Msgr Keith Newton, now Ordinary Emeritus. Photo Edward Pentin/National Catholic RegisterMsgr Keith Newton has written a pastoral letter to clergy and faithful of the Ordinariate as the Pope has accepted his resignation as Ordinary.

Dear Father, brothers and sisters,

At 11:00am today (12 noon, Rome time) it was announced that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, had accepted my resignation from the pastoral responsibility for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and has appointed Father David Waller, until now our Vicar General, to be the second Ordinary of the Ordinariate here in Great Britain. As he is a celibate he will be ordained the episcopate in due course and so will be our first Bishop Ordinary.

This is a momentous day in the life of the Ordinariate. You will understand that I have mixed feelings about giving up being Ordinary after over 13 years but I think it is the right time for me to hand over to someone new. More importantly this is the first time that a new Ordinary of the three Ordinariates has been selected from one of its serving priests. Deo gratias.

This whole process has taken nearly two years and I am extremely grateful to the members of our Governing Council, whose role it was to send a terna of names to the Holy See, to have kept this information confidential for such a long time.

We hope the episcopal ordination will take place towards the end of June. Details of the ordination will be sent out as soon as they are known.

In the meantime please note I should no longer be named in the Eucharistic prayer; nor should Bishop-elect Waller until he has taken possession of the Ordinariate after his ordination. However, both of us would value your prayers during this transitional period.

Finally, I want to say how delighted I am with the appointment of Father David as the next Ordinary. He has been unwaveringly loyal to the Ordinariate since his ordination and has been a great support to me especially since his appointment as Vicar General.

With the assurance of my prayers for Father David and for you all as we begin a new chapter in the life of the Ordinariate.

Yours in Christ

Mgr Keith

The Right Revd Mgr Keith Newton
The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

Press Release

Pope appoints new Bishop Ordinary for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

Fr David Waller, Bishop-Elect of the Ordinariate. Photo CBCEWHis Holiness, Pope Francis, has appointed the Reverend David Waller as the next Ordinary and the first Bishop Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

His appointment follows the Holy Father’s acceptance of the resignation submitted by Monsignor Keith Newton. On hearing the news, Monsignor Newton said: “I am delighted that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has appointed Father David Waller as not only the second Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham but the first to be in episcopal orders.
     “I have known Bishop-elect Waller for over 20 years. He was amongst the first group of Anglican clergy to be ordained to the Catholic priesthood under the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus in 2011.
     “From its beginning he has been fully involved in the life of the Ordinariate and has served as chairman of its Governing Council and as Vicar General since 2020. He has been a wise and trusted confidant and is well known and respected by the clergy of the Ordinariate.
     “Bishop-elect Waller has long experience in pastoral ministry both in the Church of England and in the Catholic Church, and he is presently Parish Priest of Christ the King, Chingford in the Diocese of Brentwood. I know he will use his pastoral gifts as he guides the Ordinariate into the next chapter of its life.
     “We ask that the prayers of Our Lady of Walsingham and Saint John Henry Newman will guide him as he takes on the new responsibility in the Church.”

Bishop-elect David Waller said: “It is both humbling and a great honour to have been chosen by Pope Francis to succeed Monsignor Keith Newton as the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.
     “I have been a member of the Ordinariate since its inception in 2011, when groups of clergy and laity, up and down the country, were received into the full communion of the Catholic Church under the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus.
     “The past 13 years have been a time of grace and blessing as small and vulnerable communities have grown in confidence, rejoicing to be a full yet distinct part of the Catholic Church.
     “I already know well the priests and lay faithful of the Ordinariate and I now look forward to serving them in this new role. My experience of these past years is that there is nothing to be feared in responding to the Lord and that Jesus does great things with us despite our inadequacies.
     “I humbly entrust myself to your prayers as we together embark upon the next chapter of the life of the Ordinariate. May Our Lady of Walsingham and St John Henry Newman pray for us.”

Information regarding the Episcopal Ordination of Bishop-elect Waller will be made available in due course.

Short Biography

Bishop-elect David Waller was born in London on 10 June 1961 and educated at the School of St David and St Katharine in Hornsey and the College of Ripon and York St John, University of Leeds.

From 1983 to 1989 he worked as a community worker in Bradford, which was one of the most impoverished areas of the United Kingdom.

In 1989 he left Bradford to train for Anglican orders at Chichester Theological College and was Ordained Deacon in 1991 and Priest the following year. He served two parochial appointments in the Diocese of Chichester: Curate of Aldwick (1991-1995) and Team Vicar of Crawley (1995-2000); during this time, he was also a member of the Diocesan Synod and a part-time hospital chaplain.

In 2000 he moved to East London to become Vicar of the Parish of St Saviour, Walthamstow; he remained in this post until his reception into the Catholic Church.

From 2005 until 2010 he served as a member of the General Synod of the Church of England.

In Holy Week 2011, he was received into the full communion of the Catholic Church. After he was ordained to the diaconate and the priesthood, following the provisions of Anglicanorum coetibus, he was named Pastor of the Walthamstow Ordinariate Mission and has also held two diocesan parochial appointments: Parochial Administrator of St John the Baptist Ilford (2011–2015) and Parish Priest of Christ the King Chingford (since 2015).

Bishop-elect Waller has been Chairman of the Governing Council of the Ordinariate since its establishment; and for the past four years has served as Vicar General.