Senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi was yesterday unable to confirm UK media speculation that leading Church of England bishops held a series of secret \u201cconversion\u201d\u009d meetings with advisers to Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican last week. Other senior Vatican officials claimed to have no knowledge of such meetings.<\/p>\n
Reports in yesterday\u2019s online editions of the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail claimed the Bishop of Fulham, the Rt Rev John Broadhurst; the Bishop of Richborough, the Rt Rev Keith Newton; and the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham were involved in meetings with the Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last week.<\/p>\n
The scope of the meetings was to discuss future Anglican conversions \u201cen masse\u201d\u009d to Rome with the bishops reportedly informing the Vatican that many Church of England clergy are keen to defect to Rome.<\/p>\n