Archbishop and Pope Worship at Canterbury
Episcopal News Service. June 3, 1982 [82142]
CANTERBURY, England (DPS, June 3) -- When the Bishop of Rome was the guest of the Archbishop of Canterbury at the historic Anglican cathedral here on May 29, it was an almost inconceivable event in British history.
After a rift which has already lasted 450 years, Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie embraced at a highly emotional ecumenical event in the gothic cathedral which is often called the mother church of worldwide Anglicanism.
The Pope was greeted by Prince Charles -- whose mother, Queen Elizabeth II, had spent half an hour alone with him at Buckingham Palace the preceding day -- and other dignitaries, including some of the primates of autonomous Anglican provinces around the world.
The Rt. Rev. John Maury Allin, Presiding Bishop of the three-million-member Episcopal Church in the United States, was one of the Church heads who flew to England for the event.
The Pope and the Archbishop entered through the West Door at the sound of a fanfare. At the Nave Altar the two Church leaders knelt in silent prayer, followed by the Lord's Prayer, led by Archbishop Runcie. Then the Archbishop said to the Pope, "Your Holiness, beloved Brother in Christ, in the name of the Lord, we greet you."
The congregation repeated, "In the name of the Lord, we greet you." As the two embraced one another, the congregation burst into a wave of un-English applause.
Archbishop Runcie reminded the congregation, in the words of the Venerable Bede, that one of the Pope's predecessors, Gregory, "prompted by divine inspiration, sent a servant of God named Augustine and several more God-fearing monks with him to preach the word of God to the English race."
Augustine built a church in Canterbury and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
"I rejoice," Archbishop Runcie said, "that the successors of Gregory and Augustine stand here in the Church which is built on their partnership in the Gospel."
After the original church building burned, a new structure was erected, much of which still stands today from the twelfth century. This means that Canterbury Cathedral served as a Roman Catholic cathedral for 400 years, almost as long as it has served as an Anglican edifice.
"I appeal to you in this holy space," Pope John Paul said, "all my fellow Christians and especially the members of the Church of England, and the members of the Anglican Communion throughout the world, to accept the commitment to which Archbishop Runcie and I pledge ourselves anew before you today. May the dialogue we have begun lead us to the day of full restoration of unity in faith and love."
The exchange of a kiss of peace and prayers said side by side were symbolic gestures which pointed toward healing the schism in which King Henry VIII broke the English branch away from Roman Catholicism some 450 years ago.
After the service, the Pope and the Archbishop signed a joint declaration in which they called for the setting up of an international commission "to recommend what practical steps will be necessary when, on the basis of our unity in faith, we are able to proceed to the restoration of full communion."
This new declaration follows a series of dialogues which began in 1966, when Pope Paul VI and then Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury, opened "a serious dialogue" about the theological and practical issues that separate the two branches of the Christian Church.
The joint Anglican/Roman Catholic commission which has studied these issues recently released The Final Report, which dealt with authority. Previous statements have dealt with ministry and the Eucharist.