ROGERS — St. George Anglican Church in Rogers is in the process of entering the Catholic Church with its pastor, Father Bob Hall.
On Jan. 1, it was announced the Pope Benedict XVI established the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter for the United States to allow Anglican and Episcopal churches to enter the Catholic Church as a group while retaining much of their Anglican heritage and prayers. Father Jeffrey Steenson, a Catholic priest and former Episcopal bishop, was named the leader of the new ordinariate. Father Steenson will oversee the congregations and priests in the ordinariate, but because he is married he will not be ordained a bishop or allowed to ordain priests.
The small northwest Arkansas community of 23 people meets for Sunday Mass and Wednesday services in the chapel at Mercy Medical Center.
A year ago, Father Hall sent in his dossier as an Anglican priest to be approved for priesthood in the Catholic Church. His dossier, along with those of more than 100 other priests, was submitted to the office of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C., and the Vatican’s delegate for the establishment of the personal ordinariate in America.
Of those 100 dossiers, Father Hall and 66 others were approved by Cardinal Wuerl’s office and sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“That was our first hurdle,” Father Hall said. “Now I am waiting to overcome my second hurdle. I am waiting to receive my ’nulla osta,’ or the permission to move forward in this process of becoming a Catholic priest.”
Upon receiving the “nulla osta,” which means “no impediment,” each former Anglican priest will undergo psychological testing and a complete criminal background investigation as standard procedure.
Out of the 67 dossiers sent to the Vatican, some 35 have already been approved and the men will begin their formation to become Catholic priests in late January.
“This first wave, these initial 35 priests that have received their ’nulla osta,’ will be meeting in Houston at St. Mary’s Seminary to begin their formation as Catholic priests and they are to bring their wives.” Father Hall said.
As the wife of an Anglican priest, Patricia Hall said she feels it is necessary to keep moving forward in this process of entering the Church.
“I know other priests’ wives who are involved in this transition and all of them are eager and just waiting to help their husbands in parish work,” she said. “And we are really grateful to the pope for his acknowledgement of our return to the Church and for all of us to be in union together.”
For now, Father Hall and his wife are waiting to hear from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith about his approval.
“When Father (Scott) Hurd, Cardinal Wuerl’s assistant in Washington, receives my dossier, he will immediately issue a letter, telling me that I have received my nulla osta and that I am to contact my diocesan bishop, Bishop (Anthony B.) Taylor. It is at this time that Bishop Taylor will give his approval for us to move forward,” Father Hall said.
In the meantime, Father Hall said classes are now being held for parishioners before Sunday Mass and evening prayer on Wednesday to prepare them to enter the Church. Each Sunday, a video series on Church history is shown. These sessions were prepared by Dr. William Cook, a professor of medieval history at the State University of New York at Geneseo, N.Y., who converted to Catholicism in 1975.
The second program, presented Wednesday evenings, is the study of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church for Adults” that includes the Evangelium program prepared by the Catholic Truth Society in England.
In addition to these studies, Father Hall said, “We have also been working with our parishioners to see if they have any impediments that need to be resolved before joining the Church.”
