Anglican bishop sees English Catholic hierarchy resisting Anglicanorum Coetibus
February 17, 2010
A conservative Anglican bishop has described his contacts with the Vatican as "a little bit like Elizabethan espionage," and revealed that he feels the need to work around unsympathetic English bishops, in his effort to bring Anglicans into the Catholic Church. In letters that have been leaked to the Guardian-- and will certainly cause embarrassment to the correspondents-- Anglican Bishop Andrew Burnham of Ebbsfleet tells Australian Catholic Bishop Peter Elliott that careful maneuvers are required to ensure that the Pope's invitation to Anglicans is not "smothered by the management anxieties of a hierarchy, some of whom think that Anglicans are best off doing what they are presently doing." The Anglican bishop reveals that he has received strong support from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but expresses his fear that efforts to implement the Pope's apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus still face strong resistance among the bishops of England and Wales.
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Further information:
- The cloak and dagger Catholics (Guardian)
- Revealed: Anglo-Catholic bishop in talks with CDF to stop English bishops 'smothering' Pope's Anglican plan (Daily Telegraph)
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