personal ordinariate

noun

A canonical structure equivalent to a diocese, administered by an ordinary and providing for the pastoral needs of former Anglicans who have joined the Catholic Church.

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Meanings

nounpersonal ordinariate (plural personal ordinariates)

plural personal ordinariates

  1. CatholicismA canonical structure equivalent to a diocese, administered by an ordinary and providing for the pastoral needs of former Anglicans who have joined the Catholic Church.

Origin

From ordinariate, the office or jurisdiction of a church ordinary; personal by analogy with personal prelature, implying that members are part of the ordinariate as individual persons, rather than because they live in a particular diocesan territory.

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Cite this entry
APA

personal ordinariate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/personal%20ordinariate

MLA

“personal ordinariate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/personal%20ordinariate. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “personal ordinariate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/personal%20ordinariate.

Source: personal ordinariate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.