First Bishop named for Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter
Monday, November 30, 2015
Pope Francis has named the Rev. Monsignor Steven J. Lopes, C.S.S., as the first Bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Although based in Texas, the Ordinariate includes communities in Canada. Pope Benedict XVI established the Ordinariate on January 1, 2012, to minister to groups of Anglicans and Anglican clergy in the United States who have entered into full communion with the Catholic Church in accordance with the norms of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. The same year, in December, after consulting the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Holy See extended the Ordinariate to include Canada.
The Rev. Msgr. Jeffrey N. Steenson, until now the Ordinary of the Ordinariate, becomes its Administrator until the episcopal ordination of Bishop-elect Lopes, scheduled for February 2, 2016, in Houston. The news of the appointment of Bishop-elect Lopes was published November 24, 2015.