No date has been finalised yet for the foundation of the Australian Ordinariate, says Bishop Peter Elliott, the Bishops' delegate for assisting lay Anglicans wanting to join the Church, reports the Catholic Weekly.
"In Australia we are quietly moving to that stage when we hope the Holy See will establish an ordinariate," said Bishop Elliott, auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne.
It had been hoped the first personal ordinariate would be established by June.
Bishop Elliott said there would be centres in all major cities for those interested - and that the interest was evident from all states at recent ordinariate festivals held in Queensland and Western Australia.
"Formal applications for membership will be possible when the time frame is clearer."
Bishop Elliott said that in the UK, where hundreds of people were expected to join the new ordinariate, the situation "is different to Australia".
"There most people on the way to the ordinariate are members of the Church of England, so the procedure of reconciliation is more closely tied to relations with Catholic dioceses and parishes.
"Moreover, they have to leave behind their beautiful churches. They have been told that they cannot bring these properties with them into the ordinariate ... provision needs to be made for them within the Catholic community.
"On the other hand, in Australia, people entering the ordinariate are coming into Catholic unity from two sources: from the official Anglican Church of Australia and from the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia, an independent jurisdiction, the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC).
"It is hoped that some churches will be provided by the latter community for the ordinariate along with other churches that will need to be provided by the Catholic Church."
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