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Anglican Center Seminar Participants Meet Pope

Episcopal News Service. May 30, 1986 [86096]

Onell A. Soto

Mission Information Officer of Episcopal Church Center

ROME (DPS, May 1) -- Five bishops and five priests from different parts of the Anglican Communion met here April 4-18 for the seventh Anglican Seminar sponsored by the Anglican Centre of Rome.

The seminars provide the opportunity to know better the structure and functions of the center of the Roman Catholic Church and the efforts towards Christian unity. They also foster inter-Anglican relations.

This year, the participants had the opportunity to discuss the content and extent of The Final Report, the report produced by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC I).

The Anglicans visited the Sacred Congregation of the Faith, the Department of State of the Holy See, the Secretariat for Christian Unity and the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Vatican museums and the "secret" archives at the Library. At the Vatican archives, they were told: "These treasures belong as much to you as to us." The director of the archives showed the visitors historical documents from the Middle Ages which included the bull of excommunication of Elizabeth I. In a prominent place is the joint declaration subscribed by Paul VI and Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey in 1966.

A highlight of the two-week seminar was an audience with Pope John Paul II at St. Peter's Square. The Anglican visitors were seated just in front of the platform from which the Pope addresses the pilgrims who gather there every Wednesday morning.

During his homily, John Paul welcomed the Anglicans and said: "I offer warm greetings to those taking part in the Anglican Seminar in Rome. To all of you I express the hope that your visit to the holy places of this city will inspire and encourage you in the Christian faith. Your brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church Join you in working and praying for the unity of all Christians."

At the end of his homily, the Pope invited the Anglican bishops to come to the platform to join him in blessing the estimated 30,000 pilgrims. Afterwards, he greeted each of the Anglicans. Accompanying the group was the Rev. Canon Howard Root, the Archbishop of Canterbury's representative in Rome and director of the Centre.

The Centre grew out of the 1966 meeting of Paul VI and Ramsey. With the largest collection of Anglican books outside England, it is a center of dialogue and encounter for Anglican and Roman Catholic students and scholars.

All ten participants were impressed with the efficiency of the Vatican staff and their knowledge of the ecumenical dialogue. They noted that the internationalization of the Roman curia is a palpable reality.

However, they were surprised by the "vertical authority" still prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church, the lack of participation of women and lay people in the life of the Church. "Not a single woman ever addressed us during our two weeks," observed a bishop from Australia.

They also noted that, in spite of dialogue, the re-union of the two Communions is still in the distant future. It was said more than once that the decision of some parts of the Anglican Communion to ordain women to the priesthood and episcopacy has put a "great obstacle" in the road to union.

The seminar participants also had the opportunity to see their own churches at a certain distance and understand the great diversity in the Anglican Communion. "It is ironic that we discover ourselves in Rome," said a young priest from Hong Kong.

The Anglican participants at came from England, Egypt, Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe and the United States. The two Americans present were the Rt. Rev. A. Theodore Eastman, bishop of Maryland and chairman of the Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations, and the Rev. Onell A. Soto, mission information officer at the Episcopal Church Center in New York.

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