Anglican-Catholic Dialogue Encouraged by Apparent Thaw in Relations
Episcopal News Service. January 23, 1997 [97-1668]
(ENS) After years of what many have regarded as mixed signals on the state of relations between Anglicans/Episcopalians and Rome, the American version of the dialogue concluded that there is an apparent thaw as the result of Archbishop of Canterbury's recent visit to Pope Paul II.
Citing the cordiality of the visit, participants in the dialogue issued a brief statement following their January 9-12 meeting in the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, Florida, stating that they "renewed our commitment to the task of reconciliation between our two churches. We are greatly encouraged by the renewed invitation of John Paul II to the archbishop to enter into 'patient and fraternal dialogue on the ministry of unity of the Bishop of Rome.'"
Prof. William Franklin of the General Theological Seminary in New York said that the Vatican's hospitality in welcoming Carey employed signals of "wanting to maintain a warm relationship while recognizing that we have reached an impasse in the dialogue between the two communions."
"Ultimately, communion is people in relationship with one another," said Bishop Frank Griswold of Chicago.
The statement, signed by co-chairs Griswold and Roman Catholic Archbishop John Snyder of St. Augustine, pointed to the prayer that emerged from the meeting between Carey and the pope that "without renouncing in any way what is essential to this ministry in accordance with Christ's will, we may together discover the forms in which it will be accepted by all Christians as a service of love." And they cited Carey's response that "any discussion within Anglicanism on the subject of primacy must address itself to the role [of the Bishop of Rome] as a tangible, historic focus for unity within world-wide Christianity."
Griswold and Snyder said that an emphasis in the Common Declaration emerging from the Rome meeting on the importance of seeking "further convergence on authority in the church" gave "a renewed impetus for our work in the U.S.A. and our commitment over the next three years to explore the questions of ecclesiology, the sources and exercise of authority in our two ecclesial communities, the relation between local and universal church...." They said that they would also explore "the degree of agreement and communion we as Anglicans and Roman Catholics already share."
In meeting the challenges, the bishops said that the dialogue in the United States will draw upon the ecumenical officers and "the rich experience of our two churches at the local level."
Bishop Ted Gulick of Kentucky, a member of the ARC-USA dialogue, said that the cordiality of the meeting in Rome was helpful in moving the dialogue "beyond the despair of a year ago." He said that participants in the dialogue "read very carefully the signals out of Rome." It is clear, in the wake of the meeting between Carey and the pope, that the Vatican is expressing "a real desire not to sever the dialogue. The pope has a real passion for the Third Millennium -- and ecumenical dialogue is part of that."
Franklin said that he is convinced that the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue in this country reflects what happened in Rome, "with both sides expressing warmth and hospitality and strong personal connections. But there is still a lack of clarity on how the dialogue will move forward. The path forward may be less clear than it was back in 1966 when many of the dialogues began."
Franklin pointed to the proposals for full communion between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as an example of "a mature engagement with another church -- and a clearer reflection of the Anglican spirit." He added that "our positive experience with Lutheranism and the maturity of that encounter has made us look at the dialogue with Roman Catholics with new eyes."
"We are more faithful Anglicans in our dialogue with Lutherans," Gulick added. "We are still straining for consensus with Rome on certain matters -- and it is clear that the ecumenical dialogue has moved over these last 15 years."
Gulick noted, however, that "we are committed to the conversation with Roman Catholics with a kind of eschatalogical hope that there is a future, even though we haven't yet seen what that looks like. Some of us feel that we need to bring to our dialogue the kind of integrity we feel with the Lutherans."