Auxiliary Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster, the bishops\u2019 liaison officer for the ordinariate and the highest-ranking former Anglican priest in England and Wales, said small groups of Anglican laity and their pastors had been preparing for reception into the church and the ordinariate since late September.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bishops have warmly and generously welcomed the Holy Father\u2019s initiative toward those Anglicans who are seeking full and ecclesial communion with the Catholic Church,\u201d\u009d he told the news conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have placed it all in the context of our overall ecumenical journey – which is exactly where the Holy Father has placed it – which seeks full communion in faith and fullness of unity for which Jesus Christ himself prayed,\u201d\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has become very clear that there are clergy and groups of people who wish to make use of this journey into the Catholic Church through the ordinariate structure,\u201d\u009d said Bishop Hopes, who was received into the Catholic Church in 1994.<\/p>\n