Welcome to the web site of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross was erected by Pope Benedict XVI with a Decree of Erection, signed by William Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, on 15 June 2012. This was the third Personal Ordinariate to be erected for former Anglicans (after the United Kingdom and the United States of America / Canada).

Although our roots connect us to the Anglican heritage and ethos, it is not correct to refer to us as an “Anglican Ordinariate.” As is true for all three Ordinariates erected under Anglicanorum coetibus, the primary mission is that of evangelisation. We do not exist just for Anglicans who wish to become Catholic. With the expansion of the Complimentary Norms by Pope Francis, the mission is so broad that it encompasses any and all who will be coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. In addition, as “any Catholic may worship in any Catholic parish,” our doors are open to any and all within the Catholic Church.

As is so aptly described by our sister Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter (US and Canada), “With respect and gratitude for the Anglican heritage that nourished us, we seek to build bridges with all our brothers and sisters who are drawn to the Church, so that we might build up the one Body of Christ. 

“Our mission is particularly experienced in our celebration of liturgy, which features Anglican traditions of worship while conforming to Catholic doctrinal, sacramental and liturgical standards. Through Divine Worship: The Missal — the liturgy that unites the Ordinariates throughout the English-speaking world — we share our distinctive commitment to praising God in the eloquence of the Anglican liturgical patrimony and Prayer Book English.

“In addition, the founding documents of the Personal Ordinariate make clear that it is intended to be an instrument of Catholic unity: an opportunity to model what the future reconciliation of separated Christian communities could be. We wish to fulfill the Holy Father’s vision for Christian unity, in which diverse expressions of one faith are joined together in the Church.”

The Ordinary is the Reverend Monsignor Carl L Reid who was installed in St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney on August 27th 2019.

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