Pope Leo XIV has announced the new apostolic administrator of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia following the appointment of Archbishop Anthony Randazzo to Prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts at the Vatican. Source: Broken Bay News.
The Pope has named Bishop Steven Lopes, Bishop Ordinary of the United States-based Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, as the Apostolic Administrator of OLSC Australia.
He will assume the role immediately as Archbishop Randazzo, who was appointed apostolic administrator of the OLSC in 2023, prepares to take up his new ministry in Rome next month.
A former official of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, and secretary to the Cardinal Prefect, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Lopes Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter in 2015. He resides in Houston, Texas, and will continue to serve his new position from there.
In welcoming Bishop Lopes to his new role, Archbishop Randazzo, who remains apostolic administrator of Broken Bay Diocese until he leaves for Rome, said Bishop Lopes is no stranger to Australia, having visited here a number of times.
“His pastoral care of the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter will now extend to the Ordinariate in Australia,” Archbishop Randazzo said.
“He is a man of the Church and will strongly encourage the continued growth and mission of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross.”
The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia was established in 2012, to serve groups of Anglicans who desire full communion with the Catholic Church in Australia and Asia. It has congregations across Australia and has a presence New Zealand, Guam, Japan and Philippines.
The Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter was also founded in 2012 to serve the United States and Canada.
“In Australia, the Ordinariate is experiencing steady, grace-filled growth, marked by spiritual vitality and new vocations, Archbishop Randazzo said.
“Though small in size, the Ordinariate carries a global significance, offering a hopeful model for ecumenism and future unity.”
From the United States, Bishop Lopes said his task is to be the custodian of OLSC “for a while, encouraging its people to grow in the beauty of holiness as the surest means of growth and fruitfulness”.
FULL STORY
Pope Leo Appoints New Ordinariate Administrator in Australia (Broken Bay Diocese)
Appointment to the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (ACBC Media Blog)
