Here to Stay

A former Episcopalian who had converted and joined the Catholic Church years ago, once said to me that he did not want to join the Ordinariate. That was fine, no one is required to join. He said it was because the Ordinariate was just a silly experiment and was not going to last. Yes, some Ordinariate parishes do not thrive and they end up folding. Yet, those are a significant minority. The fact that all three Ordinariates (England, Australia, and America/Canada) have their own Bishops, and are growing (especially the American/Canadian one) says that we are here to stay.

Nine years in and little St. George parish is a picture of the US Ordinariate as a whole (which is thirteen years old). We may not be the biggest parish around, and the Ordinariate may not be the biggest diocese in the USA, but we have grown and are stable and secure. In fact, our little parish has grown significantly over the past few years. We are now needing to build a larger church as we have already outgrown the one we bought just a few years ago. We are thriving and active; God is blessing us in more ways than I can describe here.

This is no "experiment" and statistically the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is thriving more than the majority of dioceses in the USA; financially, numerically, and spiritually. For that matter, years ago the rules for membership in the Ordinariate were made more flexible, allowing any Catholic to join. That was an encouragement from Pope Francis, who, although not a friend of traditionalism, supported us in many ways. This action and others have showed that there was no doubt about our future. In fact, if Pope Benedict had seen us as an "experiment" then he would not have established us with an Apostolic Constitution (one of the highest documents a Pope can publish short of an ex cathedra infallible statement).

So, the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter here in the United States and Canada is here to stay. We are a force to be reckoned with and not to be ignored. Large numbers of converts to the Catholic faith are looking for the traditional faith and not modernist ideas from the 1960's. Many who grew up Catholic are finding that the modernist movement is the real "experiment" and it is failing drastically. They are leaving and looking for the historic faith; and when they find it active and thriving in the Ordinariate they quickly join. God is doing a powerful work of evangelism through us--in many Ordinariate parishes (including St. George) converts outnumber cradle Catholics! English Catholic practices are secure in the Ordinariate and we are practicing the faith the way our forefathers did for centuries before the protestant separation. Let us praise God for His wonderful works among men!