Pope agrees to split diocese

By Antoine Lokongo POPE JOHN Paul 11 is expected to approve a proposal to split the Archdiocese of Southwark in two, a source close to the Vatican said this week.
The Vatican Congregation for Bishops is understood to have agreed "in principle" to the proposal to divide the huge archdiocese into two separate dioceses.
The congregation is said to back the proposal — which will involve the creation of new dioceses of Kent and South London— and has given its seal of approval.
But auxiliary Bishop John Jukes of Southwark said the archdiocese was still awaiting official confirmation of plans sent to the Vatican last year.
Bishop Jukes said: "The situation is that Archbishop Michael Bowen ordered a consultation of the diocese, which took place in May this year.
"And it was out of that consultation that we put together a very detailed report which was then sent to the Holy See.
"And that is where it rests. There has been no response since then."
The proposed new Diocese of Kent is expected to have a Catholic population of over half a million, many of whom currently live at a distance of over 70 miles from the archdiocese's cathedral in south London.