The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady Walsingham was established on 15 January 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI in accordance with the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus to enable Anglicans to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church while retaining much of their heritage.
Monsignor Keith Newton, formerly the Anglican Bishop of Richborough, was named the first Ordinary and in March 2011 appointed a Protonotary Apostolic. Since the inception in 2011, a total of 106 other men have been ordained as Catholic priests in the British Ordinariate. Currently two men are in formation for the Catholic priesthood at Allen Hall and two other men have recently received permission from Rome to begin formation at Allen Hall in September. Three of these men are under 40. This is a record many a secular diocese would be proud of.
