Bridging the Gulf
Diocesan Press Service. November 7, 1966 [48-8]
Ralph S. Dean, Executive Officer, Anglican Communion
When the Archbishop of Canterbury paid his historic visit to the Vatican in March 1966, Pope Paul VI in the course of his address of welcome said: "You are rebuilding a bridge which for centuries has lain fallen between the Church of Rome and the Church of Canterbury: a bridge of respect, of esteem and of charity." The day following, a plank in the bridge was laid when the Archbishop dedicated the Anglican Centre in Rome which, in his words: "Will be a place where Christians of different traditions can meet and come to know one another, and such personal knowledge and understanding plays a vital part in ecumenical work."
Having now returned from a second visit to Rome this year in this connection, I can report that the Centre is now well and truly inaugurated. This took place between Oct. 2 - 5 in a series of meetings including a further private audience with His Holiness The Pope, and culminating in a service of inauguration in the Centre itself, attended by a hundred or more interested people, both Roman and Anglican, including Cardinal Bea, the great apostle of Christian Unity, and addressed (in French) by The Most Rev. Jan Willebrands of the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.
It is an enterprise of great significance and as such now finds a place - albeit a modest one so far - in the Inter-Anglican Budget operated by the Executive Officer, and in which all the 19 autonomous churches in the Anglican Communion take their duly proportionate share.
What is the purpose of the Centre? It is not, on the one hand, a proselytising agency, nor on the other, anything in the nature of a "sell-out" to Rome. Both misunderstandings have been aired from time to time and they ought to be scotched once and for all. The view of the Pope himself is best expressed by his words to The Council of The Centre which had audience with him. Speaking mainly of the setting up of the Centre the Pope said: "You come to Rome to set up a Centre which may serve to make the Anglican Church better known, and, reciprocally, promote better knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church. This is the first step in practical ecumenism - to know. To know each other. The distance which separates us should first be diminished by this approach - mutual knowledge; a knowledge free of prejudice, informed by reverence, eager to discover not only what separates us but what unites us; a knowledge which banishes mistrust and clears a pathway by which we may draw nearer still. Perhaps we can coin a phrase - knowledge prepares the way for love: love leads to unity. Will it be so? We hope so, and we express for this occasion happy auguries, putting trust in the Lord who sees into our hearts and directs those who sincerely wish to seek and to serve Him."
It is entirely in accord with such a statement that the Council members set out the aims and objectives of the Centre which include the following:
1. To provide a meeting place where Anglicans and Roman Catholics can come together for discussion, study and prayer.
2. To set up a Library of Anglican History, Theology and Liturgy for the use of students in Rome, members of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and others.
3. To help any such readers in their studies, if necessary by seminars, discussion groups, etc.
4. To provide information about the Anglican Communion to any who wish to acquire it, whether this is done by correspondence, personal interviews or public lectures.
5. To provide opportunities for receptions and gatherings at which Anglicans and Roman Catholics can meet one another.
6. To provide facilities whereby scholars from different parts of the Anglican Communion can further their researches and studies in the relationships between the Roman Catholic Church and the Churches of the Anglican Communion.
From the comments freely to be heard in the Centre at the time of the inauguration there is an immense amount of good will for it and even eagerness for its success. It deserves to be widely known, and to be widely supported by individuals as well as through the Inter-Anglican Budget of the Anglican Communion.
It is hoped eventually to have a library of about 10,000 volumes fully representative of points of view held within the Anglican Communion, and covering in the main the fields of history, theology, liturgy and spirituality. Thanks to the Bishop of Ripon, 2,500 volumes, carefully chosen, are already on their way to the Centre.
The Council, with the Anglican Executive Officer as chairman, is as representative of the Anglican Communion as is practicable, and the local members in Rome serve as an executive committee which is also advisory to the representative of the Anglican Communion to the Vatican - the Rev. Canon John Findlow. He lives at the Centre and his address is:
Palazzo Doria, Via Del Corso 303, Rome.
If you want further information - and I hope you will - please write to Canon Findlow at Rome. I know he will be happy to oblige.