And why not? For all the talk of Anglican heritage, the people in the ordinariates are Roman Catholic converts with an Anglican flavor. The ordinariates were set up by Benedict to self-destruct and eventually merge into the main body of the church, but this move by Francis gives the ordinariates longer life. Baptized, but not yet confirmed? And must one have fallen away from the RCC to join the ordinariate? The rules seem strange to me. The whole concept of the ordinariates seems strange to me, but who am I to say?Pope Francis is letting baptized Catholics join the new church structure created to receive Anglican converts.
The "ordinariate," which functions like a diocese, was initially designed to enable Anglicans upset over the liberalizing trends of their church to join the Catholic Church while retaining some of their Anglican heritage.
More at The National Catholic Register.
Image from Wikipedia.
