Reid was ordained Jan. 26 and is the second bishop from the small traditional Anglican denomination to be ordained to serve in the Canadian Deanery of St. John the Baptist of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, a structure for former Anglicans erected Jan. 1, 2012. Fr. Peter Wilkinson, the former ACCC Metropolitan Bishop, was ordained in Victoria, B.C., on Dec. 8 last year and attended Reid’s ordination.
The Ordinariates are special structures set up by Pope Benedict XVI for groups of former Anglicans that allow them to preserve aspects of their patrimony, including an approved Anglican Use liturgy. Under the Pope’s apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, three Ordinariates have been established, in England and Wales, the United States and Canada, and Australia.
“Carl, my son, your life up to now has been one of profound commitment and witness,” said Prendergast at the opening of the ordination Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral Jan. 26. “Your formation and ministry within the Anglican tradition have provided you solid spiritual bedrock.
“Coming into communion with the Catholic Church through the Ordinariate, you bring with you the rich spiritual patrimony of the Anglican Church,” said Prendergast. “Now, your ministry of bridge-building extends to creating bonds of friendship and communion between the Catholic Church and ecclesial communities of the Anglican and other Christian traditions. We ask God’s blessing on you and your ministry.”
“Healthy Christian churches were never meant to be isolated and cut off from the main body of Catholic Christianity,” said Houston-based Ordinary Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, who preached at Reid’s ordination. “In this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity... it is surely right to emphasize this.”
Steenson is a former Episcopalian bishop and now a married Catholic priest.
Reid and Wilkinson brought their flocks into the Catholic Church on April 15 in Ottawa and Victoria, respectively. Several other groups in Oshawa, Vancouver, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and Edmonton followed. A group from Kitchener-Waterloo had entered the Catholic Church previously, as had a Calgary parish. There is also an Ordinariate group of former Anglicans worshipping in Toronto. Until their ordinations, priests from their respective diocese were celebrating Mass in these communities.
The Ordinariate now has 30 priests, 1,600 members and 36 communities across the United States and Canada.