Anglican archbishop to meet with pope

By William Wan

Two recent developments following the Catholic Church's surprising overtures last month to Anglicans. First, the Vatican has confirmed that Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on Nov. 21.

Rowan's purported reason for visiting Rome, according to news reports, is "the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Willebrands, a Dutch cardinal who was a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism and who died in 2006." A Vatican spokesman says Rowan's visit was planned before the pope's stunning announcement on Oct. 20, opening the Catholic Church to disaffected Anglicans.

The second development is a clarification issued by Catholic leaders about how the conversion of married Anglican priests will mesh with the Catholic tradition of celibate priest. When news broke of the Catholic invitation to Anglicans, one of the first things I was hearing from scholars was the intriguing question of whether this would create a new branch of Catholicism with married clergy.

Well, Catholic leaders shut down that idea on Friday by issuing a clarification that essentially says only current Anglican priests and seminarians will be allowed to become Catholic priests. Find some analysis of the decision here. And the actual clarification here.

By William Wan  |  November 3, 2009; 9:24 AM ET  | Category:  God in Government
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