Dear Friends,

Last month, I wrote about the WeBelieve Festival and explained why it was important for the Ordinariate to play a part in it. Now the Festival has happened, I want to say how good it was to have such a strong and diverse Ordinariate presence. WeBelieve provided a wonderful opportunity for Ordinariate members to meet one another and also to mix with other Catholics and to make the Ordinariate more widely known.

During the Festival, attendees participated in beautiful worship; rich teaching; and presentations and discussions on the proclamation of the gospel. At the heart of it all was the truth of our faith, that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has saved us and given us the promise of eternal life. That is the Good News that the Church exists to proclaim.

The launch of Joanna Bogle’s book on the beginnings of the Ordinariate, drew a good number of people and provided an opportunity not only to promote the book but also to say more about the Ordinariate as it has developed and to distribute copies of the recent document from the Holy See on our Anglican Heritage.

On the Sunday morning, I was privileged to be the principal celebrant at the main Mass, with thousands of worshippers in a big-top tent. On Sunday evening, we celebrated Evensong and Benediction in the seminary chapel; over 150 people were present and they came from across the wide range of groups and backgrounds at the festival. Using a rite that was clearly of Anglican Patrimony and hymns of the Anglican tradition, in a context that was clearly Catholic worship, the Ordinariate gathered those of diverse traditions to pray together as one Church.

I look forward to WeBelieve 2027 and I hope our presence will be even greater. Meanwhile, the joys of our faith, as experienced at WeBelieve, remain the joys of our faith in the communities in which we live. Big events set before us more clearly that to which we must bear witness locally. I pray that each of our Ordinariate communities will be more and more places where the Faith is taught; joy is glimpsed; and the Good News is proclaimed.

Finally, may I draw your attention to this year’s March for Life on Saturday 5th September. In the morning there will be a Mass at 10.30 in Westminster Cathedral. The March begins at 1.30. Experience shows that it is difficult for groups to keep together throughout the duration of the March, however, it is good if Ordinariate members and friends can gather and at least enter the march as a group. Therefore, I would request that those who wish to begin the March together, meet with me outside St Matthew’s Church in Great Peter Street at 1.10. I look forward to seeing many of you on the March.

In Christ

+ Bishop David