Pope Francis Confers Honors on Three Ordinariate Faithful

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
15 May A.D. 2020 Saint Isidore 

Pope Francis Confers Honors on Three Ordinariate Faithful
Ms. Laurie Miller, Mrs. Carolyn Barnett, and Deacon Jim Barnett receive the Benemerenti Medal
 
Dear Fathers and Deacons,
Dear Faithful of the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter,
 
Luke’s Gospel in chapter four recounts the moment when our Lord returned to his hometown of Nazareth, entered the synagogue, and read aloud the so-called jubilee commission from the prophet Isaiah. Rolling up the scroll, Jesus added: "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Lk 4:21).

This time of pandemic cannot dampen our joy as we continue our celebration of the 10 ^th anniversary of the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. This is our jubilee celebration for the Ordinariate, a graced time when we look back for all that God has accomplished in and through the Ordinariate in the past ten years; and in gratitude look forward with hope to all that still remains to be done. This celebration is a graced time for us, truly a year of the Lord’s favor. 

Today, part of our Jubilee gratitude to God has been fulfilled on our hearing! Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has already given concrete expression to our joy by granting the plenary indulgence for visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham throughout the year. Today it is my pleasure to announce that, at my request, he has gone one step further by giving concrete expression to our gratitude by honoring three people who have contributed mightily to this endeavor: Ms. Laurel Miller, Mrs. Carolyn Barnett, and Deacon James Barnett. He has conferred on each of them the Benemerenti Medal, honoring their life-long service to the Church and their particular union with the See of Peter. 
 
Please join me in offering sincere congratulations to our honorees, and in thanking them for their invaluable contribution to the vitality of our mission Diocese. The honors will be formally conferred at a celebration later in June at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston. If you wish to write directly to our honorees, notes to Laurie Miller can be sent to the Chancery and notes to Deacon & Mrs. Barnett to the Cathedral. 
 
Most Rev. Steven J. Lopes
Bishop

+++
 
Ms. Laurel Miller
 
Ms. Laurel Miller has spent her entire life in service to the Church. She taught for many years in Catholic elementary schools, supported the music program at her parish as a cantor, and was eventually hired by the Archdiocese of San Francisco initially to work in finance. After the retirement of Archbishop John Quinn and the appointment of Archbishop William Levada in 1995, she transitioned from the finance office to serve as administrative to the Archbishop, later as executive assistant. 
 
Laurie Miller served with distinction as executive assistant to three Archbishops. For a period of time she left the Archbishop’s Office to become director of the retirement home for priests in the Archdiocese. In February 2015, a conversation with Cardinal William Levada prompted her move to the Ordinariate chancery in Houston. The Cardinal has just dedicated the new chancery building and observed to Laurie that it was a beautiful building but without anyone with the chancery experience to develop its normal operating procedures and rhythms. This became her work for the past four years.
 
While she served all of the Archbishops and later the Bishop of the Ordinariate with distinction, particular note must be made of the devoted service she rendered to Archbishop George Niederauer. The Archbishop entered his final illness having outlived most of his family. For all intents and purposes, Laurie became his family and was even present with him when he died. The occasion of this honor is insufficient to describe the care, faith, and gentleness with which she tended him.
 
Deacon James and Carolyn Barnett
 
Well before becoming the Principal Church and then Cathedral of the Ordinariate, the Church of Our Lady of Walsingham was first established by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston as a Personal Parish of the Pastoral Provision of Pope St. John Paul II in 1983. The Pastoral Provision was the first attempt by the Holy See to provide for corporate union of Anglicans with the Catholic Church. Our Lady of Walsingham was formed out a group of such persons, and there is no doubt that James and Carolyn Barnett have been the leaders of the parish since its inception. 
 
From the inception of the parish, James Barnett was effectively the administrator of the parish, while his wife Carolyn oversaw the various preparations for the Sunday and weekday liturgies. Given his essential role in the parish, James was ordained a Permanent Deacon for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and would exercise ministry in that context until he incardinated into the Ordinariate in 2012. He organized the community, purchased the first piece of land for the parish, and oversaw the construction of the first parish church.

As a Deacon, James Barnett shifted much of his ministerial focus to the catechetical preparation of persons seeing full communion with the Catholic Church. He also developed a particular ministry to Catholics in need of regularizing their marital situation. This ministry he exercises in the wider Church of Houston beyond the parish itself. For her part, Carolyn oversaw the altar guild and the flower guild for over 30 years. She also produced for all of that time the weekly parish bulletin and materials used for Mass.