Is Pope Benedict’s Ordinariate for ex-Anglicans finally going to realise its potential?

Is Pope Benedict’s Ordinariate for ex-Anglicans finally going to realise its potential?

From Holy Smoke by The Spectator

April 25, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

This episode discusses the potential of Pope Benedict's Ordinariate for ex-Anglicans with leading priests.

In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI upset liberals by creating the Ordinariates, new self-governing structures for ex-Anglicans who wanted to preserve their ‘patrimony’ in their worship and evangelisation. Until now, many bishops in the English-speaking world have done their best to marginalise the Ordinariates, despite – or perhaps because of – the dynamism of their clergy. But Pope Leo has now affirmed the Ordinariates as a permanent feature of the church. Could Pope Benedict’s bold initiative soon be working as he intended? In this episode of Holy Smoke , Damian Thompson talks to two leading Ordinariate priests, Fathers Ed Tomlinson and Benedict Kiely. Don’t miss this unusually frank discussion. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more. For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts . Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Damian Thompson

Guests: Fathers Ed Tomlinson, Benedict Kiely

Topics covered

  • Pope Benedict XVI
  • Ordinariates
  • ex-Anglicans
  • religious structures
  • church dynamics
  • evangelisation

Keywords

  • Pope Benedict XVI
  • Ordinariates
  • ex-Anglicans
  • church
  • evangelisation
  • religion
  • spirituality

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pope Benedict XVI, Ordinariates, Pope Leo, The Spectator

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