After centuries of conflict, some members of the Catholic and Anglican Churches will soon get the change they are seeking. But the change will not come on a local level.Pope Benedict XVI announced last week the Catholic Church is open to groups of Anglicans who wish to convert to Roman Catholicism, following complaints from Anglican members.  Than Vu, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church on campus, said the pope’s announcement deals with larger groups of Anglicans or Episcopalians — local parishes, like Christ the King, won’t see much of a change.”Individuals can always convert, that happens all the time,” he said. “The new initiative will allow whole Anglican communities to convert — it happens on a diocesan level.”Vu said the pope is trying to bring unity among Christians and promote diversity. He said the pope’s announcement makes it easier for certain groups to return to the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church constantly changes, but he said he is unsure of the future implications from the current change, Vu said. “This goes back to the situation in the early Catholic Church,” he said. This step is moving the right direction, but welcoming them back is nothing extraordinary. [The two religions] have been very similar for a long time.”Michael Pasquier, religious studies professor, said the dialogue between the Catholic and Anglican Church — which has been underway since World War I — has endured a deepening separation in recent years because of social and cultural reasons. The Anglican Church ordains women, gays and lesbians, which has taken heat from many conservative members of the Anglican Church, Pasquier said.”For some members, ordination of these groups was the last straw,” he said. “Anglican groups started asking the pope for a lifeboat.”Pasquier said the pope’s move will have different effects for various groups.”Where there’s unifying effects for some, there’s division for others,” he said. “It’s too simple to say this is an act of unification.”Andrew Rollins, chaplain of St. Alban’s Episcopal Chapel on campus, said it’s too early to determine the future implications because the Vatican has not released many of the details. He said the pope’s announcement was thoughtful.”The pope is responding to a request that has been made for a number of years,” Rollins said. Jaclyn Dale, biological sciences junior, said she thinks the announcement is a step in the right direction.”People think the Catholic Church is against all other religions — there’s been too much bad blood,” she said. “It’s good to be welcoming for other faiths.”Robby Abboud, marketing sophomore, said allowing groups of Anglicans to join the church makes sense.”Who are we to say, ‘No,’ to groups expressing interest,” he said. Pasquier said he doesn’t know the future impact of the pope’s announcement, but thinks it will have a negative effect on the official ecumenical discussions.”Ultimately, this will have a cooling effect on the decades-long dialogue between the Anglicans and Catholics,” he said.—-Contact Steven Powell at [email protected]