Bishops Range Over Ecumenical Field
Episcopal News Service. October 16, 1980 [80356]
CHATTANOOGA -- "Not as a group. As individuals. Yes, as individuals." Citing what he said were the words of Pope John Paul II, Bishop Arthur A. Vogel sought to assure his fellow Episcopal Church bishops that former Episcopalians who asked for membership in the Roman Catholic Church would not be given group status.
Vogel, Bishop of West Missouri and co-chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue in the U. S., made the point during the interim meeting of the House of Bishops Oct. 2-9 at the Read House here. He received the assurance from the Pope in an audience for members of the international dialogue shortly after the decision to receive former Episcopalians was announced.
Vogel saw documents from "the highest unimpeachable sources, including private correspondence, " that backed up the assurance the Pope gave him.
Characterizing the decision as "one of those little incidents of history, " he told the bishops that it was not felt to be of any ecumenical significance at all by either Anglican or Roman Catholic members of the talks. "This was initiated by ex-Episcopalians. It is not an ecumenical initiative and I believe that the Roman Catholic Church is being theologically and ecumenically sensitive and proper."
In reporting for one of the "small groups" of Episcopal bishops who during the meeting discussed the Roman Catholic decision to allow some former Episcopal clergy -- including married priests -- to be re-ordained as Roman Catholic priests, Bishop Arthur Walmsley, coadjutor of Connecticut, said many Episcopal bishops have discussed the issue with their Roman Catholic counterparts.
Many Episcopalians are sensitive to the fact that the Roman Catholic statement calls for re-ordination of clergy, emphasizing the Roman Catholic teaching that Anglican (Episcopal) clergy are not "validly ordained."
"This (the statement) is not a new judgment on our orders, but a shameful reminder of an old judgment which still pertains," commented Vogel. "Roman Catholic canon law has not changed."
The West Missouri bishop added that the Roman Catholic decision to judge each applicant individually means that "not everyone who presents himself for re-ordination will be acceptable."
"I am not satisfied with the manner in which the Roman Catholic announcement was made, " said Bishop John S. Spong of Newark, N.J. Spong issued a statement on Sept. 10 in which he announced that he was postponing conversations with two Roman Catholic dioceses in New Jersey aimed at establishing covenant relationships. The Newark bishop said he had been misquoted in the New York Times and other newspapers and that he had not announced he was "breaking off all ecumenical relationships."
Vogel replied to Spong's remarks by saying that the Roman Catholic action was not a "judgment on the ordination of women, " and he suggested that the Newark bishop was making this occasion "bear the weight of too many burdens. "
Vogel's report came during a day-long examination of ecumenical issues and conversations that was opened by Archbishop Edward W. Scott, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and moderator of the World Council of Churches Central Committee. Scott characterized the Council as a "group of people trying to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. "
In his remarks, Scott shared with his fellow Anglicans "some of the things I think about when I think of the World Council of Churches." He described the organization as the "largest meeting place of Christians in the world." He noted that all provinces of the Anglican Communion are members and that the Council represents "every political pattern and every part of the world."
Scott told his fellow bishops that "new theological issues have raised new questions for the World Council. He described the organization's three major divisions -- Faith and Order, Justice and Service, Renewal and Congregational life -- but spoke the most about justice and service.
"What do you do in a world where most of the money flows from the underdeveloped sections of the world to the developed sections?" asked Scott, citing one of the problems confronting the World Council. He said the organization seeks to share ecumenical resources, including prayer and talent as well as dollars. He described it as an "indispensable opportunity" and noted that Roman Catholic participation has increased in all phases of its work.
"Any picture I would draw of the World Council of Churches wouldn't be very tidy," commented Scott, "but differing cultural contacts and Christian groupings do not make for tidiness. " He noted that people of "English background" like "things to be tidy" but said that the words used to describe the Holy Spirit, such as wind and fire, are not words that point to tidiness.
"I do not apologize for a lack of tidiness in the World Council of Churches or in the ecumenical movement, " said the Archbishop.
In questioning Scott, the Episcopal bishops asked about the Council's attitude toward escalating military development, about the Council's relationship with non-Christian faiths, and about how the organization handles the diverse political ideologies of the delegates from its various member churches. In speaking to the latter question, Scott admitted that the World Council "is in constant tension. "
In other action that day, the bishops received reports on the status of ecumenical dialogues.
Suffragan Bishop Robert Terwilliger of Dallas hailed the action of the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Robert Runcie) in seeking new conversations with the Orthodox churches. He expressed hope that the primate's action in causing the omission of the disputed 'filioque' clause from the Nicene Creed at his enthronement and backing the summer conversation in Llandaff, Wales, would lead to a new dialogue.
In Protestant conversations, Bishop Donald J. Parsons of Quincy traced the development of the Consultation on Church Union documents that now make up a booklet called "In quest of the Churches of Christ Uniting" and noted that the next chapter might be the most difficult. This chapter will deal with Order and Structure, and Parsons said it "will have to concretize all the other agreements."
Lutheran-Episcopal Dialogues have not gone smoothly, Bishop William Weinhauer of Western North Carolina said, partly because the talk is carried on through an umbrella Lutheran agency which does not always speak from a unified position. He asked that the bishops remain patient and encourage a second round of talks.