Maryland Parish to Spearhead Anglican Ordinariate in US

Cardinal Donald Wuerl is overseeing the creation of a Personal Ordinariate in America

Saint Luke's Parish in Bladensburg, Maryland has announced its intention to be the first Episcopalian parish in the United States to come into communion with the Catholic Church since Pope Benedict permitted the establishment of national Anglican Ordinariates to acomodate former Anglican parishes seeking to enter the Catholic Church as a congregation.

The Saint Luke's community has obtained the permission of Episcopal Bishop John Chane of Washington to continue worshiping in their current church under a lease with an option to buy.  They are also working closely with the Catholic Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wuerl, who is overseeing the establishment of the Ordinariate in the United States.

In England, three bishops, sixty priests, and nearly one thousand lay people have already been received into the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate established in that country.  Ordinariates are also being formed in Canada and Australia.

Saint Luke's parish announced its historic decision on the parish website:

We Are Ordinariate Bound!

+Welcome to St. Luke's Ordinariate Catholic Community website! It is with great joy St. Luke's announces its intention to join the Personal Ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. We have been discerning the leading of the Holy Spirit since the Holy Father's announcement of Anglicanorum coetibus in October of 2009. Since that time we have been in close dialogue with both the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and the Archdiocese Washington.

Over the next few months the people of St. Luke's Ordinariate Catholic Community will undergo formal preparation to become Roman Catholics. This formal preparation will take place at St. Luke's primarily on Sunday's at 9:00am, and on Thursday evenings at 7:00pm. If you are interested in joining the people of St. Luke's on this journey you are encouraged and welcomed to attend.

We are deeply grateful to Cardinal Wuerl and to Bishop Chane for their support throughout this discernment. We look forward to continuing to worship in the Anglican tradition, while at the same time being in full communion with the Holy See of Peter.

These are exciting times! We will endeavor to keep you up to date with any information concerning our community and with the Ordinariate. Please browse through our website for the latest information.