Pope Benedict XVI has elevated three priests of
the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham to the rank of Chaplain of
His Holiness (Monsignor). Monsignor Edwin Barnes, Monsignor Robert Mercer, and
Monsignor David Silk, have all received the honour from the Holy Father,
recognising their former ministry as Anglican bishops. Mgr Barnes and Mgr Silk
were received and ordained via the Personal Ordinariate in 2011, whilst Mgr
Mercer was received and ordained in 2012.
The Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, said “By
establishing Personal Ordinariates, Pope Benedict is seeking to be generous in
making provision for those Anglicans who wish to come into the full communion of
the Catholic Church. In every possible way he has sought to recognise the
fruitful Anglican ministry which we undertook before entering the Catholic
Church; this honour for these three distinguished men is a further sign of our
Holy Father’s love and warmth toward this project”.
