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Anglican Nuns Join The Catholic Church
By John Rossomando, For The Bulletin
A little over 450 years have passed since Elizabeth I renewed the Anglican Church’s separation from the Catholic Church in 1559, but a group of Episcopal nuns from Catonsville, Md. became the newest order of nuns in the Catholic Church Thursday.
The spiritual journey of the 10 sisters of the Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor who were received into the Catholic Church took place over the past seven years as the Episcopal Church tore itself apart in the wake of the consecration of an openly gay bishop.
The order traces its lineage to a society of nuns founded in England during the 19th century, and the sisters first came to the Baltimore area in 1872 and have been in their current location since 1917. They will continue to keep the 88 acres they have owned since then.
They wear full habits and maintain a rigorous daily prayer regimen, offer religious retreats and maintain a Scriptorium where they design inspirational cards for the faithful.
The sisters have worked with the poor of Baltimore throughout their history, and part of their work has included reaching out to special-needs children and ministering to AIDS patients. In 1987, they co-founded a hospice called the Joseph Richey House in conjunction with a Baltimore Episcopal parish.
“For us, this is a journey of confirmation,” Mother Christina Christie told The Catholic Review, Baltimore’s archdiocesan newspaper. “We felt God was leading us in this direction for a long time.”
Prior to entering the Catholic Church, the nuns contemplated joining other churches or Anglican splinter groups, but when Mother Christina learned the other sisters had been independently contemplating entering the Catholic Church, she and the other sisters saw it as a sign from God.
“People who did not know us looked at us as if we were in agreement with what had been going on [in the Episcopal Church]; by staying put and not doing anything we were sending a message that was not correct,” Mother Christina said.
As a result, they decided to reach out to the archbishop of Baltimore, Edwin F. O’Brien, and seek to be received into the Church.
The nuns were received into the Catholic Church during a Thursday Mass presided over by Archbishop O’Brien. The sisters also received the sacrament of confirmation and renewed their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience during the Mass.
They range in ages from 59 to 94, and two sisters who decided to remain Episcopal will continue living and ministering with the rest of their newly Catholic sisters. The order hopes to form the first “diocesan institute” in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
“A diocesan institute is an institute of religious men and women who take vows and live in community, and they are overseen directly by the diocesan bishop,” said Dr. Diane Barr, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. “The have a special relationship with the bishop.”
The sisters studied Catholic teaching for two years prior to making the jump and underwent a process similar to what the Catholic Church calls the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in preparation.
Their chaplain, Fr. Warren Tanghe, was also received into the Church and plans to seek ordination as a Catholic priest.
They also hope to be granted permission to use the Anglican Use ─ an approved variant of the Latin rite that uses prayers from the Anglican tradition ─ in addition to the form of Mass known by most Catholics.
According to the Catholic Review, 10 archdiocesan priests, including an auxiliary bishop have expressed an interest in learning how to say the Anglican-Use Mass.
With Vatican approval, they hope to retain their name and be referred to in the Catholic Church as the Society of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor.
The spiritual journey of the 10 sisters of the Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor who were received into the Catholic Church took place over the past seven years as the Episcopal Church tore itself apart in the wake of the consecration of an openly gay bishop.
The order traces its lineage to a society of nuns founded in England during the 19th century, and the sisters first came to the Baltimore area in 1872 and have been in their current location since 1917. They will continue to keep the 88 acres they have owned since then.
They wear full habits and maintain a rigorous daily prayer regimen, offer religious retreats and maintain a Scriptorium where they design inspirational cards for the faithful.
The sisters have worked with the poor of Baltimore throughout their history, and part of their work has included reaching out to special-needs children and ministering to AIDS patients. In 1987, they co-founded a hospice called the Joseph Richey House in conjunction with a Baltimore Episcopal parish.
“For us, this is a journey of confirmation,” Mother Christina Christie told The Catholic Review, Baltimore’s archdiocesan newspaper. “We felt God was leading us in this direction for a long time.”
Prior to entering the Catholic Church, the nuns contemplated joining other churches or Anglican splinter groups, but when Mother Christina learned the other sisters had been independently contemplating entering the Catholic Church, she and the other sisters saw it as a sign from God.
“People who did not know us looked at us as if we were in agreement with what had been going on [in the Episcopal Church]; by staying put and not doing anything we were sending a message that was not correct,” Mother Christina said.
As a result, they decided to reach out to the archbishop of Baltimore, Edwin F. O’Brien, and seek to be received into the Church.
The nuns were received into the Catholic Church during a Thursday Mass presided over by Archbishop O’Brien. The sisters also received the sacrament of confirmation and renewed their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience during the Mass.
They range in ages from 59 to 94, and two sisters who decided to remain Episcopal will continue living and ministering with the rest of their newly Catholic sisters. The order hopes to form the first “diocesan institute” in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
“A diocesan institute is an institute of religious men and women who take vows and live in community, and they are overseen directly by the diocesan bishop,” said Dr. Diane Barr, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. “The have a special relationship with the bishop.”
The sisters studied Catholic teaching for two years prior to making the jump and underwent a process similar to what the Catholic Church calls the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in preparation.
Their chaplain, Fr. Warren Tanghe, was also received into the Church and plans to seek ordination as a Catholic priest.
They also hope to be granted permission to use the Anglican Use ─ an approved variant of the Latin rite that uses prayers from the Anglican tradition ─ in addition to the form of Mass known by most Catholics.
According to the Catholic Review, 10 archdiocesan priests, including an auxiliary bishop have expressed an interest in learning how to say the Anglican-Use Mass.
With Vatican approval, they hope to retain their name and be referred to in the Catholic Church as the Society of All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor.
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