As expected, Anglicanorum coetibus did not revise the discipline of priestly celibacy - an issue that was hotly debated when the Apostolic Constitution was first announced. Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith clarified last week that priestly celibacy would be observed in an ordinariate, but that married men could be ordained on a case-by-case basis. A day before the document's publication, Pope Benedict XVI strongly affirmed the Church's commitment to priestly celibacy during a Mass in Brescia, Pope Paul VI's birthplace.

Surprising aspects of the document include the provision that married former Anglican bishops can serve as the ordinary, or head of an ordinariate, take part in bishops' conference meetings and be able to keep the episcopal insignia - for example, their crosier and mitre. Former Anglican clergymen entering the Catholic priesthood in the ordinariate would be allowed to take secular jobs, providing them with a means of supporting themselves. Cardinal Levada said the provision "opens a new avenue for the promotion of Christian unity while, at the same time, granting legitimate diversity in the expression of our common faith".

Speaking on the day the document was published, the Rt Rev Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, who is one of the Church of England's "flying bishops" who minister to Anglicans who do not accept women priests, said that traditionalists have been given what they asked for "handsomely". He said that any transition would be difficult and it was a time for prayer and discernment.

"If we're open-hearted and imaginative enough to accept the offer and realise that it will be an untidy transition, but that the ministry is not about that, then the difficulties can be overcome," he said.

Bishop Burnham has chosen February 22 as the day for his priests and faithful to make their "initial" decision about the offer. The day falls after the Church of England's General Synod session.

He said: "If Catholics could throw open the doors of their churches on that day and pray together with Anglicans in front of the Blessed Sacrament or have Forty Hours, I think we could see some amazing things."

In a statement on Monday, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster said: "I welcome the publication of the Apostolic Constitution and the complementary norms. This now makes clear the provision made by the Holy See and enables those who have made requests to the Holy See to study it in detail.

"It is important to remember that this is a response to requests made to the Holy See by Anglicans and former Anglicans from across the world. It is not a provision specifically for England and Wales and clearly there is much reflection to be done by all concerned." The Rt Rev Christopher Hill, Bishop of Guildford and chairman of the Church of England's Council for Christian Unity, said: "It will now be for those who have requested and at this point feel impelled to seek full communion with the Roman Catholic Church to study the Apostolic Constitution carefully in the near future and to consider their options."

He stressed that the Apostolic Constitution did not deflect from the Church of England's "longstanding commitment to seeking the unity of all the churches, including the Roman Catholic Church".

Canon Robin Ward, the principal of St Stephen's House, an Anglican theological college and a Permanent Private Hall at Oxford University, said: "The Apostolic Constitution establishes just the sort of jurisdiction which traditionalist Anglicans have asked of the Church of England and not received, and in doing so it has also resolved the ecumenical aspiration to complete the work of ARCIC in visible unity which those who asked for the jurisdiction said they wanted.

"It is difficult to see how a refusal to accept this could leave traditionalist Anglicans with any ecumenical aspirations at all in the future. "The respect given to the idea of Anglican patrimony, and the resolve to preserve it in the future for those who value it as a contribution to the whole Catholic Church, is a remarkable endorsement of the real value of the Catholic Movement in the Church of England, which could not have happened without the ecumenical imperative laid down by the Second Vatican Council."

The Rt Rev John Broadhurst, Bishop of Fulham and chairman of Forward in Faith International, the main organisation for conservative Anglo-Catholics, said Anglicanorum coetibus was "extremely impressive".

He added that Rome had offered "exactly what the Church of England has refused".

He said: "For some of us I suspect our bluff is called. This is both an exciting and dangerous time for Christianity in this country. Those who take up this offer will need to enter into negotiation with the Church of England about access to parish churches and many other matters."

Personal ordinariates will be led by an ordinary, who can be a celibate bishop or a priest who may be married. The ordinary may also be a former Anglican bishop who is married and has been ordained a Catholic priest.

Fr Benjamin Earl OP, a canon lawyer, explained the role of the ordinary.

He said: "The ordinary has 'vicarious' authority rather than 'proper' authority, which means he won't govern in his own name (as a diocesan bishop or military ordinary would), but in the name of the Holy Father. The ordinary is appointed ad nutum Sanctae sedis (literally 'on the nod of the Holy See'): unsurprisingly, there will be close supervision of these new structures."

A personal ordinariate can cover an area as large as the territory covered by a bishops' conference, though some bishops' conferences might have more than one ordinariate. The document establishes that an ordinariate will have a governing council which will take the place of the council of priests and the college of consulters, which is the cathedral chapter in many dioceses in England and Wales. The governing council would consist of at least six priests.

Stephen Parkinson, director of Forward in Faith UK, said he had not expected the clause which allows former Anglican clergy to take up secular work as well as being ordained in the Catholic Church. He said this aspect of the provision could solve problems for Anglican clergy considering taking up the offer.

He said: "Priests of the ordinariate might be ministering to a congregation that is not large enough to support them. They might be starting from scratch, without a church building and would have to find a way to beg, buy, borrow a building. But this might open a number of doors for people."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is due to meet Pope Benedict at the Vatican on November 21.

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