BY CRISTINA ODONE
CARDINAL BASEL HU/VIE met with the Archbishop of Canterbury last week to iron out difficulties caused by the possible exodus of disaffected Anglicans.
The Church leaders' talk last Friday was the first in a series of meetings, according to Canon Stephen Platten, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Ecumenical Adviser. The meetings aim to oversee the work of a commission set up last spring to address the problems raised by Anglican defections.
The commission, known as the Joint Pastoral Consultative Group, is to "offer sensible pastoral care for those Anglicans who choose to become Roman Catholics," Canon Platten told the Catholic Herald.
According to Fr Peter Verity at the Catholic Media Office, the Archbishop and the Cardinal will not be attending further meetings of the Pastoral Group "they both attended the first meeting to show their commitment to theidea". Both Westmin
ster and Lambeth have stressed that the matters discussed during the Commission sessions will not be made public: "media attention at this stage would not prove very helpful", according to Fr Verity.
More than 150 Anglican priests have already approached the Catholic bishops to enter into full communion with Rome but despite the Vatican's statement last week, which Bishop Graham Leonard, the former bishop of London, called "encouraging", several obstacles