Episcopal Nuns in Maryland join Roman Catholic Church

All Saints’ Sisters Join Roman Catholic Church
Posted at The Living Church Online on: September 4, 2009

Ten of the 12 members of the All Saints’ Sisters of the Poor were received into communion with the Roman Catholic Church during a liturgy held at their convent in Catonsville, Md., on Sept. 3.

The nuns renewed their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to the Rt. Rev. Edwin O’Brien, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. The Rev. Warren Tanghe, the former chaplain to the order, also has applied to become a Roman Catholic priest.

The two nuns who decided to remain Episcopalians will continue to live in community with the other sisters. The Rt. Rev. Donald Parsons, retired Bishop of Springfield and the order’s episcopal visitor, was among the 120 people present at the service.

“I speak for all the faithful of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in expressing our thanks to God that you, good sisters, will ennoble our Catholic community with your sterling and steadfast witness to consecrated life, with a rich heritage of prayer, liturgical and private, and with a 137-year tradition of joining contemplative prayer with care for the poor, for children with special needs and for the dying,” Archbishop O’Brien said in his homily.

Sister Emily Ann Lindsey told Baltimore’s Catholic Review newspaper that the order has received many messages of support since they announced their intention to leave the Episcopal Church. “Seeing all this support makes me feel this is what the Lord meant for us to do.”

Bishop Eugene T. Sutton of Maryland issued a written statement wishing the order “God’s blessings as their journey takes them into the Roman Catholic Church. Despite the sadness we feel in having to say farewell, our mutual joy is that we remain as one spiritual family of faith, one body in Christ.”

The Catholic Review reported that archdiocesan leaders hope to establish the order as the archdiocese’s first “diocesan institute,” a religious community overseen directly by the bishop. The nuns will attend Mass in the Latin rite and have received permission to also attend Mass in the Anglican-use rite.