(The photograph and following excerpt is a wonderful example of various Christian denominations which are now coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. It is certainly a clear sign of God's unfolding plan to move forward with Christian Unity. -Loci B. Lenar)
By Randy Sly
St. John the Evangelist to Join the Anglican Ordinariate
"We accept, unreservedly and with humility and gratitude, the invitation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church through the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus in a corporate manner. " (From the motion voted upon by the parish)
WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - On November 21, 2010 the members of St. John the Evangelist parish in Calgary, Alberta, Canada voted 90 percent in favor of joining the Roman Catholic Church.
The vote ended a nearly nine-month period of exploration and discernment by the Rector and Vestry authorized at the Annual Parochial Meeting in February.
The preamble to the motion set before the parish stated, "On 16th February 1993 the Rector, Wardens and Vestry of the Parish of St John the Evangelist, Calgary adopted a Mission Statement which committed us to 'faithfulness to Scripture and Holy Tradition . . . based on traditional classical Anglicanism,' the faith of which was to be expressed in 'living traditional Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book worship.'
"While holding firm to these principles ever since, theological, ecclesiological and sacramental developments within the Anglican Communion over nearly forty years have led us, as a Parish, walking, in peace and in love, a different path from that of the Anglican Church of Canada as it now stands."
The motion stated, "We accept, unreservedly and with humility and gratitude, the invitation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church through the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus in a corporate manner.
The Rector, Fr. Lee Kenyon, told the Calgary Herald that this was not a reactionary move. "We didn't vote to leave the Anglican Church of Canada," he stated. "We voted to accept the invitation of the Pope."
Kenyon, who is married and has two children, will be ordained as a Catholic priest through the Ordinariate.
Read More: Catholic Invitation
