Many of them received at least putatively valid orders from Old Catholics. So they had could remain orthodox, practicing a Catholic liturgy and accepting Catholic doctrine while in an irregular status, or else be completely subsumed under an English Catholic hierarchy largely overrun with modernism, the priest separated from his flock and told to report to a homosexual pastor perhaps dozens of miles away, and the people sent to the local parish mambo Mass—scandalous situations not conducive to Christian life.
The beauty of Pope Benedict's Apostolic Constitution is that if more than one or two priests and parishes wish to be received into the Church, the Church will create a Personal Ordinariate for them, largely shielding them from whatever nonsense is going on in the local Roman Catholic diocese. They will be able to retain their liturgy, their music, and most importantly, their own orthodox hierarchy drawn from their own ranks.
I think that dramatically improves the circumstances of entry into the Catholic Church.
sitetest
Not possible, at least insofar as the press release describes the structures that will be created.
The converts will have their own "Ordinature," a structure akin to a diocese, but without strict geographical borders. In other words, it "overlaps" the English (or Australian, Indian, or whatever) diocese, and has its own Ordinary (either a bishop or a priest). That Ordinary would not be under the current Latin Rite bishops, but would instead have authority within his Ordinature identical to what they would have in their own dioceses.
These converts would "raise the bar" for the current Catholic dioceses, as the laity could freely attend these churches if they desire (just as they could attend an Eastern Catholic parish) - this is a medicine for the modernism.