Archbishop Wuerl named US contact for Anglican groups seeking to become Catholic

Washington D.C.,(CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop of Washington Donald Wuerl will guide the incorporation of interested Anglican groups into the Catholic Church in the United States under the apostolic constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus,” a Vatican congregation has announced.



Archbishop Wuerl of Washington
kisses the ring of Pope Benedict XVI
as a sign of respect and obedience.
(Photo Source: Splendor of the Church)

 The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has named the archbishop as its delegate in this position, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) reports. Archbishop Wuerl also heads the U.S. bishops’ ad hoc committee that is assisting the CDF in implementing the apostolic constitution, which Pope Benedict XVI issued in November 2009.

“Anglicanorum Coetibus” is intended to provide for the establishment of personal ordinariates for Anglican groups who seek to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church as a group.

An ordinariate is a special type of jurisdiction under church law. It is a canonical structure similar to a diocese that covers the area of a bishops’ conference. The Anglican ordinariate allows Anglicans to be part of the Catholic Church while maintaining aspects of their Anglican heritage and liturgy.

Other members of the ad hoc committee are Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth, Texas and Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts.

The committee is assisted by Fr. Scott Hurd. He was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1993, joined the Catholic Church in 1996, and was ordained a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 2000.

Fr. Hurd will assist Archbishop Wuerl and will be a liaison to the USCCB.

The two tasks of the ad hoc committee are to facilitate the implementation of “Anglicanorum Coetibus” in the U.S. and to assess the level of interest in an Anglican Ordinariate in the United States.

The USCCB says that interested Anglicans are asked to contact Archbishop Wuerl through the Archdiocese of Washington.