I'm at St. Mary's now — just finished offering a Low Mass (Deacon Bartus kindly served), and the intention was for the success of the day's activities.Er, how did that work, exactly? Did Fr Phillips check passports at the communion rail? It seems, after all, that nearly everyone at the St Mary's event was an Anglican, including Dcn Bartus, but Fr Phillips is Catholic. Did they all just ask for a blessing, or what?
Second question: Dcn Bartus, barely six months out of seminary, is specifically noted, and of course, both comments feature Fr Phillips, who at the time was prominently mentioned as in the running for US Ordinary, along with David Moyer. The one individual not credited at all was their host, Fr Kelley, the St Mary's rector, without whom the whole meeting could not have taken place. Seems like even Fr Phillips was playing politics.
The parish at the time was in the process of going into the Patrimony of the Primate. Then-ACA Bishop Daren Williams had reversed himself on Anglicanorum coetibus, had inhibited Dcn Bartus, and had refused to ordain him a priest for reasons that aren't clear, although Bartus went on to have a troubled relationship with his next bishop, David Moyer.
On the other hand, at least in terms of what became the OCSP, Bartus came out better than Frs Kelley, Phillips, and Moyer, and was probably the only one who knew the score about Steenson.
But it's also worth noting that in December 2010, this was clearly seen as a significant event: a large number of Anglicans gathering at St Mary of the Angels during Advent in anticipation of the Ordinariate. You really can't airbrush out the significance of the parish, and Bp Lopes will not succeed in any significant way until he can bring the parish in.
