by Fiona Parker, Telegraph
Study reveals ‘unequivocal surge’ in conversions following 1992 vote by General Synod to allow women to become priests
Hundreds of Anglican vicars have converted to Catholicism since the early 1990s, a study has found.
Roughly a third of all Catholic priests ordained between 1992 and 2024 were former Anglican clergy members.
In total, about 700 former Anglicans or members of the Scottish Episcopal Church have been received into the Catholic Church over the same period.
The study, carried out by St Mary’s University London, also identified 16 former Anglican bishops and two Continuing Anglican bishops who had converted over the same 32-year timespan.
The Continuing Anglican movement, principally based in North America, encompasses a number of churches that have an Anglican identity but are not part of the Anglican Communion.
Prof Stephen Bullivant, the study co-author, from St Mary’s Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society, said there was “unequivocally a surge” in conversions to Catholicism following a vote that allowed women to become Anglican vicars.
The General Synod vote, which took place in 1992, followed a five-and-a-half hour debate and was passed by a margin of just two votes within the Church of England’s parliament.