Pope Bestows Papal Honor on Canadian Ordinariate Priest

(Houston, TX) Monsignor Jeffrey N. Steenson, Ordinary of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, announced today that Pope Benedict XVI has named Reverend Peter Wilkinson of Victoria, British Columbia a Prelate of Honor. He will now have the title of Monsignor.

The surprise announcement was made by Msgr. Steenson during a symposium, The Mission of the Ordinariate. The event was sponsored by the Ordinariate and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, Texas to mark the Ordinariate’s first year.

Monsignor Wilkinson became Catholic in April 2012 and was ordained a Catholic priest on Dec. 8, 2012. He currently leads the Fellowship of Blessed John Henry Newman (www.blessedjohnhenrynewmanfellowship.ca), which holds Mass on Sundays at St. Columba, 40 High Street, View Royal, BC.

A native of British Columbia, Msgr. Wilkinson is the former Bishop Ordinary of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC). He was ordained a priest for the Anglican Church of Canada in 1965. In 1977, he joined the ACCC and in 1999 he was elected Suffragan Bishop. Six years later, in 2009, he became Bishop Ordinary.

Prelate of Honor is the second level of Monsignor. The first is Chaplain of His Holiness and the highest level, rarely given, is Protonotary Apostolic.

The Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established on Jan. 1, 2012 to welcome former Anglican groups and clergy seeking to become Catholic. While fully Catholic, ordinariate communities retain aspects of their Anglican heritage and traditions. The ordinariate includes 30 priests and 1,600 people in 36 communities across North America. Two other ordinariates exist: Our Lady of Walsingham in the United Kingdom and Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia.