London's Vatican ambassador feared anti-Catholic violence in Britain
after Pope Benedict offered to accept traditionalist Anglicans into the
Roman Catholic Church, according to a US diplomatic cable obtained by
WikiLeaks.
Catholic-Anglican relations faced their worst crisis in
150 years because of the offer, which undercut the authority of
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the cable quoted Ambassador
Francis Campbell as saying after the offer last year.
Five
Anglican bishops in Britain announced last month that they would join
the Catholic Church early next year, in response to the offer made in
October 2009 to Anglican clergy opposed to the ordination of women
bishops in the Church of England.
The cable, dated November 30th,
2009 reflected concerns that have since eased.
Tensions that it
predicted for the Pope's visit to Britain in September this year did not
materialise.
The confidential cable, signed by US ambassador to
the Vatican Miguel Diaz, said Campbell noted that England's Catholics
were a minority and mostly of Irish origin.
"There is still latent
anti-Catholicism in some parts of England and it may not take much to
set it off," it said, paraphrasing his words.
"The outcome could be
discrimination or in isolated cases even violence against this
minority."
Speaking after the two churchmen met at the Vatican
last month, Mr Campbell said the pope had "put Williams in an impossible
situation" and the archbishop's cautious reaction - meant to avoid
harming relations with Rome -- angered some Anglicans.
Mr Diaz
ended the cable asking "whether the damage to inter-Christian relations
was worth it - especially since the number of disaffected Anglicans that
will convert is likely to be a trickle rather than a wave."
Another
cable dated November 9th, 2009 said Mr Campbell told Mr Diaz that the
Catholic Church would face "unforseen obstacles" if many traditionalist
Anglicans took up Benedict's offer.
"A large transition of Anglican converts could overwhelm the financial resources of many dioceses," it cited him as saying.
The
Anglicans most likely to make the switch were the most conservative, he
said.
"In uniting traditionalist Anglicans with the Catholic Church,
the Pope is bringing together two groups strongly committed to defending
Europe's Christian heritage -- a theme he strongly champions," it
added.
The cable cited an unnamed source as saying Dr Williams was
probably informed about the offer only a day before it was announced.
When he expressed concern about it, he was told the Vatican had made its
decision and was going ahead.
According to the November 30th
cable, Campbell felt the Vatican had acted without considering what its
move would mean for the Church of England.
"The Vatican decision
seems to have been aimed primarily at Anglicans in the US and Australia,
with little thought given to how it would affect the center of
Anglicanism, England, or the Archbishop of Canterbury," it said in
relating his view.
The Vatican announced last month that its first
so-called ordinariate for Anglican converts would be established in
Britain.
Bishops and priests would join the Church in the first half of
the year, followed by lay people wanting to switch.
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