The full text of the Vatican decree establishing the world’s first ordinariate was made public today.
Issued by Cardinal William Levada, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the document officially sets up the ordinariate as a structure which juridically resembles a diocese.
Pope Benedict XVI officially appointed Fr Keith Newton to be the Ordinary of the ordinariate on Saturday at his ordination Mass.
The decree of erection establishes that the Ordinary will sit on the bishops’ conference and has a right to vote, including on financial questions. When the ordinariate is up and running Fr Newton, together with his governing council, which must consist of at least six priests, can decide on further norms and governing rules for the ordinariate which then must be approved by the CDF.
