But he said people of either church "should not seek to leave and join the other church because of a particular issue that they may disagree with, but rather express a total acceptance of all that the particular church they are joining stands for. Anger and being disgruntled are not good qualities to bring to a church fellowship."

The Archbishop doubted that many Anglicans would join the Catholic Church "as Anglicans have concerns regarding Papal authority and infallibility, the power of bishops, the lack of a voice for the laity, celibacy as a prescribed format for priesthood, marriage after divorce, understandings regarding the mass" among other things.

And he said the decision by Rome to allow married Anglicans to serve as priests "does raise questions for Rome regarding the celibacy rule".

But he said "the creative dialogue prompted by the announcement will be good for enhancing the relationships of both the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches".

The head of the Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal George Pell, said the Vatican's offer to Anglicans was a "welcome development and the links forged over the last 40 years or so mean that it shouldn't cause too much heartburn".

Theologian Charles Sherlock, who is registrar of the Melbourne College of Divinity and a canon of St Paul's Anglican Cathedral in Melbourne, said while individual Anglicans "have been moving to Rome for years", each had been treated as an individual.

"This shifts the ground of individuals to groups," he said. "A few one-off groups have moved but now a single model is to apply across the board. This is probably the most significant Anglican-Vatican event since the visit of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey, to Rome in 1966, which inaugurated formal dialogue.

This time, it seems that (Archbishop of Canterbury) Rowan Williams was caught by surprise, with a fortnight's notice, and with no opportunity to respond."

He said the "horse had bolted" in the US, where the most interested (or conservative) groups had already left the Anglicans for Rome. Further, large-scale moves in the Church of England "could alter the shape of Anglican communion and possibly liberate it".

"The Anglican churches I know continue to struggle with how best to respond to receiving, celebrating, living out and passing on the faith, according to the scriptures," he said.

In Inquirer today, the global primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, Archbishop John Hepworth, tells Christopher Pearson that when the ordination of women to the priesthood came to Australia and England, "Catholic-minded Anglicans split into two groups".

END