Do you enjoy a flutter? If so, it might be worth backing the former Episcopal Bishop of Rio Grande, Jeffrey Steenson, to become the first Ordinary of the US Anglican Ordinariate

Jeffrey Steenson as the Episcopal
Bishop of Rio Grande

It was announced by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington a few weeks ago that the American Anglican Ordinariate will be erected on 1 January 2012. Already, it seems that nearly 70 Episcopalian priests are planning on joining the US Ordinariate, whilst a few former bishops have also been tipped to join. Several Anglo-Catholic and Anglican Use parishes will also be expected to seek formal membership of the new Ordinariate once it has been created in just over a week's time. It appears, too, that a few Traditional Anglican Communion (Anglican Church in America) congregations are keen to join the new structure - which will allow all these Anglican groups to retain their patrimony whilst also entering into full communion with Rome.

Last night, Virtue Online (The Voice of Global Orthodox Anglicanism) confidently reported that the former Episcopal Bishop of Rio Grande, Jeffrey Steenson, is expected to be appointed the US Ordinariate's new Ordinary. Steenson is already a Catholic priest, having left the Episcopal Church four years ago - following an Anglican ministry that lasted over 24 years. He entered into full communion with the Catholic Church in December 2007 during a private ceremony celebrated by Cardinal Bernard Law in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore basilica. The former Episcopal bishop was subsequently ordained into the Catholic diaconate 12 months later, whilst Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe ordained him into the sacred priesthood in 2009. The Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe covers roughly the same area as the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande.

Since his ordination as a Catholic priest, Fr Steenson has been actively engaged in preparing for the erection of the US Anglican Ordinariate. He has been seen at several Anglican Use events and conferences, whilst he has also been helping Cardinal Wuerl to implement Anglicanorum Coetibus in the United States - a task that the Archbishop of Washington was asked to carry out by Pope Benedict XVI. In fact, Fr Jeffrey Steenson was actively present when Cardinal Wuerl announced the date chosen for the creation of the US Ordinariate.

It seems that a few recent leaks from inside the Vatican have confirmed that Steenson will most likely be appointed as the first Ordinary for the new US Anglican Ordinariate on 1 January 2012. Mary Anne Muller writing for Virtue Online states that she came into possession of a private communiqué late on Wednesday, which revealed that Steenson is being tipped for the Ordinariate's top post. It also seems that a second confidential source confirmed the contents of this communiqué, telling Mary Muller that: "Yes, Jeffrey Steenson will be the new Ordinary." Rumours have also been circulating on one or two blogs, all of which point to Jeffrey Steenson as the one most likely to be appointed the US Anglican Ordinariate's first Ordinary. Needless to say, Fr Steenson himself has not commented on these rumours - the ability to be discreet is a must for any prelate in the Church!

Fr Jeffrey Steenson was educated at Harvard Divinity School and also holds a doctorate from Oxford University. He currently resides in Houston, Texas, where he teaches at St Thomas University and St Mary's Seminary. In this capacity, it seems that Steenson has been instrumental in creating a tailored formation course for those Episcopal priests and bishops who will soon be seeking ordination as Catholic priests within the US Ordinariate. Considering his abilities as a Catholic priest as well as his vast experience as an Episcopal clergyman, it really does seem that Fr Jeffrey Steenson is more than suited to become the US Ordinariate's first leader. As a married man, though, Steenson - like Mgr Keith Newton of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham - will never be ordained to the episcopacy, even if he will have jurisdiction over the new canonical structure (if appointed Ordinary, of course). Although not a bishop, Jeffrey Steenson - if he does become the Ordinariate's Ordinary - will be allowed to wear the mitre, pectoral cross and ring.

I remember being at Westminster Cathedral on 1 January this year to witness three former Anglican bishops - including Keith Newton - being received into full communion with the Catholic Church. I was also at their ordination to the priesthood two weeks later. Both events, as well as the subsequent receptions of ordinary former Anglicans into full communion with Rome through membership of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, were extremely joyful and exciting for many within the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Sadly, though, since then it seems that things have slowed down considerably for the English Ordinariate. Of course, this was to be expected - especially after the initial rush. No excitement can or should last forever. Life's essential nitty-gritty work is often slow and boring.

Needless to say, then, the Catholic Church in America will probably find the next few weeks in its history to be very exciting ones indeed. One way of keeping the momentum going might be for the US Ordinariate to find itself a mother church as soon as possible. Not having a main Ordinariate church here in the UK seems to have added to the natural dampening of its exhilarating beginnings, and might even have caused second-wavers to think again about swimming the Tiber. Hopefully, if the US Ordinariate manages to find a church for its Ordinary without much fuss, the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham might then be given a boost in its own efforts to secure a mother church this side of the pond.

[Image: Jeffrey Steenson as the Episcopal Bishop of Rio Grande; source: The Black Cordelias]