The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is a diocese-like structure within the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales.

This new structure within the Catholic Church is a generous and pioneering attempt to heal the division between Anglicans and Catholics. 

It enables Anglicans to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church whilst preserving elements of our liturgical, spiritual and pastoral heritage.

Our mission

We exist to enable the return of Anglicans to the Catholic faith and the evangelisation of England, Wales and Scotland.

We are the pathway into the Catholic Faith for Anglicans, a missionary outfit for evangelisation and a network for pastoral accompaniment of the faithful.

We are fully Catholic and retain our Anglican tradition

Fully Catholic

The Ordinariate was established on 15 January 2011 as a direct result of the Apostolic Constitution, ‘Anglicanorum coetibus’ issued by Pope Benedict XVI. As members of the Ordinariate, we rejoice in the full peace of knowing that we are in full communion with the Catholic Church. Members of the Ordinariate are no longer part of any other communion, such as the Anglican Communion.

Anglican Tradition

The members of the Ordinariate bring gifts to the Catholic Church for mutual enrichment, between those baptised and nurtured in the Anglican tradition and the Catholic Church.

Anglican patrimony can be understood to be those elements of the Anglican tradition which have sustained and nurtured the faith of those in the Ordinariate. This includes spiritual writings, prayers and music, as well as those pastoral practices distinctive to the Anglican tradition.

So, for the first time in its history, Anglican services, such as Evensong, are now being celebrated in the Catholic Church by canonically recognised groups of former Anglicans.