Three Anglican bishops
who are converting to Roman Catholicism have taken holy communion at
Westminster Cathedral, with three ex-Anglican nuns.
Ex-bishop of Ebbsfleet Andrew Burnham, the former bishop of
Richborough Keith Newton and John Broadhurst, previously bishop of
Fulham, oppose women bishops.
They are expected to be ordained as Catholic priests on 15 January.
They plan to join the special "ordinariate" for former Anglicans within the Roman Catholic church.
Catholic Bishop Alan Hopes said up to 50 Anglican clergy could convert before Easter.
The move has been enabled by a Vatican scheme intended to
provide a welcome for Anglicans who are unhappy over issues such as the
consecration of women bishops and the Church's attitude to
homosexuality.
It intends to allow them to maintain a distinct religious
identity and spiritual heritage within a section of the Roman Catholic
Church, known as an ordinariate.
'Flying bishops'
All three bishops officially
resigned from their duties with the Anglican Church on Friday.
They had
served as "flying bishops", caring for parishes which objected to the
ordination of women.
The nuns left their Anglican community at Walsingham in Norfolk after they expressed interest in joining the ordinariate.
One of them, Sister Wendy Renata, said she felt "fantastic" after formally being welcomed by the Catholic Church.
"I've wanted to do it for years. I've finally done it," she
said. Some members of the former bishops' families also received
communion.
Bishop Hopes - himself a former Anglican vicar - said
opposition to women bishops was one of the reasons for the converts'
resignations from the Church of England.
More importantly, he added, "most of them have been
journeying, seeking the fullness of truth, and they found it in the
Catholic Church."
SIC: BBC/UK