Nice try, Holy Father, but...............

So Rome thinks that by passing some new Apolstolic Constitution great swathes of the more traditional Anglican Communion are going to come cap in hand to the Holy See, begging for admission to the club?

Well, I'm sorry, but it simply won't happen. The vast majority of those Anglicans who have, misguidedly in my opinion, joined the ranks of Gafcon or the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) have virtually nothing in common with the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) other than their objection to women in authority within the church and their other persistent, outmoded and bigoted approach to homosexuals in ministry. Actually, given the number of gay clergy within RC ranks I'm sure they would have problems with that too.

Ok. That leaves all those lovely Anglican Catholics, distressed, firstly, about women priests and now, secondly, women bishops. It is likely that most of the former have already simply joined the RCC in the past two decades rather than wait for this piece of Jesuitical casuistry. Those remaining already have a functioning system of separate episcopal oversight that allows them to retain their Catholic identity as well as a liturgical pattern that is deeply rooted in the Oxford Movement and spares them the blandness and banality of so much Vatican 2 worship.

This constitution does nothing to address the questions arising that relate to Anglican orders and their validity. Priests moving over to Rome will still have to treat their present orders as invalid (deeply offensive after years of faithful ministry to God's people, pastorally and at the altar), and married bishops will be able to be priests but would never again be allowed to play any significant role in the life of the church at the higher echelons - what a waste of talent.

In short, it is hard to see what Benedict thinks there is to be gained by this measure. Sure, he will successfully manage to poach a few individuals, no doubt. But I can't see any lasting benefit to a parish that is currently enjoying a fully Catholic liturgical life under male episicopal oversight within the Anglican fold.

In a real sense, living out the Catholic vocation in that setting is far more ecumenical than submitting to the 'infallibility' and 'unity' offered yesterday by the Bishop of Rome.