The first Anglicans have received into the Roman Catholic Church under a scheme set up by Pope Benedict XVI.
Priests and worshippers from around 20 Church of England parishes converted to Catholicism on Saturday at a ceremony in Westminster Cathedral.
Three former bishops were among those confirmed at the service, 642-871
which saw the first wave of Anglicans defecting to Rome to join the Ordinariate.
The former bishops of Fulham, Ebbsfleet and Richborough, John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton respectively, were applauded after they received holy communion before a packed congregation at the cathedral. They are expected to be ordained as Roman Catholic priests on 15 January. They have been key to orchestrating the exodus from the Church of England and advocating the Ordinariate, which they described as an “answer to their prayers”.
Two of the bishops’ wives were also confirmed as Catholics yesterday, along with three former Anglican nuns who were forced to take refuge in a Catholic convent after being told to leave their house at Walsingham Abbey.
Their departure devastated the community in Walsingham,642-845
leaving four older nuns to run the priory while the younger ones faced a period of uncertainty.
Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/8235349/First-Anglicans-are-received-into-the-Roman-Catholic-Church-in-historic-service.html
BBC