News for Week Ending 1/2/2012

Vatican establishes U.S. ordinariate

The Vatican announced the establishment of an American ordinariate January 1, 2012, for Episcopal priests and congregations who want to become Roman Catholics while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage. The provision for such ordinariates was first announced in 2009. (See Pittsburgh Update story here.) The new ordianariate will be headquartered in Houston, Texas—its new Web site is here—and will be led by Jeffrey Steenson, the former Episcopal Bishop of Rio Grande who left The Episcopal Church to become Roman Catholic. Because he is married, Steenson cannot become a Roman Catholic bishop under Vatican rules. Details of the story can be found here.

Episcopal Church debuts new Web site

The Episcopal Church unveiled a redesigned Web site December 28, 2011. In a story from Episcopal News Service, the site is described as a “welcoming, eye-appealing, easy-to-navigate, experiential site.” The site is available at the same address as formerly, namely http://episcopalchurch.org. Comments on the new site can be made at http://episcopalchurch.org/contact.