Pope Benedict XVI's announcement last week that would welcome disaffected Anglicans into the Roman Catholic Church has created "some shock waves" but they are not "seismic", says the head of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Archbishop Fred Hiltz said the Pope's papal decree "is not entirely a new phenomenon. For a number of years, Rome has made provisions to individual Anglicans to be received. What is unique about this provision is that it responds to groups of Anglicans who have made special enquiries. Who these groups are has not been announced," he said in a
statement.
But the Anglican Communion's recent history has seen it ripped apart by the acceptance of homosexuality and same sex blessings by some dioceses (areas), especially in Canada and the U.S. The Anglican Church in North America was recently set up by Anglicans who do not accept the local church's decisions on these issues.
The Pope's decision creates a process that will make it easier for Anglicans to convert to Catholicism while still retaining certain aspects of Anglican tradition. The papal decree may also allow for married male Anglican clergy to become Catholic priests.
Archbishop Hiltz added, "From a Canadian perspective I do not see a groundswell of response to these provisions. I say this knowing that even among those who have separated themselves from the Anglican Church of Canada, there is an abiding desire to remain in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and to maintain a place within the family of churches we know as the Anglican Communion."
The Anglican Church in Canada has 641,845 members in 30 dioceses stretching from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland and north to the Arctic Ocean.
