There is much twitching of cassocks with news that the remains of a 19th century Englishman are to be dug up from one cemetery in the West Midlands and transferred to the more splendid surroundings of Birmingham Oratory.
The body belongs to the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, who is the second most famous Anglican convert to Catholicism, the top spot obviously occupied by Tony Blair, who presented Pope Benedict XVI with antique pictures of the cardinal when they met last June.
Newman's removal is all the more significant for God-watchers, who see it is a sign that the Victorian cleric could be declared a saint as early as December - something of a miracle considering the normally arduous process involved with beatification.
The move, carried out at the behest of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has also led to speculation that a speedy sainthood could coincide with a Vatican lifeline being thrown to Church of England traditionalists opposed to women bishops.
Talk of defecting to Rome is rife, although there are no real short cuts as the bishop of Ebbsfleet himself admits. Benedict has previously urged squabbling elements to hug it out - rather than storming off - so it would be most unholy of him to publicly cash in on a crisis.
Add to this not one but two Vatican officials swooping into Canterbury to issue a polite reminder for Anglicans to stay together and, officially anyway, the position is clear. Whether the assembled primates and prelates will take any notice is another matter. Bishop Burnham would be barred from being a bishop - he is married - but he wants to be able to take his flocks with him.
Not literally of course. A device called Anglican Use would allow disaffected parishioners to have their cake and eat it too and would be a way for Rome to welcome newcomers without rubbing salt into the wounds. From the Vatican viewpoint, it is far better, not to mention more diplomatic, to receive than to give.
Photograph: Herbert Barraud/Hulton Archive
