Pope John Paul II Describes New Obstacles to Unity
Episcopal News Service. October 8, 2003 [031008-4]
James Solheim
In a cordial but abbreviated meeting, an ailing Pope John Paul II met with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and said that the search for unity had been complicated by recent decisions within Anglicanism, a clear reference to the election of the Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop.
"As we give thanks for the progress that has already been made, we must also recognise that new and serious difficulties have arisen on the path to unity. These difficulties are not all of a merely disciplinary nature; some extend to essential matters of faith and morals," the pope said at the October 4 meeting.
"In light of this, we must reaffirm our obligation to listen attentively and honestly to the voice of Christ as it comes to us through the Gospel and the church's apostolic tradition," he said. "Faced with the increasing secularism of today's world, the church must ensure that the deposit of faith is proclaimed in its integrity and preserved from erroneous and misguided interpretations."
Listening hard
Williams, for his part, made no mention of the controversy concerning sexuality, but spoke of the papacy: "Your invitation to church leaders and theologians to engage with you in a patient and fraternal dialogue about the Petrine ministry is a sign of generosity and openness, and I will be glad to participate in the reflection on the possible sharing of a primacy of love and service."
Asked at a news conference about the acceptance of homosexual clergy, Williams declared, "We are conscious of the ecumenical implications of what has been done [by certain Anglican churches]. We have listened hard in these last days to what has been said in Rome."
While some reports of the meaning characterized the pope's comments as a warning, he was "merely pointing out some new difficulties," said Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations, in an interview. "We have lots of issues we have discussed over the years-and this is one of them. What's important is that the dialogue continues. Neither side has shown any inclination otherwise."
Epting said that the pope's statement should be seen for what it is-and what it is not. "It's not a warning because there is no threat of consequences." He added that it's important to see ecumenical relations in the broader international context. "The Vatican is dealing with the whole Anglican Communion, not only the actions of a member church."
Steady progress
In a statement released shortly before the Vatican visit, the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity outlined what it said was the steady progress in bringing the two churches closer together, making no mention of the sexuality issue.
"These exchanges of visits are a clear sign of the desire of the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church to continue to operate together toward the goal of full communion," the statement said. It pointed out that two joint commissions have reached agreement on several key theological issues in recent years.
Privately, Vatican officials concede that the decision by the Americans raises a new issue-although it is not one that will lead to a break in relations, according to a story in the Associated Press. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, the Church of England bishop for Rochester, said that the issue of homosexuality touches an even deeper nerve in the relationship between the two churches than that of the ordination of women because it is "a question about biblical revelations and its relationship to moral order."
Still on the path
In a communication prior to their meeting, the pope assured Williams that the search for unity will require persistence although he added, "We are still on that path and irrevocably committed to it."
In a separate meeting with Williams, Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, raised the sexuality issues. He said that he "expressed my concerns over this problem, because it is not only an internal problem of the Anglican Communion, but it also touches on our relations."
In his statement, Kasper added that "we are deeply concerned about this, and that depending on how the present situation is resolved, these decisions could cause new problems for our relations," he said referring to the election of a gay bishop and approval of blessing same-gender relationships in Canada. "I hope and pray that the Anglican Communion will find a constructive solution to the present situation, both for the sake of the Anglican Communion itself and for the sake of our relations as well."
Time of testing
"The family at times has its disagreements," said Williams during the meeting with Kasper, "and I cannot pretend that we are not at a testing time at present. We are facing questions not just of contemporary morality but of our understanding of the nature of ecclesial communion, and of our responsibility to each other within the body of Christ."
Noting that the two churches have been in formal dialogue for over 30 years, Williams concluded, "We are on a journey together to become the Church that accords with Christ's call, where its marks of unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity are visible, where we know ourselves to be caught up in the unimaginable communion of the Holy Trinity."
During an interview on Vatican Radio, Williams said that the Anglican Church's teaching on sexuality was the same as that of the Roman Catholic Church. When asked about the upcoming Primates' Meeting, he said that "very few primates" wanted a split in the Anglican Communion. But that means "we have a good deal of work to do to find the right mechanisms, the right language, to hold this without fudging the question about boundaries which we are currently facing."
Williams said that the challenges for the primates will be to find "a clear sense of the limits of what the Communion can stand at any one moment-the obvious difficulty created by one province moving in a different direction." Another challenge is to "actually make real a sense of responsibility to one another and therefore some mechanisms for better decision-making in common."
He added, "I pray for a solution which will hold us together."
(Comments by the pope, Williams and Kasper are available on the Anglican Communion Web site)