Episcopal-Roman Catholic Meeting Held
Diocesan Press Service. August 9, 1965 [XXXIV-9]
EPISCOPAL-ROMAN CATHOLIC MEETING HELD
Representatives of the Episcopal Church and of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States held an official first meeting June 22-23, in Washington D. C. to discuss problems which have stood in the way of closer relations between the two churches.
The meeting, which was held at the headquarters of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, was seen as the first of a series of exchanges to occur at least annually.
While the discussions remained general in nature, some specific areas of concern were considered.
One of the areas was the Anglican objections to the Roman Catholic practice of "rebaptising" conditionally Anglicans who convert to Roman Catholicism. They generally regard this practice as a dishonor to the sacrament of Baptism, a position upheld by the Decree on Ecumenism enacted by the Second Vatican Council last November.
In the same vein, Anglican participants agreed that "confirmed Roman Catholics received into the Episcopal Church should in no circumstances be conditionally confirmed by Episcopal bishops," according to an official release after the meeting.
The Roman Catholic participants (3 bishops, 3 priests and 1 layman) were led by the Most Rev. Charles H. Helmsing of Kansas City-St. Joseph and head of the subcommittee for talks with the Episcopal Church of the Catholic Bishops' Commission for Ecumenical Affairs. The Episcopal participants (3 bishops, 2 priests and 3 laymen) were led by the Rt. Rev. Donald H. V. Hallock, Bishop of Milwaukee.