In a press release, the Ordinariate wrote that St. Mary’s was barred from joining the Catholic Church because of issues with the clergy, management and corporate structure. The Ordinariate did not return phone calls seeking comment.That apparently refers to this release, dated May 5, 2012:
The rector, wardens, and vestry of the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, Hollywood, CA, have previously expressed a desire to become a part of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter within the Catholic Church. However, a number of issues relating to the parish's corporate structure, the Catholic formation of its clergy and members, and the resolution of some management concerns have yet to be resolved. The Ordinariate thus has no jurisdiction over St. Mary of the Angels; however, individual parishioners are welcome to join the Ordinariate if they wish to do so. The gift of full communion requires a spirit of reconciliation and the healing of relationships, and to this end, the Ordinary, Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, offers his prayers for all involved.Strictly speaking, the release doesn't say "barred", it says "yet to be resolved". And it's worth pointing out that I'm not aware of any communication from the Ordinariate regarding how anyone would join it as an individual. (Would you receive the Sacrament over the web?) I have, however, received a somewhat snotty semi-official statement from a knowledgeable party that any Ordinariate group in Los Angeles would be, on one hand, headed by Andrew Bartus, but on the other, would have no connection with St Mary of the Angels.
Huh? Wasn't Bartus a highly unsatisfactory curate at -- where was it? -- St Mary of the Angels? That's a non-starter, Msgr Steenson. If the Ordinariate wished to start a totally new group not related to anything from the past, it would quite simply need to lose Bartus as part of that equation. How difficult is that to understand, Bill?
The other quote worth noting is:
St. Mary’s continues to operate with dwindling parishioners and minimal services.According to Vestry member [Marilyn] Bush the church once had about 60 attendees at Sunday mass during Kelley’s tenure. The number of regular parishioners today, she said, has shrunk by about 2/3rds.
Currently, a priest who is the head of the Anglican Diocese of the West—based out of Arizona—holds services on the first Sunday of every month, according to Bush. Other clergy conduct Sunday mass the rest of the month, but weekday evening services have halted.
