John Paul then came up with a "novel" idea: while not offering for discussion anything essential regarding the Petrine office, John Paul was prepared, he said, to discuss with other Christians how to "exercise" the office of the See of Peter in a way acceptable to Orthodox and Protestant Christians separated from Rome.

For several decades now, the Catholic Church has been engaged in formal dialogue with both Orthodox and Protestant branches of Christianity. On the Orthodox front, there seems to have been a number of notable gains. But there have also been interesting developments with Protestant Churches. The most significant was the 1998 joint statement on justification by the Catholic and Lutheran Churches. This issue was a central one at the time of the Reformation.

Perhaps the most complex relationship, however, is that between the Catholic and Anglican Churches. In recent years, the Church of England has appeared to be moving in a more Protestant direction, through decisions in some of the branches affiliated with the Anglican Communion to ordain women, for instance. These issues have been a source of contention inside the 27-million worldwide Anglican communion.

The recent decision of the US Episcopal Church to ordain Gene Robinson, a practicing homosexual, as the 9th bishop of New Hampshire, threatens to fracture this unity, with the churches in Africa and Asia severing ties. Even in the Western world, several dioceses have expressed disquiet over these developments, and the Anglican communion has seen the phenomenon of "flying bishops" ministering to disaffected congregations from other countries.

Part of the problem for the Anglicans stems from the nature of their communion. Each province is independent, and while the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williamson, has the distinction of being the first among equals in the worldwide church, he has no jurisdiction over the individual churches.

Despite these problems, immense efforts have been expended to prevent the Anglican communion from sliding further and further into division. Following the unilateral decision of the Episcopal Church to ordain an openly gay bishop, the primates of the communion set up a working body known as the Lambeth Commission to assess the impact of this and other decisions on the worldwide body. This report was released in September 2004. The report was critical of the decision to ordain gay bishops, but at the same time said this should not be a basis for disunity. It also criticized the "flying bishops" who it said had no authority in other jurisdictions.

It is in the epicenter of this crisis that an obscure Anglo-Catholic group is emerging, and the latest news is that they are engaging in talks directly with the Holy See, in order to facilitate recommunion.

Known under the umbrella title of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), its worldwide primate is Archbishop John Hepworth of Australia. This group has emerged as a reaction to disturbing trends its members say they have seen inside the Anglican Church over several decades.

In 1968, a meeting of concerned Episcopalians in the US, both clergy and lay, was held in Mobile, Alabama. From that meeting emerged the "American Episcopal Church."

In 1977, a "Congress of Concerned Churchmen" took place in St. Louis, Missouri. There a statement called "The Affirmation of St. Louis" was adopted; it affirmed that the faith and tradition given to the Catholic (Universal) Church was unalterable, and consisted of the Church's Faith and Tradition, the essential doctrines of Christian belief, based on the essential foundations of the Holy Scriptures, the writings of the early Fathers of the Church, the authority of general councils, and the apostolic ministry of male bishops, priests and deacons. This had to be articulated, because in 1976, the first ordinations of women to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church had taken place in the US.

From the group in St. Louis emerged another Anglican breakaway group, known as the "Anglican Catholic Church:" It was headed by Archbishop Louis Falk.

In 1991, a special synod was held in Deerfield Beach, Florida, at which members of the "American Episcopal Church," almost half of the "Anglican Catholic Church," and others who had reordered their Anglican witness at the Congress in St. Louis, united in one body to form "The Anglican Church in America" as the continuation of genuine Anglicanism in that country.

Another reason why there had been so much concern, in addition to the issue of the gender of the priesthood, were liberal views relating to the interpretation of the Gospels and the Scriptures, particularly the denial of a bodily resurrection of Christ; but also equivocal stances taken on some moral issues like abortion and homosexuality.

In 1990, at a meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the "Traditional Anglican Communion" was created through the amalgamation of 12 break-away Anglican Churches throughout the world. Archbishop Falk, who was the de facto leader of breakaway Anglicans in the United States, was elected the first primate of the "Traditional Anglican Communion."

This body accepted the seven sacraments, the first seven Ecumenical Councils, and the three early creeds (the Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian). Very quickly in their history, the idea of reunification with the Roman Catholic Church gained currency. The bishops of the "Traditional Anglican Communion" received their orders from the Polish National Catholic Church, which also has been going through its own reunification talks with the Church of Rome.

In 1994, the first visit to Rome of the bishops of the "Traditional Anglican Communion" took place. Soon after, dialogue talks commenced with the Holy See's Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The "Traditional Anglican Communion" would like to maintain their liturgy and discipline while being united with the Church of Rome, in a way similar to some of the Greek Catholics, who celebrate the Byzantine liturgy but are in union with Rome. They claim that what they offering the rest of Christendom is a chance to experience the beauty of Christianity as practiced in England before the Reformation. Of course, this is problematic from the point of view of the Catholic Church. The "Traditional Anglican Communion" has not only married priests, but also married bishops - the latter a discipline not practiced by either Catholic or Orthodox Churches.

But Archbishop John Hepworth, the new primate as of a few years ago, has said, "We have no doctrinal differences with Rome." In 2003, Hepworth was invited, as they like to say, "up the road" to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They are exploring the possibility for churches not in union with Rome to achieve communion, as stated in canons 271 to 273 of the new Code of Canon Law. This was done recently with the Latin Mass community in Campos, Brazil.

Archbishop Hepworth, who has been a political scientist at the University of Adelaide, says, "Unity with the Church is not (just) an option:" He has said the climate is brewing for the "Traditional Anglican Communion" to be the 27th ecclesial group accepted into communion with Rome and the first church "touched by the Reformation" to do so.

When this happens, he expects many Anglicans who have been disturbed about the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of an openly gay bishop in the US will join the "Traditional Anglican Communion" in moving toward communion with Rome.

It has been widely rumored that Archbishop Peter Akinola, a Nigerian Anglican bishop who has been possibly the most outspoken leader against the innovative trends in the worldwide communion, has reportedly said to Hepworth, "If you can work out a deal with Rome, make sure we are included:" Archbishop Hepworth, while not commenting directly on such matters, does indicate that this new "Uniate Church" will be a way dissatisfied Anglican people could find their way back to the Catholic Church.

"Unity with Peter is a biblical imperative," Hepworth says. He is not perturbed regarding the idea of married bishops. He said a Canadian "Traditional Anglican Communion" bishop remarked recently, "St. Peter was not a bachelor."

Part of the problem with the dialogue with Rome is that Archbishop Hepworth used to be a Catholic priest, but left in 1976 to join the Anglo-Catholic diocese of Ballarat in Australia.

For that reason he is sober about his future prospects. "If reunion is facilitated with Rome, I will immediately resign as primate. Many of us have problematic histories. After many years of service, I would be happy if they sent me yachting."

"My broad vision is to see the end of the Reformation of the 16th century, and I am in conversation with disaffected Lutherans in Europe," he said, commenting upon other groups who would like to achieve reunion with Rome.

Archbishop Hepworth said if Christians truly believe in the notion of an undivided Church, they ought to discover what it takes to find unity with both East and West and "be liberated from everything that stops it."

Perhaps we are seeing the Holy Father's vision fulfilled before our very eyes.

Andrew Rabel writes from Australia.