Proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church 500 years after the Reformation split are to be published later this year.

The two communities are being urged to explore how they might forge links in a forthcoming report prepared by an international commission.

The 42-page statement from the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission is now being considered by the Vatican, where a formal response is being prepared.

Reunification has been the subject of international religious debate for 40 years, and the report is being proposed to "foster discussion and reflection", said church leaders.

Archbishop John Bathersby, Catholic co-chairman of the commission and Bishop David Beetge, its Anglican co-chairman, said in a joint statement: "We hope that when published, Growing Together in Unity and Mission invites a good deal of discussion, and that it will be a helpful instrument on the long journey towards full communion which has been the stated goal of Anglican-Roman Catholic relations for the past 40 years."

The Episcopal Church in Scotland, a member of the Anglican family, has autonomy over whether it decides to participate in any reunification. A spokeswoman said: "This particular international commission of theological exploration is not one in which the Scottish Episcopal Church has been involved. It is a good thing that churches engage in discussion and theological reflection, something which has been happening down the years."

A spokesman for Mario Conti, Archbishop of Glasgow, said: "Despite all the differences of opinion within the Anglican communion and between the Anglican communion and the Catholic Church, there remains an ecumenism of friendship' which enables us to speak frankly to one another as we continue to explore what would need to be done to bring these two great communions together."

Meanwhile, the Transport and General Workers' Union in Scotland and the Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh have joined forces to recognise the role of Polish workers and are to tackle concerns over employment rights.

The initiative builds on a successful meeting the union held in Glasgow last October which was conducted in the Polish language and attended by 200 Polish workers and their families. The union held a similar meeting in Edinburgh last night and will hold others all over Scotland.