Following his presentation at a major evangelism conference in North Carolina [TLC, Sept. 24], the Most Rev. George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, traveled to New York City to appear at the Episcopal Church Center.

Archbishop Carey told a gathering Sept. 7 intended to promote the work of the Anglican Communion's observer at the United Nations that "there should be other strong and respected international Christian voices as well as the Vatican's."

The archbishop stressed the importance of the ministry of the Rt. Rev. James Ottley, Anglican observer at the U.N.

"We have had great difficulties in the past raising funds for it," he told Ecumenical News International. "One of the reasons I am here is to promote it. I think if it collapsed, that would be very tragic for Anglicanism."

Archbishop Carey commented on various ecumenical issues during his visit.

"I would like to see a deepening of the relationship between Rome and Canterbury," he said. "There is vastly more that binds us together in combating most of the world's difficulties than divides us."

The Anglican primate addressed concerns being discussed at the U.N.'s World Conference on Women, in China.

"The Anglican position, and, indeed, the protestant position, on the role of women and human sexuality takes a different form in our churches, and this needs to be recognized," he said. The archbishop added he did not agree with those who claim that the differences on women's issues, particularly ordination of women, make continued dialogue with Roman Catholics useless. He said many Roman Catholics might not have the same opinion on the ordination issue as the church's official stance.

"If there were a referendum in the Roman Catholic Church tomorrow on the ordination of women, we might be surprised at the outcome," he said.

The archbishop said he expected interfaith relations to be a major issue at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops in 1998, and expressed interest in the conference addressing "how moderate Muslims and Christians can work together."