The English are crossing the Tiber!

Edit, 28 Oct. 2009: It has been brought to my attention that, as I predicted, I did botch some key details of this story. First and foremost, the group at the center of this potential conversion is the Tradtional Anglican Communion (TAC), which is not to be confused with the Anglican Communion. The TAC is based worldwide, and not just in England, so the post title of "English" is a misnomer. Furthermore, negotiations for conversion were initiated by those within the TAC, and not the Pope; he only responded to a request from them, and before that was not involved in any sort of intervention. Again, thanks for the information. That's what you all are here for, after all. I appreciate it. ~MLP

I would be remiss as a Catholic blogger (and really, as a journalist) if I didn't cover yesterday's bombshell from the Vatican. In a history-making move, Pope Benedict XVI has made provisions for traditional Anglicans to convert en masse to Catholicism, if they so choose.

I haven't yet found anyone willing to break down the release in layman's terms, so I guess this laywoman will give it her best shot. Bear with me. (I know I have at least one priest reading--COUGH--and he is free to correct me if I botch this.)

First, some background: the Anglican Communion (the Church of England in Britain and the Episcopalian Church of the USA) have been rocked by splits and infighting for a solid decade now over the decision to ordain both women and openly gay men and women as clergy. (Tradiotional Anglicans and Catholics believe, in a nutshell, that only men should be priests because Jesus and His twelve Apostles were all men--He could have chosen women, and had plenty as friends to choose from, but didn't.) Conservative members who disagreed with this progressive move formed other churches under the jurisdiction of bishops in North Africa.

The situation has only gotten worse since, and people on both sides of the debate have been holding their breaths, wondering if the entire Communion will crumble. That was when the Pope stepped in. The conservative side of the Anglican Communion has been in negotiations for an unspecific amount of time about being received into the Catholic Chuch. Benedict has "bent the rules" to ease the transition of these groups by allowing them to retain their unique rituals and hymns while under the leadership of Anglo-Catholic bishops. The new converts would become their own "floating diocese," bound by background instead of geographic location (we do the same thing for the Military Diocese).

Opinions are mixed about the decision, with liberals accusing the Vatican of overstepping their bounds or deepening divisions, but for conservatives in both Churches, this signifies hope for healing.

Jesus founded one Church--not 35,000 separate denominations and churches (according to the Barna group). We're now one huge step closer to seeing that unity made reality again. Regardless of opinion, I think we'll all be praying.

Thomas Peters over at the popular blog American Papist has tons of commentary and resources on the issue. There's also this collection of opinions from the New York Times, compliments of my Online Journalism professor, Mark Berkey-Gerard.