According to the London Times: "Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year . . . The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches. In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope" (Feb. 19, 2007, emphasis added throughout).

Anglicans number about 78 million adherents worldwide—dwarfed, of course, by a billion Roman Catholics. Previously the Catholic Church was flexible on celibacy when it received married Anglican priests, who had left the Anglican fold over the issue of women priests. Open tolerance to homosexuality in the priesthood residing in a part of the American Anglican communion remains repugnant to Roman Catholics.

This news of potential unity breaks at the same time that "Roman Catholicism is set to become the dominant religion in Britain for the first time since the Reformation because of massive migration from Catholic countries," especially from Eastern Europe (The Times, Feb. 15, 2007).

Watch what happens in the mainstream Christian churches. For useful background information that will help you understand their history, request or download our free booklet The Church Jesus Built. (Source: The Times [London].)