Mass en Masse for Anglicans?

[FINAL UPDATE] For commentary and analysis above our pay grade, tune in to The Anchoress at First Things.

[UPDATED BELOW]

At 5:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, there is a press conference going on at the Vatican regarding the relations of "Anglicans" to the Holy See. At the same time, there is a press conference going on in London featuring the Archbishop of Canterbury (chief prelate of the Church of England) and the Archbishop of Westminster (de facto spokesman for the Catholic Church in England and Wales).  More HERE and HERE.

[UPDATE - 5:30] AP reports:

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has has created a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Joseph Levada, the Vatican's chief doctrinal official, said Tuesday the new legal entity will allow Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while maintaining their Anglican identity and many of their liturgical traditions.

Levada said the new structure is a response to the many requests that have come to the Vatican over the years from Anglicans who want to join. Many Anglicans have become disillusioned by the ordination of women, the election of openly gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions in the 77-million strong Anglican Communion.

[UPDATE - 6:06 A.M.] Reuters now reports:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict has approved a document that would make it easier for Anglicans to join the Roman Catholic Church.

The move comes after years of discontent in the 70 million-strong worldwide Anglican community about the liberal attitudes of some parts of the church toward women priests and homosexual bishops.

The Vatican said on Tuesday that the document, known as an "apostolic constitution," would provide a structure for Anglicans who want to join Catholicism, either individually or in groups, while maintaining some of their own traditions.

The move was announced at simultaneous news conferences in Rome and London.

The Vatican said the pope decided to prepare the document to respond "to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion."

More from The Guardian, and the never-reliable CBC.

[UPDATE - 7:00 a.m. EST]: Here is the official Vatican announcement.

[UPDATE - 7:10 a.m. EST] Finally, we hear from Canterbury:

The announcement of this Apostolic Constitution brings to an end a period of uncertainty for such groups who have nurtured hopes of new ways of embracing unity with the Catholic Church. It will now be up to those who have made requests to the Holy See to respond to the Apostolic Constitution.

The Apostolic Constitution is further recognition of the substantial overlap in faith, doctrine and spirituality between the Catholic Church and the Anglican tradition. Without the dialogues of the past forty years, this recognition would not have been possible, nor would hopes for full visible unity have been nurtured. In this sense, this Apostolic Constitution is one consequence of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion.

So Benedict XVI gives much, while the Archbishop of Canterbury has nothing left to give. Dare we say, "More mush from the wimp?" Or would that be too unkind, if accurate?