Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops continue search for unity
Episcopal News Service. May 25, 2000 [2000-089]
(ENS) A high-level meeting of 26 Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in a suburb of Toronto concluded May 19 with plans for a joint commission to explore next steps in the search for unity.
Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey, who co-chaired the meeting with Cardinal Edward Cassidy of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that the purpose of the commission would be to "stimulate the quest, to raise the expectations" in the search for unity. "We felt it was the logical outcome of this meeting," added Cassidy, who said that the commission could be "up and running" by the end of the year.
None of the participants had any illusions about the difficulty of the journey together. "We have challenges, serious challenges that we have to face," said Cassidy, among them the nature of authority in the church and the role of women.
During the closed meeting at a Roman Catholic retreat center in Mississauga the bishops from 13 countries took a deeper look at the future of the ecumenical dialogue and the issues that still divide the two communions. They worshiped together in a small chapel, shared meals and conversations. As a symbol of the distance that still remains, they were not able to share the Eucharist, however.
"It's true that, at the morning liturgy, we were not able to fully share, in the sense we were not able to receive the Eucharist from each other," said Cassidy. He pointed out that the "whole ceremony was almost identical," that "we have the same actions, the same words, same spirit, same tradition."
Carey said that, during their time together, the bishops were able to celebrate those similarities, a common commitment to unity. "We'll go back more determined to heal the wounds of the past," he said, adding that the conference ends "on a note of mystery. And we have to live with the mystery of God and the mystery of the church, as well."
Archbishop Michael Peers of the Anglican Church of Canada pointed to the dilemma that "in some ways there appears to be some real ecumenical growth between the two churches, and in other ways things seem to be stalled." He said that the meeting was "a kind of pulse-taking, a testing of the ecumenical waters."
Last June the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) issued a statement on authority that explored the possibility of papal primacy as "a gift to be offered and received" by all Christian churches. In the past Anglicans have urged the Vatican to "reform" the papal office in ways that would make it easier for non-Catholics to accept the pope as a universal leader.
Preaching at an ecumenical prayer service in Toronto's Roman Catholic cathedral, Carey said that the absence of unity "distorts truth, wastes resources" and "impoverishes worship and discredits the Gospel." He said that it was time to transcend a "tangled and sometimes wretched history" of killing each other and end the separation.
While relations have improved today Carey said that "we are accountable to the degree that we are unwilling to work for resolution of the results of past conflicts." For example, some Protestants object to dialogue with Roman Catholics. "They fear that Reformation principles are being abandoned and Gospel faith is being traduced," Carey said. "Polemics lead to hatred and division. Partnership leads to the promise of mutual service and eventual union."
Cassidy read a letter from Pope John Paul II in which the pope referred to the "particular affection" he had for Carey and said that the unity talks were "a quest for a pearl of great value." He expressed a hope that the meeting would "bear lasting fruit" and hasten the unity of the two churches.
"For more than 30 years the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church have been on a journey toward the restoration of unity," the pope wrote in the letter read by Cassidy. Noting that there have been "very positive developments" as well as some "new and serious obstacles," the pope offered a prayer that the "spiritual bonds" would be "strengthened and deepened even further."
Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, who attended the meeting in his capacity of co-chair of ARCIC, agreed that the dialogue had entered "a new stage -- one that needs to be marked in some public way." One of the most important revelations at the meeting, he said, was the realization that "if we are on a path to unity together, it will mean more face-to-face meetings."
By the end of the week participants learned to know each other through conversations, both formal and informal, and "they developed some affection, a desire for the fullest possible level of communion," he said. "Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism had a more human face. And they knew that pursuing a relationship in greater depth can't be done through documents alone. The meeting promoted discovery on many levels," Griswold observed. "For example, prayer every morning revealed commonalities. For some, the common liturgical tradition was a surprising discovery."