Catholic Herald: How Catholics can reclaim Britain

Source: Catholic Herald

Non-believers long for a spiritual truth which only the Church can provide. But to win souls we must focus on God and charity, not political arguments

A visible faith: last Sunday’s Corpus Christi procession through central London (Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)

British Catholicism is in an odd position. In terms of regular practice, it is a faith in decline. Mass attendance fell 30.7 per cent between 1993 and 2010, according to the Latin Mass Society. The number of Catholics peaked in 1993 and the number of priests in 1965.

British Catholicism is in an odd position. In terms of regular practice, it is a faith in decline. Mass attendance fell 30.7 per cent between 1993 and 2010, according to the Latin Mass Society. The number of Catholics peaked in 1993 and the number of priests in 1965.

Britain is and remains a country whose environment, institutions and modes of thought are still drawn in the main from the Christian tradition. This positions the Catholic Church well to win converts, yet this is something it does very badly. A recent analysis of data from the British Social Attitudes Survey found that for every one convert made by the Church in England and Wales, 10 cradle Catholics have been lost, while only 1.3 per cent of current Catholics have been converted either from no religion or a non-Christian faith.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, established in 2011 by Benedict XVI, has not seen the flood of converts from Anglicanism which many hoped for, and while the initiative responds to the decline of the Church of England, no similar initiative exists to draw home those in the Welsh Methodist churches or the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

CNA/EWTN News: Pope establishes Australian ordinariate for former Anglicans

Father Harry Entwistle and Pope Benedict XVI

Melbourne, Australia, (CNA/EWTN News).- On June 15 Pope Benedict officially erected the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross for Anglican groups and individuals who want to enter full communion with the Catholic Church.

Archbishop Dennis J. Hart of Melbourne, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, assured former Anglicans of “a warm welcome in the Catholic Church throughout Australia,” and offered his “respect and admiration” for the “gifts” that Anglicans bring.

“For them and for us, this is a very special moment on which we pray the blessings of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of Our Lady of the Southern Cross,” he said.

In an interesting twist, Pope Benedict named former Anglican bishop Harry Entwistle as the first ordinary of the group, making his appointment effective as soon as he was ordained a Catholic priest, which happened on June 15.

Archbishop Hart welcomed Fr. Entwistle, saying he and his people have “made a long journey.”

The ordinariate is a special church jurisdiction similar to a diocese. Pope Benedict XVI announced the ordinariates for former Anglicans in his November 2009 apostolic constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus.”

They allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while retaining aspects of their liturgy and customs.

In England and Wales: The CHURCH converts 2012

Contrary to what the Iglesia ni Cristo (a cult founded by Felix Manalo in the Philippines in 1914) circulated unfounded rumors among themselves, the Catholic Church-- which is the TRUE CHURCH OF CHRIST  according to their official magazine called PASUGO April 1966, p. 46, received many new converts to the Church during this Easter 2012. 

Over 3,500 adults received into the Church in England and Wales

Photo Source: Catholic Herald UK

UK, Catholic Herald UK - More than 3,500 adults were received into the Catholic Church in England and Wales last week.

They included 1,397 catechumens, who had prepared to be baptised, and 1,843 candidates, who had already baptised in another Christian tradition.

The largest numbers were in the dioceses of Westminster (734), Southwark (481), Brentwood (333), Birmingham (255) and Portsmouth (206). The total of 3,695 also included those who had joined the ordinariate. Easter is the traditional time for reception of new members of the Church through the Rite of the Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA), the liturgical and catechetical process for adults joining the Church.

Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton, chairman of the Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said many of those who went through the RCIA said they first became interested in the Catholic Church through a family member or friend.