Letters Exchanged On Anglican/R.C. Orders
Episcopal News Service. March 6, 1986 [86046]
NEW YORK (DPS, March 6) -- An exchange of letters published today (Thursday, March 6) in Rome and London reviews progress on one of the most difficult issues in Anglican/Roman Catholic relations: the question of the mutual recognition of ministries, which is seen as crucial to progress towards closer unity. These letters, in turn, sparked a response from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Edmond Lee Browning.
Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, President of the Vatican Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity, wrote to the co-chairmen of the Second Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II), the Rt. Rev. Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Roman Catholic Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, and the Rt. Rev. Mark Santer, Anglican Bishop of Kensington, prior to that group's meeting last year. In his letter, Willebrands restated the reasons, expressed by Pope Leo XIII in 1896, why the Roman Catholic Church has not been able to recognize Anglican Orders. These rest on the judgement that the doctrines of the Eucharist and of the priesthood contained in the Church of England's sixteenth century service books were not in accord with Catholic doctrine.
The Cardinal sees hope for a solution to the problem in the Agreed Statements on Eucharist and Ministry already produced by ARCIC I, which are now being evaluated by the two churches. He also notes the theological and liturgical developments of recent years which have brought the churches closer together.
If the churches are able to agree that they hold the same faith on Eucharist and ministry, this could lead to a re-evaluation by the Roman Catholic Church of Anglican rites for future ordinations.
The Cardinal stresses the fact that reconciliation of ministries can be studied only as part of the whole process of reconciliation between the Churches.
Replying to the Cardinal, the two bishops welcome his "helpful and timely" letter, agreeing that the "restoration of full communion... is our common goal and our common hope." They say that any move towards the reconciliation of ministries will be widely welcomed, especially where people now experience the pain of disunity. Here they mention "the pastoral problems" which are "acutely felt in those families where one spouse is a Roman Catholic and the other an Anglican."
The bishops acknowledge that the deliberations of ARCIC II "must take account of the fact of the ordination of women to the priesthood in certain parts of the Anglican Communion," adding that this development "creates a fresh and grave obstacle to reconciliation of ministries, an obstacle which is held to be bound up with the doctrine of ministry." However, the bishops assert "Nonetheless, our confidence and hope for the successful outcome of our work is rooted in our experience of reconciliation already achieved between our two churches in our growing trust in each other's integrity, and in the grace of God."
In a response, Browning issued a statement (Ed.s: text follows) welcoming the correspondence between Willebrands and Santer and Murphy-O'Connor and expressing his support for the dialogue, saying "It is good news when both the Cardinal and the co-chairs see the possibility that the traditional problem of Anglican orders is a step closer to resolution."
The Presiding Bishop, who is preparing for the March 11-16 meeting of Anglican Primates in Toronto at which ordination of women is expected to be one of the topics, took note of the mention in the correspondence of such ordination as an "obstacle," saying it was not intended as such and adding "What we intend is not to overthrow the traditional catholic doctrine of Holy Orders, but to expand and open it to the other half of the human race. We would regret it if the Roman Catholic Church were to interpret it in any other way. We look forward to further consultation with them on this issue."