From The Frypan Into The Fire: Thousands tipped to desert Church of England and follow bishops to Rome

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

From The Frypan Into The Fire: Thousands tipped to desert Church of
England and follow bishops to Rome

* By staff writers
* From: NewsCore
* November 09, 2010 2:04PM


ANGLICAN worshippers were today tipped to begin following bishops and
clergy to Rome in an exodus that could see the Catholic Church begin
to reclaim its pre-Reformation status as the Church in England.

Five Anglican bishops described their “dismay” and “distress” with the
direction the Church of England is taking as they announced that they
are to join the Roman Catholic Church under the Vatican's Ordinariate
scheme for disaffected Anglicans.

The Bishop of Fulham, John Broadhurst, who will convert with wife Judy
and three of his four adult children, told The (London) Times that he
believed thousands, not hundreds, of laity will also join.

“People say it is to do with women bishops. That is the background on
which it all sits. It is to do with an offer from the pope which I
think we cannot say no to.”

The three serving bishops and two retired bishops have decided to
enter into “full communion” with the Catholic Church through the new
Anglican Ordinariate, the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales
said in an official announcement.

Because the Catholic Church is not offering stipends or tied housing,
the take-up by clergy is expected to be relatively low at first as
many wait to see how it works before signing up.

About 1000 of the Church of England’s 13,000 parishes have voted
against women priests, with more than 360 opting for the care of a
“flying bishop”. Potentially, any of these would be candidates for the
Ordinariate once women become bishops.

The Church of England will not want to be left with hundreds of
churches abandoned by the majority or all of their congregation.
Officials have already accepted that church-sharing may take place
between the new Ordinariate congregation and the remnant of the old
Anglican one. Legal ownership of these churches would remain Anglican
but to all intents and purposes they would become Catholic.

Bishop Broadhurst said: “There are lots of people interested. Some are
actively looking at it. A lot of people are saying they will wait and
see how it develops. I can understand that. If you are a clergyman in
a parish with a wife and children, it is rather worrying. I suspect
thousands, not hundreds, of laity will go however.”

In a statement, the bishops said they believed that modern
developments, including women bishops, were “incompatible” with
historic Anglicanism.

As well as Bishop Broadhurst, they include two serving “flying
bishops” who care for parishes that oppose women priests - the Bishop
of Ebbsfleet, the Right Reverend Andrew Burnham, and the Bishop of
Richborough, the Right Reverend Keith Newton. The other two are the
retired Bishop of Richborough, the Right Reverend Edwin Barnes, and
the former Bishop of Ballarat in Australia, the Right Reverend David
Silk.

Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, accepted “with
regret” the resignations of the bishops of Ebbsfleet and Richborough,
who served as suffragans in his southern province, and wished them
well.

Related Link:

- Keys To Understanding How Revelation 17 Pictures Romanism
http://www3.telus.net/thegoodnews/rome.htm