In Memoriam: Standing on Msgr. Graham's Shoulders on My Way Home to Rome

Msgr. Graham Leonard was an example and inspiration to many of us who came into full communion with Holy Mother Church.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - January 6 is the Feast of the Epiphany, which means "manifestation." This is the day when the Church celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as symbolized in the visit of the Magi to the house of the Holy Family.

January 6, 2010 is also the day when Msgr. Graham Leonard passed away, being received into the fullness of eternal life and communion with the Lord whom he so dearly loved. The "coincidence" should not be overlooked.

The former Anglican Bishop made headlines when he converted to the Catholic faith in the early 90's, setting an example for many of those who would follow, including this writer. His journey, in some respects, helped to pave the way for the extraordinary breakthroughs precipitated by the Apostolic Constitution recently released by the Holy See to guide Anglicans into full communion.

As a cradle Episcopalian turned Evangelical, the 1980's was a time of personal searching; my heart longed for a return to historic Christianity and orthodox Christian faith. This was a long way from my situation as an ordained minister in the Wesleyan Methodist Church.

To my amazement, I found there were many others on a similar journey from all parts of evangelicalism as well as those from Christian groups who identified with the labels charismatic and Pentecostal. We all longed for the same thing - a return to the heart of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Even though I had grown up in The Episcopal Church, a return to my roots seemed less than appealing. They were already distancing themselves from the heart of the gospel and Christian orthodocy and orthopraxy.

Still active as an evangelical pastor of a large and thriving church, I found myself re-visiting books long-forgotten since seminary, writings of the Church Fathers, and writers in the Anglican, Orthodox and Catholic worlds.

My journey eventually led me to the Charismatic Episcopal Church (CEC), where I helped establish this new denomination that embraced a catholic (small C) faith integrated with an evangelical emphasis on Scripture and a Charismatic commitment in their worship style where appropriate.

It was during this time I first heard about the spiritual journey of Graham Leonard, the Bishopof London. The reasons for my reluctance to re-enter the Episcopal Church were the same as his for seeking entrance into the full communion of the Catholic Church. An early initiative to come into full communion was discouraged by his friend Cardinal Cardinale, the former apostolic nuncio, for the sake of ecumenism.

When the Church of England aligned in 1992 with the American practice of ordaining women to the Holy Priesthood, Leonard announced his intention to be received into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

As a Bishop in apostolic succession with lines from the old Catholic Church and Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil I was intrigued by his decision in two ways.

First, he was willing to surrender his faculties as a bishop. I didn't realize how significant his example would be until I faced the same decision in 2006. Before, he was treated as a Bishop, with all proper flourishes, by Catholics when he was with them as an ordinary in the Church of England.

Whatever discussions, plans and promises took place, the final disposition of Holy Orders could not actually be confirmed until his reception. He had to enter the Church alone, with his hands empty and his heart humbled. This spoke volumes to me about one's conviction regarding the primacy of the Church. The Bishop of London was the leader of the third most senior See in the Church of England.

Such was my journey. I had enjoyed wonderful fellowship with Catholic prelates and priests during my Episcopal tenure. I was accorded the respect and honors of the office and participated in some memorable meetings and events.

There came a day, however, when I had to remove my Bishop's ring, place my Pectoral cross in the top drawer of my dresser and permanently consign my miter and crosier to storage. It was the end of an era. I didn't know how many others had done this, but I knew of one... Bishop Leonard.

Due to the unique pedigree of the Charismatic Episcopal Church and the claims of some of its clergy to valid priestly orders from the Catholic Apostolic Church of Brazil as well as old Catholic lines, I was also interested in the fact that the former Bishop of London was ordained "sub conditione". This was because he possessed a line of succession from the Old Catholic Church in his consecration as an Anglican bishop.

This gave me hope that, even though my history with the CEC (Charismatic Episcopal Church) didn't quite fit the traditional Anglican mold, there may still be hope for future sacramental ministry.

The journey to full communion is not an easy one for those who have given their lives in service of the Church. Some are never able to make it; the call to surrender their faculties is too great a cost.

I have talked with many former priests from the Anglican world. Some have been able to enter Holy Orders, others have not. Yet, all of us who have made this journey, in some way, stand upon the shoulders of Msgr. Graham Leonard. We emptied our hands, humbled our hearts and surrendered ourselves to Holy Mother Church.He showed us the way.

With Fr. Graham, I can say, "My conversion to Catholicism goes back a long way; it was not sudden... I have always believed that faith is a gift of God, and that it is not the result of individual discoveries that each one can make."

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online. He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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