Ordinariates allow Anglicans opposed to developments including women bishops, gay clergy and same-sex blessings to convert to Rome while maintaining some of their traditions.

The Bishop of Brentwood, the Right Reverend Thomas McMahon, told BBC Essex the Anglicans were unhappy about the church's general move away from the traditions it once shared with Catholics, but described the decision as "a very big move".

Ordinariates allow Anglicans opposed to developments including women bishops, gay clergy and same-sex blessings to convert to Rome while maintaining some of their traditions.

The Bishop of Brentwood, the Right Reverend Thomas McMahon, told BBC Essex the Anglicans were unhappy about the church's general move away from the traditions it once shared with Catholics, but described the decision as "a very big move".

Despite these urgent practical needs, Father Newton was upbeat about the future of the Anglican ordinariate, saying that he hoped it would be "an evangelistic tool." He said that the bid to welcome Anglicans into the Catholic Church should be seen as "part of the Pope's vision for the evangelization of Europe."

While the emphasis of Anglicanorum coetibus is for Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church in groups, 28 Anglican priests in Australia have so far expressed their firm intention to take up Pope Benedict's offer.

The Traditional Anglican Communion, a group of disaffected Anglicans who have been seeking full communion with Rome for years, will host a festival in Perth on 26 February at Holy Family Catholic Church in Como for the Anglican Ordinariate for Australia.