Are ex-Anglicans getting stonewalled by liberal Catholics?

Allright, time to dip into some deeper waters now. I hope you've had your afternoon coffee.

Rod Dreher poses the question:

Do ex-Anglicans make the wrong kind of Catholics? You know, the kind who really believe the Catechism? I ask for two reasons. One, the Dallas Morning News reports today that priests of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth have been inquiring of the city's Roman Catholic bishop about their diocese coming over to Rome en masse, so to speak. No report on how the RC bishop, Kevin Vann, responded to the Episcopal priests' petition, though the Catholic diocese did confirm that the meeting took place.

... Well, if you were a Catholic bishop, you ought to find that inspiring. One hopes Bishop Vann does. But the example of a former Episcopal bishop of Fort Worth who wanted to convert to Rome but was sabotaged by Catholic clergy offers a cautionary tale, which is basically this: some Catholic clergy don't want those traddie Episcopalians, presumably because they would be a force for Catholic orthodoxy. A possible secondary reason: because keeping the church bureaucracy functioning, including maintaining good relations with bureaucrats in other churches, is more important than conversions.

And his eventual conclusion:

It also makes me think that if Rome is too powerless to bring over an Anglican bishop who the Pope has said he is "in communion" with because of the Baton Rouge priests council, or unwilling to help bring over 200+ whole Anglican parishes, how much power will they have or energy will they spend to help us? We may have to come to the same sad lesson that most of the Anglo-Catholic dissidents still in the Church of England came to: the bishops and priests don't want us, and Rome is unwilling or unable to help us. Therefore, we have to help ourselves.

I think Rod is being too pessimistic:

While the individual cases he cites are indeed troubling, it's a stretch to claim that they represent the usual way such requests are being handled. Indeed, if anything, his treatment of the topic might serve to raise awareness, and with heightened awareness, influence positive action being taken on behalf of these searching Anglicans.

Obviously, in these situations Bishops hold the ultimate responsibility (under the authority of the Pope) to oversee the conversion of traditional Anglicans into full communion with the Church. This is an entirely possible goal, and should be eagerly sought for by "liberals" and "conservatives" alike.

After all, if "liberals" are disconcerted by the prospect of conservative converts, what does that say about their own view of the Church?

Here I thought they were the inclusive ones.

CNA has also covered the original subject matter of this story.