Five Church of England bishops are to convert to Catholicism under an
offer from Pope Benedict XVI to welcome Anglicans disaffected by moves
to ordinate women, the Catholic Church said Monday.
The Roman
Catholic Church in England and Wales said it welcomed the decision by
the three serving Anglican bishops and two retired bishops "to enter
into full communion with the Catholic Church".
The bishops are Andrew Burnham, Keith Newton, John Broadhurst, Edwin Barnes, and David Silk, it said in a statement.
Their conversions come less than two months after the pope visited Britain.
In
2009, the Roman Catholic Church unveiled a new juridical framework that
made it easier for Anglicans unhappy with the Church of England's
ordination of female and homosexual clergy to join Catholic ranks.
In
a statement, the five bishops said they had been "dismayed, over the
last 30 years, to see Anglicans and Catholics move further apart on some
of the issues of the day".
They said the Vatican offer was a
"generous response to various approaches to the Holy See for help and a
bold, new ecumenical instrument in the search for the unity of
Christians."
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader
of the world's Anglicans, said in a statement he had accepted the
resignations of Burnham and Newton "with regret".
"We wish them
well in this next stage of their service to the Church and I am grateful
to them for their faithful and devoted pastoral labours in the Church
of England over many years," he said.
Williams referred only to
Burnham and Newton because they are so-called "flying bishops" who came
directly under the authority of the Anglican region of Canterbury.
They ministered to Church of England parishes where congregations had voted not to allow a woman priest to preside at services.
Barnes previously held the same role as Newton while Silk was the former Bishop of Ballarat in Australia.
Broadhurst,
the Bishop of Fulham, had already announced his intention to convert
last month after accusing the Church of England of acting in a "fascist"
manner.
SIC: AFP/INT'L