VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The third ordinariate for Anglicans seeking communion with Rome will be established next month in Australia.
The June 15 launch of the Australia ordinariate was announced Friday by the president of the Australian bishops, Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne.
This ordinariate follows one established in the United Kingdom in January of 2011, and one in the United States in January of this year.
Benedict XVI’s 2009 apostolic constitution «Anglicanorum Coetibus» offered a way for groups of Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church through the establishment of these personal ordinariates, a new type of canonical structure.
A statement from the Australian bishops said they have «already put in place procedures to enable clergy and lay church members to join the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate.»
“I am confident that those former Anglicans who have made a journey in faith that has led them to the Catholic Church will find a ready welcome,» Archbishop Hart said.
This new community will be known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross under the patronage of St Augustine of Canterbury.
