The Bishop of Fulham has become the first Anglo-Catholic bishop to formally announce he will join an ordinariate for Anglicans within the Roman Catholic Church.
As predicted in The Tablet (2 October) Bishop John Broadhurst told the annual assembly of Forward in Faith, the largest Anglo-Catholic group in the Church of England, that he will resign as bishop and enter the new church structure, set up by Pope Benedict XVI last year to enable disaffected Anglo-Catholics to join the Roman Catholic Church en masse. The ordinariate is due to be established in Britain in January 2011, and this week (15 October 2010) The Tablet reported that the Anglican parish, St Peter’s Folkestone, had made the first formal request to join.
The BBC reports that The Catholic Group on the CofE's General Synod said it deeply regretted the decision by Bishop Broadhurst. The bishop, who is the leader of the traditionalist organisation Forward in Faith, is the most significant Anglican so far to say he will convert to Catholicism.
He is currently the "flying bishop" charged with looking after traditionalist parishes opposed to women priests and bishops in the dioceses of London, Southwark and Rochester.
The Catholic Group said it was determined to stay in the Church of England and fight for a better deal for Anglicans who did not want to serve under women bishops.
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott says the group's statement seems intended to counter any encouragement Bishop Broadhurst's announcement might give to traditionalist clergy to take up Pope Benedict's offer of a privileged place in the Roman Catholic Church.
The BBC’s correspondent says many traditionalist clergy are unhappy with the level of protection so far offered to them from serving under a woman bishop, but might hesitate in the face of a decision likely to cause them considerable personal hardship.
The Pope has created a special enclave in the Roman Catholic Church for Anglicans unhappy with their Church's decision to let women become bishops.
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