His statement makes clear that celibacy will be the norm for priests in the Ordinariate - but does not rule out the possibility of married seminarians becoming priests, so long as the local Ordinary, the bishops' conference and the Holy See agree that an exception should be made. My reading of this document is that it does not completely close the door on the possibility of future married seminarians being ordained.

This was not because of translation problems but "something more serious", Mr Tornielli said. There was still debate behind the scenes over priestly celibacy, the "most sensitive point for public opinion".

When asked last week about admission into the Catholic Church of married Anglican priests under the new rules, Cardinal William Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, replied that requests would be judged "on a case by case basis".

Those divisive issues caused the San Joaquin Diocese to become the first diocese in the nation to leave the Episcopal Church in December 2007. The theologically conservative Fresno-based Anglican San Joaquin Diocese represents about 40 parishes from Lodi to Bakersfield, including St. Francis in Turlock, St. Matthias in Oakdale, the historic "Red Church" (St. James) in Sonora and St. Luke's in Merced.

On Sunday, Dr Hind put out a rebuttal of a report in The Sunday Telegraph, which thought that he had announced during a question-and-answer session at the Assembly that he was about to become a Roman Catholic. "This is not the case," his statement said.