I may be reading between the lines here, but that may just be what this article is hinting at.

Last month, the bishops of the Traditional Anglican Communion, a network of 400,000 breakaway Anglo-Catholics based mainly in America and the Commonwealth, wrote to Rome asking for "full, corporate, sacramental union".

Their letter was drafted with the help of the Vatican. Benedict is overseeing the negotiations. Unlike John Paul II, he admires the Anglo-Catholic tradition. He is thinking of making special pastoral arrangements for Anglican converts walking away from the car wreck of the Anglican Communion.

This would mean that they could worship together, free from bullying by local bishops who dislike the newcomers' conservatism and would rather "dialogue" with Anglicans than receive them into the Church.

The customary way of creating such "special pastoral arrangements" in the past is that seen among the various Eastern-rite jurisdictions (the historical term "uniate" is seen by many as derogatory, but still sometimes used), with a completely separate hierarchy. This could, of course, have interesting implications regarding the practice of priestly celibacy in the West.

Of course, I could be reading more into this than is really there.

Posted by: Greg at 08:52 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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