One in three priestly ordinations that occurred in Great Britain between 1992 and 2024 were of former Anglican clergy who converted to Catholicism, new research has discovered.
The study, conducted by the Benedict XVI Centre for Religious, Ethics and Society at St Mary’s University, Twickenham in London, found that around 700 formerly Anglican clergy and religious entered the Catholic Church between 1992 and 2024. An estimated 491 clergy were ordained in the Catholic Church — five permanent deacons and 486 priests. The number of conversions includes 16 former Anglican bishops, according to the research report.
According to The Times, the shift to Catholicism was partly driven by the Church of England’s approval of women’s ordination in 1992. The Anglican Church began ordaining women as priests in 1994. More recently, Sarah Mullally was named the first female Archbishop of Canterbury in early October. Additionally, Cherry Vann was enthroned as the first female Archbishop of Wales earlier this month, the outlet reported.
The report found that for formerly Anglican clergy, the most conversions to Catholicism occurred in 1994. A large number of conversions also occurred in 2011, following Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 creation of the Anglican Ordinariate, which made it easier for Anglican clergy to convert, and his visit to Great Britain in 2010.
According to The Times, even Catholic bishops had not realized just how many priests have converted from the Church of England. Stephen Bullivant, leader of the report and a professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St Mary’s, told The Times that the numbers “are much larger than most people — including the Catholic bishops we’ve spoken to — would imagine.”
Independent Catholic News reported that Bullivant said the research “offers new insights into an important yet understudied area of Christian life in Britain.”
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