Some parishes will be left without priests as disaffected Anglicans defect to Rome, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned yesterday.

Members of the Church of England can join the Roman Catholic Church while maintaining aspects of their spiritual heritage under a scheme announced last year by the Vatican.

But Archbishop Rowan Williams said vicars “jumping ship” through the ordinariate would pose a practical challenge.

Speaking to Vatican Radio during a visit to Rome, he said: “There will be at least some parishes which will now be without priests so we have a practical challenge here and there to supply.”

Another difficulty would be “sorting out what is really going to be possible” for the proposed shared use of churches, he added.

Some traditionalists opposed to the ordination of women bishops have already announced their intentions to convert to Catholicism.

But, Archbishop Williams said, not everyone saw conversion as the solution.

“There are still a great many Anglicans who call themselves traditionalist who have no intention of jumping ship at this point, who are in considerable confusion and distress at the moment,” he said.

“But they don’t necessarily think that, if the Church of England isn’t working for them, the only option is Rome.”

It was announced last week that five bishops were to convert to Rome under the Vatican scheme.

Archbishop Williams said he felt “regret and respect” at the resignations and insisted there was no ill-feeling.

The Archbishop met privately with Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday.