Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Pontifical Household, held the first meditation as outlined by the Apostolic Constitution, Lombardi said.

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Under the terms of the Pope's proposed Apostolic Constitution, groupings of Anglicans would be able to join "personal ordinariates".

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"The Personal Ordinariates were established by an Apostolic Constitution, the highest form of legal document in the Catholic Church, " he said.

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