STATEMENT OF CARDINAL HUME ON THE ORDINATION OF ANGLICAN BISHOP
                  LEONARD AS A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST

       Dr. Graham Leonard, former Anglican bishop of the
Diocese of London, requested and has been granted admission into
full communion with the Catholic Church.  At the same time he
expressed a desire to be ordained priest in the Catholic Church.
The case of Dr. Leonard was carefully studied in Rome as a result
of his personal petition to the pope.

       In November 1992 Dr. Leonard began a period of
preparation for his reception into full communion and for
ordination to the priesthood in the Catholic Church.  After full
consultation with the competent authorities in Rome and with the
authority of the Holy See, he was received by me on April 6 and
ordained priest also by me in the chapel of Archbishop�s House on
April 23.

       In their statement of Nov. 18, 1993, the Catholic bishops
of England and Wales said: "We would never suggest that those
now seeking full communion with the Roman Catholic Church
deny the value of their previous ministry.  According to the
teaching of the Second Vatican Council, the liturgical actions of
their ministry can most certainly engender a life of grace, for they
come from Christ and lead back to him and belong by right to the
one church of Christ."

       Nonetheless it is necessary to keep in mind that ordination
conferred within the Anglican Communion is judged invalid in the
apostolic letter Apostolicae Curae.  The value of this letter, given
by His Holiness Leo XIII in 1896, has been upheld by the Holy See,
even though some important theological clarifications relating to
ministry and eucharist have been made by the Anglican
Communion.

       An exchange of letters between the president of the then-
Secretariat for Christian Unity (July 13, 1985) and the two
presidents of the second Anglican-Roman Catholic International
Commission, ARCIC II (Jan. 14, 1986) had expressed the hope
that following dialogue and clarification such a unity of faith could
be reached in the areas of ministry and eucharist that the way to a
re-evaluation of these questions by the Catholic Church would be
opened.

       Unfortunately this position has not yet been reached.
Consequently, since the church must be in no doubt of the validity
of the sacraments celebrated for the Catholic community, it must
ask all who are chosen to exercise the priesthood in the Catholic
Church to accept sacramental ordination in order to fulfill their
ministry and be integrated into the apostolic succession.

       While firmly restating the judgment of Apostolicae Curae
that Anglican ordination is invalid, the Catholic Church takes
account of the involvement, in some Anglican episcopal
ordinations, of bishops of the Old Catholic Church of the Union of
Utrecht who are validly ordained.  In particular and probably rare
cases the authorities in Rome may judge that there is a "prudent
doubt" concerning the invalidity of priestly ordination received by
an individual Anglican minister ordain in this line of succession.

       There are many complex factors which would need to be
verified in each case.  It is most unlikely that sufficient evidence
will normally be available, but in Dr. Leonard�s case, very full
documentation was available which enabled the authorities in
Rome to reach a judgment, and in this particular case that
judgment was that a "prudent doubt" exists.  Of course, if there
were other cases where sufficient evidence was available, the
balance of that evidence may lead the authorities to reach a
different judgment.

       After extensive research and careful consideration of the
factors necessary for validity, the authorities in Rome instructed me
to ordain Dr. Leonard to the priesthood conditionally, in
accordance with the norms of Canon 845.2.  In such a case, during
the course of the ordination liturgy the church prays that almighty
God will grant the candidate the grace of the Catholic priesthood in
case he has not received it through his ordination celebrated in the
Anglican Communion.

       This reordination was required out of respect due to the
sacrament and the necessity to ensure the validity of the exercise of
priestly office.  The Catholic Church welcomes Dr. Leonard into
full communion and into his new life of ministry as a priest in the
Catholic Church.

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