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Disagreements Fail to Mar Warmth of Meeting Between Pope and Archbishop of Canterbury

Episcopal News Service. December 19, 1996 [96-1653]

(ENS) When Archbishop of Canterbury George L. Carey traveled to Rome to meet with Pope John Paul II in early December, the visit highlighted the gulf that still lies between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, but also underscored a mutual commitment to seek bridges.

After two days of talks, neither Carey nor the pope would claim that significant progress had been made on the issues that divide the churches, chief among them being the ordination of women. Still, the meeting itself offered impetus to continuing dialogue.

"I'm a realist, and the realistic part of my response is to recognize that there are still deep divisions," Carey said at a press conference. But, he added, "This meeting certainly strengthened that feeling that we have traveled a long way together, and in spite of recent difficulties that both of us have spoken about, the commitment to go on fills me with hope."

Observers of the meeting have stressed "the warmth of the personal connection" between Carey and the pope, even while there was "frankness of exchange," said Prof. William Franklin, professor of modern Anglican studies at the General Theological Seminary in New York. In the welcome extended by the Vatican especially, "the symbols were of wanting to maintain a warm relationship while recognizing that we've reached an impasse in the dialogue," he said.

Bishop Frank Griswold of Chicago, co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue of the United States, agreed. "Ultimately, communion is people in relationship with one other," he said.

From the initial invitation from the pope to the minute protocols of the meetings, "all the signs made it clear to Vatican observers that the visit was taken very seriously," Griswold said. He called the visit a boost for the American discussions because it helped answer the question, "Is the Vatican genuinely interested in Anglican-Roman Catholic relations?"

Willing to keep talking

Carey, his wife, Eileen, and Archbishop Njongonkulu Winston Ndungane of Cape Town, were invited for an unscheduled, private lunch with the pope, and Carey's party was given use of a Vatican limousine. Also, Griswold noted, the two were photographed sitting side by side in identical chairs. "Those who watch Rome with care know that that signifies a parity, the heads of two churches meeting each other as equals," he said.

On the Anglican side, the delegation that accompanied Carey was perhaps the highest ranking of any Anglican visitation to the Vatican, Franklin said. Carey also stressed his commitment to continuing to support the Anglican Centre in Rome, established to nurture Anglican and Roman Catholic relations.

"The human contact was deeper than ever before," Franklin said. While neither church leader indicated a willingness to abandon his church's current positions, clearly "no one wants to slide back into an antagonistic posture."

While "there were rumors of some more positive theological breakthrough that did not emerge," there were also "rumors that there would be a setback," Franklin said. "That also did not happen."

Following the visit, a new steering group of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops to oversee further efforts at unity was announced. The second Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II) also will continue to exist, even after producing what was to have been its final report on the exercise of authority in the two churches next year.

The new steering group's membership will be considered in the next round of informal talks between the two churches in January, according to the Church Times newspaper of London. Bishop John Hind, Anglican bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, called the new commission "a missing ingredient, namely a body to exercise some kind of oversight of our relations as a whole."

Meeting produces joint declaration

A joint statement or "Common Declaration" issued by the two church leaders at the conclusion of the December 3-5 meeting was, for an ecclesiastical document, almost blunt in laying out at least one of the hurdles separating the two churches.

"The obstacle to reconciliation caused by the ordination of women as priests and bishops in some provinces of the Anglican Communion has also become increasingly evident, creating a new situation," according to the statement. The obstacle is significant enough, the statement continues, to suggest that it is time to "consult further about how the relationship between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church is to progress."

Even so, the statement called for continued efforts to "deepen our theological dialogue, not only over issues connected with our present difficulties, but also in all areas where full agreement has still to be reached."

The joint declaration suggested that unity might be built on the foundations of joint mission work by Anglicans and Roman Catholics. "Whenever they are able to give united witness to the Gospel they must do so, for our divisions obscure the Gospel message of reconciliation and hope," the declaration stated.

The year 2000 may also offer a particular opportunity to "proclaim our common faith in God" as Anglicans and Roman Catholics jointly celebrate 2,000 years "since the Word became flesh and dwelt among us," the statement added. But even in expressing that hope, the two church leaders noted, "We make this call in a spirit of humility, recognizing that credible witness will only be fully given when Anglicans and Catholics. . . have achieved that full, visible unity that corresponds to Christ's prayer 'that they may all be one... so that the world may believe."

A symbolic service

Carey and the pope signed the declaration on Carey's last evening in Rome after sharing in a Vespers service at the Church of San Gregorio al Celio (Saint Gregory's Church), where Pope Gregory the Great commissioned Saint Augustine to bring Latin Christianity to Britain.

In their homilies at the service, however, neither church leader shied away from restating the positions that pose problems.

"Sadly, we are faced with disagreements, which have arisen since we entered into dialogue, including disagreement about conferring priestly ordination on women," the pope said. "This question puts into clear relief the need to reach an understanding of how the church authoritatively discerns the teaching and practice which constitute the apostolic faith entrusted to us."

"We in the Anglican Church cannot hide the fact that we developed out of the Reformation," Carey said in turn, noting that "it is tempting, especially in Rome, to feel particularly burdened by this historical rift in the body of Christ." Carey went on, however, to call the Reformation "not a tragedy so much as a rediscovery: a rediscovery of the Bible and its authority; a rediscovery of the importance of justification by faith; a rediscovery of the local church; a rediscovery of the servanthood of ministry and priesthood."

Recalling an earlier visit

In their greetings to each other at the beginning of the visit, both church leaders referred to the meeting 30 years ago of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey following the Second Vatican Council.

"That first official visit to the Holy See by an archbishop of Canterbury since before the tragic separation of the 16th century was to have great significance for relations between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church," the pope said. "It signaled to Catholics and Anglicans that they should, in Christian charity, put conflict behind them and work to reestablish unity."

With the work that began at that time through the first ARCIC, "some of the fruits hoped for have begun to appear," the pope said, referring to a "rediscovery of the degree of real though imperfect communion which exists between Anglicans and Catholics."

Carey noted that he still wears the Episcopal ring that Pope Paul gave to Ramsey, and called it "an important and treasured reminder of the common commitment of the See of Rome and the See of Canterbury to the cause of Christian unity."

Carey is the fifth archbishop of Canterbury to visit the Holy See. The trip marked the second time that he and the pope had met.

Carey's visit included three sessions with the pope, as well as meetings with Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, president of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Carey preached an Advent sermon at Evensong at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, and gave a lecture on ecumenical work in a pluralistic world sponsored by the Anglican Centre in Rome at the Centro Pro Unione, a Roman Catholic ecumenical center.

In addition to his wife and Archbishop Ndungane, Carey was accompanied by the Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Communion; Bishop Mark Santer of Birmingham, Anglican chair of ARCIC; Bishop John Hind; Bishop Jeffery Rowthorn of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe; the Rev. Richard Marsh, secretary for ecumenical affairs; Lesley Perry, press officer; and James Rosenthal, director of communication for the Anglican Communion.

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