A former Anglican bishop said on Sunday that he hopes that by becoming a Catholic he can help the persecuted worldwide and “support Christians closer to home who are marginalized and hounded.”

In an article for the Daily Mail newspaper on Oct. 17, Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali, the former bishop of Rochester, England, explained why he became a Catholic within the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham on Sept. 29.

The 72-year-old who was once considered a possible future Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the world’s 85 million Anglicans, described entering into full communion with the Catholic Church as a “bittersweet moment.”

“Bitter, because I am deeply saddened that the Church of England is not the church I joined. There are many individual parishes, priests, and believers who remain committed to biblical faith and values. But as an institution it seems to be losing its way,” he said.

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