Anglican bishops meet Vatican officials to plot 'cloak and dagger' plan to convert to Catholicism



Leading bishops in the Church of England have secretly told Vatican officials they are ready to defect to Rome, it was claimed on Sunday.

Senior Anglican bishops met the Pope's advisers for 'cloak and dagger' talks about plans which would allow large numbers of clergy to convert to Catholicism.

Traditionalists have been angered over the introduction of women bishops, due to be debated at a crucial General Synod meeting in July.

Battlelines: Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, pictured (right) during a reception with Pope Benedict XVI last year, has urged Anglican bishops not to leave the church

A group of bishops travelled to Rome last week to hold face-to-face discussions with officials from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the most powerful department of the Vatican.

The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, the Rt Rev Keith Newton and the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, the bishops of Fulham, Richborough and Ebbsfleet, discussed how clergy could convert to Catholicism, it was reported



The move is likely to raise tensions between the two churches, ahead of Pope Benedict's visit to Britain in September.

One bishop was said to have compared the summit to 'a declaration of war'.

More than 1,300 clergy have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, threatening to leave if women are consecrated as bishops.

The Church of England has voted in favour of female bishops but has yet to work out how the legislation will be implemented.

Plans for the Pope's visit have already been mired in controversy because of the child abuse scandals and the leaked Foreign Office memo, suggesting Pope Benedict launch a condom range and visit an abortion clinic during his time here.

An email sent by Bishop Burnham earlier this year revealed the degree of secrecy surrounding the Vatican talks.

'It has all felt a little bit like Elizabethan espionage,' he wrote. 'This is not known about fully in England and Wales... Hence the cloak and dagger.'

The Vatican opened the doors for Anglican clergy to convert last year, when it set out detailed plans to allow them to serve as Roman Catholic priests.