Growth Poses Challenges for Friends of the Ordinariate

By Nicolas Ollivant, Trustee of the Friends of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

Date: 12 July 2012

The charity Friends of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is a year old this month – and its condition might fairly be described as “overwhelmed”. Chiefly it has been overwhelmed by the support and generosity it has received from ordinary Catholics, especially readers of the Catholic Herald. But it is also been overwhelmed by the staggering growth of the Ordinariate itself over the past year and the consequent spiralling of material needs among Ordinariate clergy.

In the course of the year we have been honoured by a visit from Rome by His Eminence William Cardinal Levada; invited into the Throne Room of His Grace the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols; hosted a gathering of some 50 Catholic priests and – most importantly – gathered prayers and donations from hundreds of Catholic well-wishers. Around a dozen of Britain’s leading Catholics, including the Duke of Norfolk, the Duchess of Somerset, Lord Nicholas Windsor, the Countess of Oxford and Asquith and Mr Charles Moore, have lent their support to the Friends by agreeing to become honorary Vice- Presidents.

The fact that we have survived, despite the usual difficulties faced by start-up charities, is due in no small part to the Catholic Herald which has consistently and magnanimously supported the charity through the placement of free advertising in its pages.

This support has allowed us to raise some £78,000 in one-off donations and around £4,000 per month in standing orders. With this money we have been able to make major grants to those Ordinariate clergy with no means to support themselves as well as giving smaller grants for items such as stocks for Holy Oil and banners for use during a pilgrimage to Rome.

The Friends of the Ordinariate is a lay-led initiative of Catholics which, though a separate charity from the Ordinariate itself, aims to support the Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, in all his activities. The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established in January 2011 by Pope Benedict to provide the means for Anglicans to enter into the full communion with the Catholic Church in a corporate manner while retaining much of their Anglican heritage.

However, the donations received to date, given the scale of the requirements, are little more than a drop in the ocean. The chief problem – though I would call it a challenge – is that there are so many priests to support, with more on the way. There are now around 80 priests in the Ordinariate – similar in size to some of the smaller Catholic dioceses in England and Wales – but there are only around 1,250 registered lay members of the Ordinariate to support them. Despite the heroically generous contributions being made by some of the Ordinariate members, the sums simply don’t add up. If the Ordinariate is to survive, support must come from the wider Catholic community.

The Holy Father himself has led the way. In May this year he gave a personal donation of $250,000 to the Ordinariate. The Bishops of England and Wales were, of course, most generous when the Ordinariate was founded by giving a grant of £250,000. But such one-off donations are dwarfed by the requirement for upwards of £1 million a year in regular, predictable, income.

The Friends of the Ordinariate has not to date been successful in raising anything like this sum. This is why we join our voice with that of the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, in urging Catholics who share our Holy Father’s vision “to lend their spiritual and material support to the Ordinariate, especially in these early days”. In particular the Ordinariate needs Catholics to give on a regular and planned basis, ideally through a standing order.

At the same time it is becoming clear that a significant increase in income is required. The recent decision of the Charity Commissioners that a major donation from a religious charity to the Ordinariate was made ultra vires makes the need for raising funds even more urgent. One way of achieving this would be for an annual collection in all Catholic churches in England and Wales to be granted. Such a collection, perhaps around the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, would transform the finances and viability of the Ordinariate. This is admittedly a “big ask” from our Bishops who have so many funding requests of their own to meet. However, I would argue that the foundation of the Ordinariate is in a special category. It represents a vital turning point in the spiritual history of this country. Surely such a prophetic and personal gesture by the Holy Father in Rome to the English and Welsh Church is worth an annual collection among all Catholics?

I would make a further appeal to the Catholic faithful. The fund-raising initiatives of the Friends of the Ordinariate are severely constrained by a general misunderstanding among Catholics about the nature and status of the Ordinariate. We are still regularly asked if Ordinariate priests are “real Catholic priests” or whether Catholics fulfil their Sunday obligation by attending an Ordinariate Mass.

To clear away this fog of misunderstanding, the Ordinariate with the Catholic Truth Society recently published a pamphlet on the nature of the Ordinariate. Even so, much more information is required about this remarkable gesture from Pope Benedict. Could you host a talk in your parish or a question-and-answer session with an Ordinariate priest? The Friends will pass on your requests to the Ordinary.

Finally there is the question of church buildings, ideally a church in central London which would serve as the visible and material heart of the Ordinariate. This is, of course, a matter for the Ordinariate itself rather than for the Friends but if such a building were to be found, the question of how to support it immediately arises. Some have argued that, given the overwhelming financial burdens already faced by the Ordinariate, it makes no sense to add to the problem by acquiring a building.

The alternative point of view, espoused by the Friends, is that without a Church to showcase the best of Anglican patrimony, the Ordinariate itself is unlikely to thrive and prosper. Our fellow Ordinariates in the USA and Australia already have their own church buildings and this is proving a great benefit to them and to the wider Church in the task of the new evangelisation.

So we hope that a church can be acquired and, if that happens, the Friends will re-double their efforts to ensure financial support but support on the scale required will necessarily have to come from the entire Catholic Church in England and Wales. As a first step towards realising this ecumenical vision of Pope Benedict, we would ask you to become a Friend of the Ordinariate by completing the printed form in this newspaper.

Would anyone interested in learning more about the Friends of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham please go to: www.ordinariate.org.uk and follow the link to the Friends. To arrange a talk or a visit please write to: [email protected]