Center in Rome Provides a Listening Post for Roman Catholics and Anglicans
Episcopal News Service. May 14, 1993 [93098]
In the wake of the Second Vatican Council and the flowering of ecumenism between the Vatican and "separated brethren" around the world, the Anglicans established a small but influential center in Rome to encourage a deepening of the relationship between the two churches.
During his historic visit to Rome in 1966 to meet with Pope Paul VI, Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey dedicated the Anglican Center to serve as the unofficial consulate, a listening post for Roman Catholics interested in Anglicanism and a way for visiting Anglicans to peer into the mysteries of the Vatican.
Housed in a palazzo within walking distance of the Vatican and near the historical center of Rome, for 27 years the center has been a "window on Rome," offering hospitality to scholars interested in its 10,000-volume library and a mix of seminars and lectures aimed at creating better understanding and demolishing stereotypes.
The center now faces a crisis, one that is financial not theological. Originally funded by the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), that support is no longer possible because the ACC faces a financial crisis of its own. So the new Board of Governors, headed by Bishop Mark Santer of Birmingham (England), is launching a fundraising drive to provide a $3 million endowment to insure a "permanent Anglican presence in Rome."
"This is not the time to appear to be withdrawing," said Santer who is co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Consultation (ARCIC). "Ecumenism is not a luxury these days and our churches bear a heavy responsibility to press forward in seeking the unity our Lord demands," he said during a recent three-week fundraising trip seeking $1 million from sources in the United States.
At the end of his trip, Santer said he was deeply impressed by the "totally unexpected commitment and interest among Roman Catholics" in the center. "It is too easy to be blinded by our differences and a presence in Rome, the center of communications in the Roman Catholic world, provides a place for us to find out about each other."
During a visit to Baltimore and a meeting with Archbishop William Keeler, Santer was told that Roman Catholics "place a high priority on their dialogue with Anglicans." Prof. William Franklin of New York's General Theological Seminary, the North American representative on the center's board of governors, said that the reception in Baltimore was "a totally genuine gesture of support."
Franklin said that support is crucial because "we are at a moment of vulnerability in the ecumenical movement," complicated by the recent decision of the Church of England to move forward with the ordination of women to the priesthood, a "grave obstacle" in relations with the Vatican. Franklin is convinced it is important to forge a "new determination to keep the lines of communication open."
Without the Anglican Center, "the potential for misunderstanding and aggravation between Canterbury and the Vatican would have been much greater," Franklin observed. "The center seeks to reflect in microcosm the life and work of the Anglican Communion in all its diversity to the Vatican, Italian universities and media, and to religious orders headquartered in Rome."
The Rev. Douglas Brown, an Australian member of the Society of the Sacred Mission and director of the Anglican Center since 1991, joined Santer on the fundraising trip. During a stop-over in Chicago he admitted to a small group of church leaders that raising money during a recession has been difficult but interest in the center and its program have increased substantially.
A good part of that interest is coming from Anglicans in Africa and Asia who are taking advantage of scholarship funds to spend time at the center. An emphasis on week-long ecumenical seminars and the recent addition of a summer school has moved the Anglican Center towards the type of programs offered at St. George's College in Jerusalem, a prominent center of continuing education for Anglicans.
The recent chill between Rome and Canterbury has not affected the center's contacts, according to Brown. In fact, quite a few Vatican officials and seminarians studying in Rome quietly support the decision to ordain women to the priesthood -- and they use the center's library to follow the Church of England's debate. "I think on every level people are very open to us," Brown said during an interview in Chicago. "It would be a great loss if we were to lose the center at this stage in our relationship."
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has joined the fundraising effort by underscoring how important the center is as "a bridge between our churches so that our Christian vision of the reconciliation of humanity can be fulfilled as soon as possible."
David Skidmore, communications director for the Diocese of Chicago, contributed to this article.
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