The Ordinariate

At Our Lady of the Atonement Parish, we are faithful to the magisterium. We are in communion with the Roman Catholic Church and follow its teachings.

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter is equivalent to a diocese. It was created by the Vatican in 2012 for people nurtured in the Anglican tradition who wish to become Catholic. This Ordinariate was founded to serve Roman Catholics across the U.S. and Canada. It is the first diocese of its kind in North America.

The Ordinariate is based out of Houston, Texas, and has more than 40 Roman Catholic parishes and communities across the U.S., and Canada.

The Ordinariate was created to provide a path for groups of Anglicans to become fully Roman Catholic, while retaining elements of their worship traditions and spiritual heritage in their union with the Catholic Church. The Ordinariate is a key ecumenical venture exemplifying the Second Vatican Council’s vision for Christian unity, in which diverse expressions of one faith are joined together in the Church.

The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was established in response to repeated and persistent inquiries from Anglicans who over time, have come to identify the Catholic Church as their home. Those joining the Ordinariate have discerned they are truly Catholic in what they believe and desire full membership in the Catholic Church.

Parishes and communities which belong to the Ordinariate are fully Roman Catholic, but retain elements of Anglican traditions in their liturgy, hospitality, and ministries. There are three Personal Ordinariates in the world. Our Lady of Walsingham is located in the United Kingdom, the Chair of Saint Peter is in the U.S. and Canada, and Our Lady of the Southern Cross is in Australia.

In the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis redintegatio), the Catholic Church specified what it would look like to bring their own distinctive traditions to the Catholic Church, they would not be suppressed or absorbed. The Vatican’s remarkable ecumenical gesture in establishing the Ordinariates affirms the Catholic Church’s view that the patrimony of differing Christian spiritualties and liturgies is a treasure meant to be shared within the Catholic tradition.

Called to be gracious instruments of Christian unity, members of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter are led by a bishop who is appointed by the Pope. Bishop Steven J. Lopes is the first bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Like other bishops in the U.S., and Canada, the bishop serves under the direct authority of the Pope to build up the Catholic Church through mutual mission and ministry. The bishop is a full member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.