VATICAN CITY, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI asked bishops in the United Kingdom Monday to give a "warm and sincere welcome" to Anglican clergy wanting to join the Catholic Church.
"I am convinced that, if they are given a warm and sincere welcome, these groups will be a benediction for the whole Church," the pope said.
Queen Elizabeth, who is the Anglican Church's Supreme Governor, had not been notified in advance of the move, which allows groups of Anglicans entrance into full communion with the Vatican, ANSA reported.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams described the move as "a dawn raid on the Anglican communion," The Daily Telegraph reported.
The Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, said he thought the pope was urging bishops to help groups wanting to have "full communion" with the Catholic Church as an approach to traditional Anglicans who were disillusioned with liberalizations such as ordination of gay priests and women bishops, ANSA said.
"I do not think this constitution will be seen as in any sense a commentary on Anglican problems offered by the Vatican," Nichols said.
Nichols said "it had not been intended as a hostile act or to in any way destabilize the Church of England," the Telegraph reported.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined comment concerning the pope's official trip to Britain Sept. 16-19, prompting speculation the pope might not be offered full hospitality, the report said.
