UK archbishop says Pope not fishing for Anglicans

(September 4, 2010) The leader of the Catholics in England in Wales rejected accusations that Pope Benedict XVI was fishing for converts and said "delicate and difficult" issues existed between his church and the Anglican Communion. His comments came two weeks before Pope Benedict's Sept. 16-19 trip to England and Scotland, the first papal visit since Pope John Paul II's pastoral visit in 1982 and the first-ever official papal visit to Britain. Relations between the two churches have been tense since the pope offered disaffected Anglicans opposed to their church's ordination of women and homosexual bishops the chance to convert to Catholicism while keeping some of their traditions. "There are delicate, difficult issues between our two churches at the moment," Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, head of the 5.2 million Catholics in England and Wales, told Reuters. But, Cardinal Nichols said the offer came after groups of Anglicans repeatedly asked for a response to their request for special provision to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. Hence he said the Pope was responding to requests and not fishing for converts. Pope Benedict is due to meet Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual head of the Anglican Communion and leader of its mother church, the Church of England, during his UK visit.