Terminology

PRINT COMMON TERMS USED IN THE ORDINARIATE

Bishop

Bishops are named by the pope and by way of special ordination receive what the Church calls “the fullness of the priesthood.” Bishop is the highest order of ordained ministry in the Catholic Church.

Ordinariate

An ordinariate is similar to a diocese. However, a diocese is “territorial”: its members live in a specific geographic area. An ordinariate is “personal”: its members may live anywhere the ordinariate is authorized to function. They belong to the ordinariate because of a shared attribute — in the case of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, because they are Roman Catholics who retain elements of Anglican heritage in their celebration of Mass and in the hospitality and ministries of their parishes and communities.

Chair of St. Peter

This is a reference to the office of the apostle Peter, the first pope, and his successors. The chair of a bishop is placed in the mother church of a diocese and is a symbol of his authority and mission to tend to the people of God and keep them united in faith and charity. The Chair of St. Peter is a symbol of the mission of teacher and pastor conferred by Christ on Peter, and continued in an unbroken line through the present pope. The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter is celebrated Feb. 22 and commemorates St. Peter’s place as the servant-leader of the entire Church.

Anglicanorum coetibus

This is the apostolic constitution issued by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2009 that authorized the creation of “ordinariates.” Parishes and communities in these ordinariates are fully Roman Catholic, but retain elements of Anglican heritage and liturgy in their parishes. Pronounced “Anglican-orum CHAY-tee-boose.”

Divine Worship: The Missal

Divine Worship: The Missal is a new, definitive book of liturgical texts for the celebration of Mass in the Personal Ordinariates around the world. The missal uses Prayer Book English — language derived from the classic books of the Anglican tradition — that is fully Catholic in expression and content. The book was approved by the Vatican for use beginning the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, 2015. The formal establishment of a missal that uses the great poetic language of the Anglican heritage is a nod to the gift the Ordinariate communities are being asked to pass on to their members and to the entire Catholic Church. The missal is the fruit of receptive and realized ecumenism, representing the possibility of diversity of expressions within the unity of the Church’s faith.