Vatican Official on Rumors of Traditional Anglican Communion

The Internet has been buzzing with rumors about the Traditional Anglican Communion. One Vatican official is saying that such a union is highly unlikely.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - Recent rumors that have been circulating on the Internet about an impending reception of the Traditional Anglican Communion by the Catholic Church are not accurate. According to Msgr. Marc Langham, an official at the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the reports on blogs and from other media outlets "do not correspond to the truth." The statements were made during an interview with SIR News.

"We have not been informed that this is going to happen," he told SIR. "Maybe the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is more informed but we have not received any update.

"All we know is what we have read on newspapers and on some blogs. What is on the Internet and in the press seems quite strange. It seems to me to be very unlikely," he continued.

Msgr. Langham further explained that conversion is a personal process, which would make the reception of a group with so many people hardly acceptable.In addressing the specific situation with the Traditional Anglican Communion, he brought up several cautions, not the least of which was the issue of married bishops.

Archbishop John Hepworth, the leader of the TAC, has been married twice. "Therefore he is not in the position to be accepted as a bishop," Langham stated.

Other concerns involved such things as the accuracy of the TAC's actual numbers, doubting they have a half-million communicants. Their status as a denomination is also a problem since they are not recognized by the Anglican Communion.

Sources within the Traditional Anglican Communion have reported that Archbishop Hepworth and other bishops have offered to resign if their position would threaten reception. Correspondence with the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith by the TAC also reportedly left the conditions of unity totally up to the Holy See.

The bishops, as a group, signed a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a sign of their unity of purpose and allegiance to the Magisterium.

Catholic Online is watching the situation very carefully and will keep our readers updated on further developments concerning this very important subject.

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Randy Sly was baptized into the Episcopal Church. After having wandered from the faith, he experienced a genuine conversion as an adult and became a Wesleyman Minister. His journey through the early fathers led him to his time as an Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. He and his wife Sandy were received into the full communion of the Catholic Church three years ago.

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