Archbishop, Pope Share 'Joyful' Meeting
Episcopal News Service. May 15, 1980 [80177]
Accra, Ghana -- Meeting in the midst of the growing Christian movement in Africa, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope John Paul II declared that time was too short "to waste Christian energy pursuing old rivalries. "
Dr. Robert Runcie, spiritual leader of the 65-million-member worldwide Anglican Communion spent about an hour with the Pope on May 9 in what both described as a "joyful and moving occasion." It was the first meeting between the recently installed Archbishop and the Pope and Dr. Runcie commented that it was "providential that our first meeting was not in Rome, not in the spotlight with all the protocol, but as two people visiting Christian congregations in a pastoral way. "
The Pope was on the fourth leg of a six-nation African tour which gathered hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics together and the Archbishop was in Africa to inaugurate the new Anglican Province of Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire.
In their joint statement the two stated:
"The first meeting of Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie of Canterbury, though a brief encounter in the midst of various programs, has been a joyful and moving occasion.
"They were glad it took place in Africa, where the rapid expansion and self-sacrificial nature of the church and the visible enthusiasm and love for Our Lord Jesus Christ have many lessons for Christians in Europe.
"The two church leaders recognize the immense opportunities in the countries of Africa to proclaim Christ in worship and in service and to make contributions to the search for peace and justice."
The churches the two men head have the largest Christian membership on the African continent.
The joint statement went on to underscore what it called the pressing importance of continuing the search for Christian unity:
"(Pope John Paul and Archbishop Runcie) believe the time is too short and the need too pressing to waste Christian energy pursuing old rivalries, and that the talents and resources of the churches must be shared if Christ is to be seen and heard effectively."
The statement recalled that the late Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Donald Coggan of Canterbury (Archbishop Runcie's immediate predecessor) had seen the "urgent need for common action" and had committed themselves to work for unity in a joint declaration in 1977.
The statement said that Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Runcie endorsed that commitment to "collaborate more earnestly in a great common witness to Christ" and to continue the "serious dialogue, begun 14 years earlier, through which Roman Catholics and Anglicans have been seeking. . .that unity in faith and communion which Christ has willed for his church. "
"Today in Accra," the statement concluded, "the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury have established a personal friendship and trust upon which they intend to build in meetings in the future.
"They look forward to working together to achieve the unity for which Christ prayed to his heavenly Father."