The Independent reports the Pope is riding to the ABC's rescue

The Pope is leading an unprecedented drive by the Roman Catholic Church to prevent the fragmentation of the worldwide Anglican Communion ahead of the once-a-decade gathering of its 800 bishops, which begins today, The Independent has learnt.

In his first public comments on the Lambeth Conference, Pope Benedict XVI has warned Anglican leaders that they must find a "mature" and faithful way of avoiding "schism". On top of this the Pope has:

* Sent three cardinals to the conference in Canterbury, including one of his top aides from the Vatican, to act as personal intermediaries between the two churches;

* Let it be known that he does not support the defection of conservative Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church;

* Given behind-the-scenes support to the Archbishop of Canterbury's attempts to hold together the conservative and liberal wings of the Anglican Church, including at face-to-face meetings in Rome.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, [the ABC] Rowan Williams, faces a near-impossible task as he prepares to preside over the conference, at which bishops from around the world are gathering today for prayer and reflection. The Archbishop is hoping to keep the conference focused on substantial issues facing the church and the world, but it is overshadowed by disputes over women bishops and homosexuality.

FYI, here's what Pope Benedict XVI actually said.

Question: Holy Father, while you’re in Australia, the bishops of the Anglican Communion, which is quite large also in Australia, are meeting at the Lambeth Conference. One of the principal subjects regards various means for reinforcing communion among the provinces and finding a way to ensure that one or more provinces don’t take steps which others see as contrary to the Gospel or to tradition. There is a risk of a fragmentation in the Anglican Communion and the possibility that some Anglicans will ask to be received in the Catholic church. What’s your hope for the Lambeth Conference and the Archbishop of Canterbury? Thank you.

Benedict XVI: My essential contribution can only be prayer, and in my prayer I will be very close to the Anglican bishops who are meeting in the Lambeth Conference. We can’t, and we shouldn’t directly intervene in their discussions. We respect their own responsibility. Our hope is that schisms or new fractures can be avoided, and that a solution can be found that responds both to the needs of our time and also to fidelity to the Gospel. These two things must go together. Christianity is always contemporary and lives in this world, in a given time, but it makes present in this time the message of Jesus Christ, and therefore, it offers a true contribution for this time only by being faithful in a mature way, in a creative way that’s faithful to the message of Christ. We hope, and I personally pray, that they find together the path of the Gospel in our time. This is my wish for the Archbishop of Canterbury: that the Anglican Communion, in the communion of the Gospel of Christ and the Word of the Lord, finds responses to the current challenges.

Also, please note that the Traditional Anglican Communion, a worldwide body of Anglican Catholics, has not been part of the Canterbury Communion for a long time.

The way I read what the pope says is that he hopes the Anglican Communion will, as a whole, come to its senses, return to the Gospel and to following Jesus. We can all hope for that.

He was not saying that he hopes the Anglican Communion will just stay together, regardless of the basis for that unity.