THE CATHOLIC Church in England and Wales yesterday announced that five Anglican bishops would shortly join the Catholic Church. They will be converting to the so-called “personal ordinariates” which the Holy See set up last year as a new canonical structure for the “corporate reunion” of dissident Anglicans.
In recent years, many Anglicans, lay and clergy alike, have expressed their reservations about the direction taken by the worldwide Anglican communion, especially over the ordination of women priests and gay priests. When it presented the apostolic constitution, Anglicanorum Coetibus, in November of last year, the Holy See indicated that disaffected Anglicans could join the Catholic Church, yet maintain a distinct religious identity.
At the time, many church commentators argued that the number of such “converts” would be relatively small. Yesterday’s announcement would suggest, however, that they could be larger than expected. The five bishops who will join the Catholic Church are: Bishop of Ebbsfleet Andrew Burnham; Bishop of Richborough Keith Newton; Bishop of Fulham John Broadhurst: former Bishop of Richborough Edwin Barnes; and former Bishop of Ballarat, Australia, David Silk.
Christopher Knight, a theologian and member of the traditionalist Anglo-Catholic organisation, Forward in Faith, yesterday said the group counted at least 800 Anglo-Catholic priests among its members and that there were signs more would leave.
Speaking to the BBC yesterday, Bishop Burnham said the decision to convert was about much more than the issue of women priests. “It’s about whether the Church of England, as it’s always claimed to be, is faithful to the undivided church of the first thousand years and faithful to its faith and orders – or whether it feels it can make things up and change things as it goes.
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams wished the converting bishops well and thanked them for their “faithful and devoted pastoral labours in the Church of England over many years” .
Meanwhile, the Holy See yesterday confirmed that on Friday, November 19th, the consistory in Rome would see cardinals gather for a day of “reflection and prayer” as they addressed issues raised by the Anglicanorum Coetibus. The cardinals will also discuss clerical sex abuse, Pope Benedict’s 10-year-old document Dominus Jesus and religious freedom.