Archbishop of Canterbury to meet Pope Nov 21

Fri Oct 30, 2009

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict will hold talks with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on Nov 21 in their first meeting since a Vatican initiative making it easier for disaffected Anglicans to convert to Catholicism.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said on Friday the spiritual leader of the 77-million member worldwide Anglican communion will meet the pope while he is in Rome for a conference at a Rome pontifical university.

The meeting will take on great significance because it is their first since the Vatican announced a new structure on Oct 20 to welcome conservative Anglicans who want to convert.

The Vatican initiative could lead to hundreds of thousands of Anglican faithful, dozens of bishops and thousands of married Anglican priests converting to Catholicism. the rest