B I S H O P O F H A M I L T O N
A letter from Bishop Crosby concerning Kitchener-Waterloo Anglicans received into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church
“For many years, groups of Anglicans repeatedly asked the Pope if it would be possible for them to become Catholics, while at the same time being allowed to keep their liturgical, musical, spiritual, and pastoral traditions, which had developed over the 500-year history of Anglicanism, and which they greatly valued. In November of 2009, in response to these requests, the Holy See, through the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus (“Groups of Anglicans”) and its accompanying norms, established a new structure within the Catholic Church to allow Anglicans who become Catholics to do just that.” (Archbishop Thomas Collins, Toronto)
Within our Diocese of Hamilton, a small group of Anglicans has been meeting in the Kitchener-Waterloo area since 1996 in a community know as St. Edmund’s Anglican Catholic Church. This group of Anglicans has indicated their desire to be received into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church under the terms of Anglicanorum Coetibus. For several months they have been preparing for this by prayer and a period of instruction based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
On January 1st, 2012, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, in the Cathedral of Christ the King, I, as Bishop of Hamilton, will receive these men and women into the Full Communion of the Catholic Church by the Profession of Faith and the Sacraments of Confirmation and Eucharist. The Mass will be celebrated according to the Anglican Use – a fully-authorized Catholic liturgy that maintains distinctive elements of the Anglican heritage of language, music, tradition and spirituality.
From January 1st, these newly-received will be known as the Sodality of St. Edmund King and Martyr, and will continue as an Anglican Use community within the Diocese of Hamilton. They will, in due time, become part of the Personal Ordinariate that is being erected in the United States. Until then, they will be served by Fr. William Foote as Chaplain.
As Catholics, the members of the Sodality of St. Edmund will be subject to the Code of Canon Law and will fully embrace the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. We welcome them into the Roman Catholic Church, pray for them, and invite them to pray for us.
Sincerely in Christ and Mary Immaculate,
(Most Rev.) Douglas Crosby, OMI
700 King St. West, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8P 1C7