Former Anglican bishop speaks out. (England).

At a Path to Rome congress of converts to Catholicism held in Madrid in early November 2001, the Zenit News agency obtained an interview with Monsignor Graham Leonard. The Monsignor was formerly the Anglican Bishop of London, England, and is now an honorary prelate of His Holiness, the Pope, employed in giving spiritual retreats to diocesan and monastic clergy in England.

The interview concentrated on the reasons for his conversion to Catholicism. Msgr. Leonard explained that this was not a sudden decision; he had been concerned for many years about events in the Anglican church. Particularly, he was concerned over private individual interpretations of the faith and realized that this "adaptation of the faith to the needs of the moment" was what triggered the birth of his former church in the 16th century. Uncomfortable with many recent changes, he described the Church of England's decision to accept women priests as the "detonator" which sparked off his departure.

He notes that both he and other exAnglican priests have been made to feel very welcome in the Catholic Church. Although he has noticed dissension among Catholics, which he also attributes to subjective attitudes, he has confidence in God and "in the Church He has given us." Above all, he advocates the primacy of the Pope as an essential to achieve real unity in truth.