Less than a year after he left the Episcopal Church for the Roman Catholic Church, the Rt. Rev. Clarence C. Pope has returned to full membership in the Episcopal Church.

The retired Bishop of Fort Worth said there were two reasons for his change of heart.

"After the rescript came back from Rome, calling for absolute rather than conditional ordination, I began to rethink what I was about to do," he said. "The reality of ordination seemed to imply a denial of my Anglican vocation and ministry. My sense of vocation as a bishop had re-emerged in such a way that I knew I needed to exercise it again.

"Also, I experienced a growing sense that I had abandoned a large section of traditional Episcopalians and felt very guilty for doing so."

Bishop Pope's successor as Bishop of Fort Worth, the Rt. Rev. Jack Iker, said, "We rejoice in this decision, and we welcome home Bishop Pope and Martha with open arms and much love."

The Popes had been received into membership in the Roman Catholic Church by Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston in February at a ceremony at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Arlington, Texas, which formerly had been an Episcopal congregation.

Details of the Popes' return to the Episcopal Church were worked out in consultation with Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning. Bishop Pope withdrew his letter of resignation from the House of Bishops, which was to have acted upon it at that body's meeting in Portland, Ore., Sept. 22-28. "This church is his home, his family, and with joy we welcome him home," Bishop Browning said in a letter to bishops.

"My action should in no way be interpreted as a theological criticism of the Roman Catholic Church or those former Anglicans now living in peace in that communion," Bishop Pope said. "The problem is not the Catholic Church, but is me."

Bishop Pope said he first moved toward the Roman Catholic Church based on the hope of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). He said he hopes the ARCIC dialogues proceed to full intercommunion between the two churches.

"I'm afraid, however, that I tended to idealize the Roman Catholic Church based on my reading of the Vatican II documents," he said. "The reality is much different.

"This experience has reinforced my earlier understanding of Anglicanism, that there is a catholicity and legitimacy to it in spite of all that has happened to it."

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the Popes "officially returned to the Episcopal Church recently when they took communion at St. Luke's Church in Baton Rouge," where Bishop Pope was rector for 22 years.