priests are intentionally kept discreet, I will do all I can to keep the readers of Catholic Online up to date as Church history unfolds. The birth of the Anglican ordinariate marks an historic beginning of the coming full communion of the Church and the answer to the prayer of the Son of God "May they be One".

P>PORTSMOUTH, England (Catholic Online) - The Ordinariate Portal, the self described "one-stop site for news of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham" reported the good news on Friday  of the ordination to the Order of Deacon of the highly respected former Anglican Bishop Edwin Barnes. 

In former Bishop Barnes own words, "Today was very good. Bishop Crispian of Portmouth made us very welcome, and although there was only a handful of us in his private chapel for my ordination to the diaconate, we had some good music. For Our Lady of Lourdes, we'd chosen a bit of the Anglican Patrimony. We sang as an introit: Bishop Ken's "Her Virgin Eyes saw God Incarnate born", to Lawes' tune 'Farley Castle'. I was not the solitary deacon on parade; Stephen (good name for a Deacon) Morgan, who is finance secretary to the Diocese, propped me up and ensured I did not fall over my feet..

"Jane, formerly known as the Flying Buttress when I was a Flying Bishop, was also present but as ever wanted to take a back seat. She was eventually inveigled into a photograph. We had a very jolly lunch after the Ordination. Bishop Crispian is clearly keen to make the Ordinariate work in his diocese, and has given great encouragement to the three groups in his territory which are in process of formation. As he pointed out, my duty and that of my fellow priests is not to him but to our Ordinary, and he was only able to Ordain me because he had been asked to do so by Fr Keith Newton."

"For all that, he is doing everything he can to ensure that we are made welcome by all the catholic clergy and laity within his diocese. For ourselves, I must say Jane and I have felt a great warmth of affection and a welcome we could not possibly deserve. If anyone is holding back from the Ordinariate fearing that a clergy wife might not be welcome, please speak to Jane or any of the other bishops' or priests' wives who have made the journey. I hope that even after our local Anglicanorum group is running, I shall still be some use to priests and parishes in this southern part of Portsmouth diocese."

Deacon Barnes will be ordained to the Holy Priesthood in Portsmouth Cathedral on Saturday 5th March 2011 at 2.30pm. He will serve the English Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a part of the Catholic Church of England and Wales and the seed of a growing global response. 

The Ordinariate Portal also announced that former Anglican Bishop David Silk who, along with his wife Joyce has already been received into the full communion of the Catholic Church, will be ordained to the Diaconate on February 15, 2011 and then to the Holy Priesthood on February 18, 2011. Both ordinations will occur at Buckfast Abbey.

Both of these men were highly regarded in their ministry in the Anglican Communion. Their entry into the Catholic Church through the Anglican Ordinariate sends a strong signal to their Anglican brethren of the role the Ordinariate is playing in securing a place for, as it's name implies, "groups of Anglicans" who desire full communion with the Church while maintaining elements of their Anglican patrimony. Their ordination to the holy priesthood is a gift not only to the growing Anglican Ordinariate but to the Catholic Church around the world. It shows the fullness of legitimate diversity within orthodoxy (right doctrine) and orthopraxy (right practice).

I will continue to report on the growth of this wonderful gift to the Catholic Church. Though some of the ordinations of these Catholic priests are intentionally kept discreet, I will do all I can to keep the readers of Catholic Online up to date as Church history unfolds. The birth of the Anglican ordinariate marks an historic beginning of the coming full communion of the Church and the answer to the prayer of the Son of God "May they be One". (John 17:21)

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