Vicky, you may be right that the analogy to the Eastern Churches does not hold, but to the extent that there is a group here that is interested in preserving its distinctive tradtions, I think there is a comparison to be made. I do not think the military ordinariate is an apt analogy, as the military does not have their own “religious patrimony” or liturgical rites. Of course, perhaps there will be a parallel in terms of administration, in that it will work independently of the local diocese. The Personal Ordinariate for the disaffected Anglicans has been compared to Opus Dei. I don’t know if that’s correct either, but I offer it for reflection!

I’ve got a copy of the document the Episcopal Church in the USA uses for their catechumenate, which as you note is optional, but I can’t seem to lay my hand on it right now. I’m uncertain as to whether it “counts” however, since it is so new. Which documents will be considered the religious patrimony, and which are not, remains a mystery to me. I can’t imagine some of their new eucharistic prayers being accepted, for example. We shall see.

The question about an unbaptized person entering the Anglican Catholic ordinariate is interesting. If they are keeping their own ritual books, they will probably keep whatever the practice is now. I think their equivalent of the RCIA is not an official rite.

What kind of formation will we have for an Anglican Roman Catholic who wishes to become part of a not-Anglican Roman parish (even the language is going to be interesting in all this).

I’m also curious about what authority a local bishop has if they are part of another bishop’s ordinariate.

So many questions.

On a related subject, interestingly enough, the 1962 Roman Ritual, now permitted as the “extraordinary form” of the Roman Rite, contains a seven-stage catechumenate which was the immediate precursor to the RCIA. I haven’t heard of any communities using it.

For another take on the news, see John Allen’s account in the NCR: bit.ly/1ZcmZp