Anglican Leaders Meet with Pope Benedict XVI
Episcopal News Service. April 29, 2005 [042905-1]
The Archbishop of Canterbury and two U.S. Episcopal Church bishops were among ecumenical representatives greeted by Pope Benedict XVI during an April 25 audience at the Vatican.
Archbishop Rowan Williams greeted the Pope in German and presented him with a pectoral cross. Representing the Episcopal Church were Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold's deputy for Ecumenical Relations, the Rt. Rev. Christopher Epting, and the Paris-based Bishop-in-Charge of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon.
"I have appreciated the signals Pope Benedict XVI has been sending with respect to ecumenical and interreligious affairs," said Epting, who added that "actions speak louder than words, so we shall have to wait and see" in terms of new advancements.
Epting said the Pope "told me, face to face, in our audience that he prayed that specific steps toward unity could be taken soon. I would expect that to include, at least, the release of the Mary document in Seattle in the middle of May and a renewing of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission and the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission, both of which have been on hiatus lately."
Said Epting: "When asked how I evaluate the Pope's 'new' openness to some of his recent writings, I can only say two things: (1) being open to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue does not mean that one cannot be fully committed to one's own tradition and its truth; (2) Benedict is now Pope, not head of the office of the Doctrine of the Faith. He will hear voices even he has never heard before and this can be a good thing. Our church remains open to dialogue and, as always, the ultimate goal of full communion. We approach the future with hope...and cautious optimism."
"No man was better placed to pick up where John Paul left off. [Pope Benedict XVI] could conceivably make some significant changes; re-start the ecumenical movement, for instance," said Whalon, whose additional observations are recorded in a statement posted at http://anglicansonline.org/resources/essays/whalon/dispatchBenedictXVI.html.
In a statement April 19, the date Pope Benedict's election was announced from the Vatican, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said: "Along with many others, both within and beyond the Roman Catholic Church, I offer my prayers for Pope Benedict XVI as he takes up the august responsibility of his office. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide him in his words and his actions and that he may become a focus of unity and a minister of reconciliation in a church and a world in which faithfulness and truth wear many faces."
Note: See also comments from England's Bishop John Flack, director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, posted at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_60816_ENG_HTM.htm.