Anglican-Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission Held Meeting in Malta
Diocesan Press Service. February 6, 1968 [62-10]
A report to help bring the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches closer together has been sent to Pope Paul VI and the Archbishop of Canterbury by the Anglican-Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission. The Commission, meeting in Malta (Dec. 31-Jan. 3 ), did not make the report public, but described some of its contents in a formal statement.
"We believe, " the statement said, "that in the perspective of post-Reformation history this report stands out as containing the first formal joint statement ever made of the faith which we rejoice to share. We have made recommendations in this regard both for dialogue and for practical measures for growing together, but we feel that this moving forward by tackling difficulties will not prosper unless we widely share experiences and learn from each other at every level of life in our communion. "
"We have made these recommendations aimed at deepening and enriching life in Christ, because we know that only the shared experience of renewal can show what further steps we must take. But it is clear now that, whatever these further steps may turn out to be, scholars on both sides should be engaged in serious joint study of such difficulties as those arising out of the constitution and teaching office of the Church, the place of Mary in the faith and devotion of the Church and ministry. "
The Commission's purpose is to "inaugurate between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion a serious dialogue which, founded on the Gospels and on ancient common traditions, may lead to that unity in truth for which Christ prayed. " It has twenty-four members and is co-chaired by Anglican Bishop John Moorman of Ripon and Roman Catholic Bishop Charles Helmsing of Kansas City-St. Joseph. Previous to the Malta meeting, the Commission had met at Gazzada, Italy and at Huntercombe Manor, near London.
Reviewing its progress, the Commission said, "the task at Gazzada was to survey the field and identify the themes on which dialogue might best center. At Huntercombe we concentrated our attention on the theme of revelation and its embodiment in the life of Christ.
"Concurrently at both meetings, a sense of pressure of the times forced us to attend to practical matters and make certain recommendations. It was exciting to find at the end of this that we felt the need and saw the possibility of plotting some course towards unity. The schema adopted for our third meeting (in Malta) was an attempt to respond to this vision.