The Catholic Group in General Synod is sorry to hear of the five bishops’ intention to join the Anglican Ordinariate; we would like to thank them all for their ministry in the Church of England, and to assure them of our prayers and good wishes for their future. Bishops John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and David Silk have all been prominent members of the Catholic Group, and we thank them for their leadership of the Group in the past.
The Catholic Group remains determined to do all it can to ensure that the promises made by the Church of England to traditionalists at the time of the passing of legislation to permit the ordination of women to the priesthood are honoured by the General Synod as it now considers draft legislation to permit the consecration of women as bishops; significant amendment of the current draft will be required to enable this to happen.
We are heartened by the news that new appointments will be made for the Bishops of Ebbsfleet, Fulham and Richborough, and assure the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London of our prayers and good wishes at this time.
Whistling past a graveyard.
One can only pray that the ABoC will demonstrate a bit of decorum and appoint actual Anglo Catholics and not a bunch of his affirming catholic Welsh chums. No doubt they will all go through a vetting process ala +Mark Lawrence or +(elect) Dan Martins, and be made to testify in a dozen public forums that they will never, ever, ever leave the Church of England, or let anyone else leave with maniples or paperclips or any of those outmoded 1662 prayer books, even if the parish never uses them anymore.
#1, EXACTLY the words that came to mind as I read this. As an Anglo-Catholic, it grieves me to see our witness further diminished in the CofE and throughout the rest of the communion, but I certainly don’t blame the five bishops for their decision. The Pope’s offer is certainly very tempting if local circumstances make it viable.