On Nov. 23, there was a meeting of the committee responsible for preparing the third phase of this commission. The communiqué explained that "this third phase will deal with fundamental questions regarding the Church as Communion Local and Universal, and how in communion the local and universal Church comes to discern right ethical teaching."

It reported that in the coming months members will be nominated to the commission and a date for its first meeting will be announced.

Anglican Internal Tensions

Anglicanism began as a political break between Henry VIII of England and the Catholic Church. In the years after the break, various groups have contended within Anglicanism, from low church congregationalists, to high church sacramentalists, from Evangelical Anglicans to Anglo-Catholics.

In a 20-minute meeting on Saturday Dr Williams complained to the Pope about the lack of consultation which had left him in an "awkward position".

A day before their meeting Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster told a press conference in London that the bishops had agreed at their November meeting in Leeds to appoint a commission to try to iron out obstacles to the group reception of Anglicans.

And then he gets a call from me, all excited about the new Apostolic Constitution, and the possibility of becoming part of an Ordinariate. I didn't stop to think that he hadn't been particularly waiting for this development. In fact, it hasn't been on his radar screen at all. So when he hears me, naturally his first reaction is, "What's your hurry?"