About us

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was established in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI to allow Anglicans to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church whilst retaining much of their heritage and traditions. It now has the full support and blessing of Pope Francis.  The Ordinariate exists to promote the unity of all Christians with the Apostolic See and faithfully to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the rich treasures of its traditions.

We are a separate charity from the Ordinariate, with our own trustees who are:

• Nicolas Ollivant (Chairman)

• Peter Sefton-Williams

• Mgr John Broadhurst

• Mgr Andrew Burnham

• Michael Hodges

• Fr Nicholas Leviseur

• Richard Cleary

We work closely with the Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, who is our president, to identify areas where the Friends can be of assistance.

We gratefully receives donations from individuals and organisations who share in the Holy See’s vision of Christian Unity, which has been made manifest in the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Since our founding in 2011 we have been pleased to give grants to a great many projects. During the last three years FOTO has financed:

Building works at St Anselm’s Church, Pembury, Kent

A non-resident post-graduate degree of an Ordinariate priest

Grants to Ordinariate seminarians

60% of the cost of a new Viscount organ for the Ordinariate church in Birmingham

Part of the cost of a presbytery for an Ordinariate priest

The purchase of 30 copies of the Ordinariate Daily Office

The Newman Society (Oxford University) to cover the cost of renting space for a lecture by HE the late Cardinal Pell

New streaming equipment for the Ordinariate church in Torquay, Devon

Two years of stipend for a newly ordained Ordinariate priest

Grants are approved by the Trustees after consultation with the Ordinary.  Anyone seeking a grant from the Friends of the Ordinariate should, as a first step, write to the Ordinary explaining the nature of the request and the reasons for it.  Grants can only be made for projects or people directly connected with the Ordinariate or where there is a demonstrable benefit to the Ordinariate.

A number of distinguished individuals serve as our Honorary Vice-Presidents:

• The Rt Rev’d Abbot Hugh Allan O. Praem

• Rt Rev’d Dom David Charlesworth, OSB

• The Very Rev’d Fr Ignatius Harrison Cong Orat, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory

• The Duke of Norfolk GCVO

• The Duchess of Somerset

• The Countess of Oxford and Asquith

• Lord Nicholas Windsor

• Lord Deben

• Lord Moore of Etchingham

• Lord Gill

• The Rt Hon Sir Edward Leigh PC MP

• Sir Adrian FitzGerald, Bt

• Sir Josslyn Gore-Booth, Bt

• The Squire de Lisle

• The Hon Veronica Hodges