A former Anglican bishop has urged Church leaders to prepare for a surge of Catholic conversions, as a historic Vatican visit by King Charles III coincided with a deepening division in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Source: UCA News.
“The Church of England has clearly decided to go the way of liberal Protestant denominations, abandoning any claims to be upholding the Catholic apostolic succession,” said Msgr Michael Nazir-Ali, who was one of several Anglican bishops received into the Catholic Church in 2021.
“We’re already seeing a significant new wave of conversions, and the Church needs to consider how best to respond,” he said.
The Pakistan-born former bishop was ordained a Catholic priest for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a diocese with Anglican traditions established under Pope Benedict XVI to help bring Anglicans in the United Kingdom into full communion with the Catholic Church.
He spoke as a Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON, claiming to represent at least half the world’s 85 million Anglicans, severed links with the Church of England over the appointment of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, accusing her of promoting “unbiblical and revisionist teachings”.
Msgr Nazir-Ali said he respected Anglicans who sought to uphold orthodox Christian teachings while remaining in their native church.
However, he added that GAFCON’s insistence on the autonomy of Anglican provinces in deciding their own doctrine, and on Scripture as the “sole foundation of communion,” would create further problems – leaving admission to the Catholic Church as the only option for many.
“The Catholic Church agrees Scripture is the highest authority in matters of faith — but relying on Scripture alone is dangerous,” Msgr Nazir-Ali said.
“Meanwhile, if each province is free to do what it likes, this is a recipe for chaos in today’s fast-changing world.”
Bishop Sarah Mullally of London was named 106th archbishop of Canterbury on October 3 after 10 months’ deliberation by a 20-member panel and has supported same-sex blessings and other liberal reforms in the Church of England, founded when King Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534.
A further dispute erupted ahead of King Charles’s visit to the Vatican on October 23.
Msgr Nazir-Ali said King Charles had approved Archbishop-designate Mullally’s appointment, as constitutionally required, but was not “personally implicated” in recent Church of England decisions.
However, he added that GAFCON provinces had signalled they would no longer attend the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference or other international meetings, making ties with Catholics harder.
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Former Anglican bishop predicts surge of conversions to Catholic Church (By Jonathan Luxmoore, OSV News via UCA News)
