THE P RTAL
January 2017 Page 3
Portal Comment
The Ordinariate , The Ordinary and The Portal
Will Burton looks back , then forwards
Wikipedia
If you seek the Ordinariate in a search engine , you may find yourself directed to Wikipedia where you will be informed that :
“ The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales is a personal Ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church immediately subject to the Holy See within the territory of the Catholic Bishops ’ Conference of England and Wales , of which its ordinary is a member , and encompassing Scotland also .[ 3 ] It was established on 15 January 2011 for groups of former Anglicans in England and Wales in accordance with the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus of Pope Benedict XVI .
“ The personal Ordinariate is set up in such a way that “ corporate reunion ” of former Anglicans with the Catholic Church is possible while also preserving elements of a “ distinctive Anglican patrimony ”. The Ordinariate was placed under the title of Our Lady of Walsingham and under the patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman , a former Anglican himself .”
Our Ordinary
Tuesday 17th January 2017 will be the Ordinariate ’ s sixth anniversary ; surely a cause for rejoicing ? Elsewhere in this edition of The Portal you will find an article by our Ordinary , The Right Revd Mgr Keith Newton . In his article , the Ordinary looks at where we have come from , where we are , and where we are going . He stresses the Ecumenical aspect of the Ordinariates , calling us to “ Realised Ecumenism ”. He stresses that we are united , but not absorbed , and different . We have our own liturgy for example . But , he also directs our thoughts to evangelism and a particular style of pastoral care . It would be dangerous were our only difference to be liturgical .
The Portal
The Portal arrived that same month in 2017 , but on the 1st ; another cause for celebration . In that
time we have published on the 1st of the month , every month . Our circulation continues to grow , as does our readership . At the time of writing we are averaging a circulation of around 7,000 .
Given that many of you download The Portal for members to your family to read , and The Portal is printed by parishes , not only up and down the UK for those at church without internet access to read , but around the world as well : our readership must be well in excess of that 7,000 : maybe as many as 28,000 !
About 70 % of our circulation is in the UK , around 10 % in North America and rather less than 5 % in Australia . The rest is distributed in every continent and almost every country of the world . As the editor of one of the national Catholic journals said recently , “ You have managed to create a catholic theological journal for the theologically unschooled , but from an Ordinariate point of view .” He meant , of course , that The Portal is for the laity rather than the clergy . Nevertheless , it is high praise indeed and we are grateful to him , and to you , our readers .
We do not wish to rest on our laurels . We have exciting plans for the future which include at least one new columnist , as well as our usual series of interviews and visits , but to new places and with new interviewees .
Every month , we look forward to receiving your letters . Sadly , we do not receive enough of them . Whether you have something positive or something negative to say ; do say it in a letter to us . We shall do our best to publish it .
We also welcome unsolicited articles . But before you write , look at our web site ( www . portalmag . co . uk ) where under “ Resources ” you will find advice for would-be authors .
Wherever you are , all of us at The Portal wish you all a very Happy New Year . . . and we look forward to reading your letters , and your articles throughout 2017 .