The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter   

 On January 1, 2012, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established.  Equivalent to a diocese, the Ordinariate is composed of parishes, groups, religious communities, and individuals of the Anglican heritage gathered around the Ordinary, the Rev. Fr. Jeffrey N. Steenson.  He serves under the direct authority of the Pope, in partnership with the bishops of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to build up the Church through mutual mission and ministry while retaining elements of the Anglican patrimony.

The members of the Ordinariate include "those faithful, of every category or state of life, who originally having belonged to the Anglican Communion, and those of the continuing Anglican Churches will be in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, or who have received the sacraments of initation within the jurisdiction of the Ordinariate itself, or who are received into it because they are part of a family belonging to the Ordinariate."  Joining the new pilgrims may also be the clergy and people of the Anglican Use parishes who have been the pioneers in the noble work of living out the Anglican patrimony with the Roman Catholic Church.

The early days in the life of the Ordinariate will be full of exciting challenges and we ask your patience and prayers.  Please go to our new web site: usordinariate.org for more information.