October 15 - Ordinariate Use unites Anglican tradition to Catholic Church

The introduction of a new Ordinariate Use liturgy for groups of former Anglicans is uniting some of their old traditions to the fullness of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican office responsible for adapting parts of the Anglican liturgy for use in the Catholic Church “has had the task of the scribe, trained for the kingdom of heaven, the householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old,” said Monsignor Andrew Burnham. The monsignor serves as assistant to the ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

“We have had to examine just what it is in the Anglican liturgical books that can and should be brought fully into the life of the Catholic Church,” he explained during Mass on Oct. 10.

Established in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI, 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.