Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, England – once the see of English martyr St John Fisher – and a champion of persecuted Christians in Islamic countries, has joined the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
“I write to let you know of my reception into the ordinariate established for Anglicans who wish to be in full commun-ion with the See of Peter,” Lord Nazir-Ali announced.
“I am doing so because I believe that the traditional Anglican desire to adhere to the fullness of apostolic, patristic and conciliar teaching can now best be maintained in this way,” he explained.
An Ordinariate priest told Church Militant that “Lord Nazir-Ali is the most high-profile convert from the Church of England to Rome for the last 100 years, probably since the con-version of the intellectual giant Msgr Ronald Knox.”
Such a high-profile conver-sion is a setback to ecumenism.
“Michael is one of the most prodigious intellects of our time, a heroic apologist for the faith, a bulwark against radical Islam, a laser-sharp cultural commenta-tor, a persuasive preacher, a pa-ssionate evangelist of the highest calibre, and a brilliant linguist and poet,” the priest said.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, will ordain the former Anglican pre-late to the Catholic priesthood October 30 at the Ordinariate pro-cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption & St Gregory at Golden Square in London.