The Vatican took the bold step Tuesday of announcing a new and simplified process for thousands of disaffected conservative Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church en masse.

In a news conference held Tuesday in Rome, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, announced that Pope Benedict XVI had approved an "Apostolic constitution" to streamline the conversion of Anglicans.

The document will permit traditional Anglicans - many of whom reject female bishops and priests as well as the growing acceptance of homosexuality in the 77-million-member Anglican Communion - to maintain their liturgies and their clergy if they swear allegiance to Rome...