On Day One, The Ordinariate Spreads North

While the Vatican's announcement of the launch of the US' Anglican Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter takes top line today, a key sidebar of the news has freshly presented itself.

Over recent weeks, reports from Canada have hinted that the country's number of Anglican entrants "do not warrant" the establishment of a separate national jurisdiction.

Accordingly, while a letter from Bishop Douglas Crosby of Hamilton obtained by Whispers heralds the Ontario diocese's reception today of a "small group" of former Anglicans into full Catholic communion, the text goes on to indicate that, "in due time," the received group will "become part of the Personal Ordinariate that is being erected in the United States."

In other words, it seems the community of the Chair won't end at the 49th Parallel. To be sure, though, any extension of the Ordinariate's boundaries beyond the canonical territory of the US bishops (as stated in the CDF's founding decree) would require the provision of the Holy See.

Even at present, the continental reach wouldn't be unique -- some of the more recently-founded Eastern church eparchies which encompass the entire US likewise include the small groups of their faithful living in Canada.

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