The Archbishop of Canterbury will pay his first official visit to His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Rome between 3rd – 5th December 1996. He will stay as a guest of the English and Welsh Catholic Hierarchy at the Venerable English College in Rome. During the course of his visit he will have private conversations with His Holiness and other Curial Officials, and he and the Pope will join together in the celebration of Vespers at the Church of San Gregorio al Celio.

Ecumenism is an inseparable part of the mission of the church to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ, a group of worldwide Anglican Church delegates was told recently. Bishop Mark Dyer of the United States said the necessity for ecumenism – ultimately the unity of all Christian churches – comes from Jesus’ words to his disciples the night before he was crucified, when he prayed that his followers might be one “in order that the world may believe.” Bishop Dyer told the 80-member Anglican Consultative Council meeting here that Christian unity is a sign to the world of the Kingdom of God. Consequently, he said, disunity is also a sign to the world, one that makes it hard for people to accept the gospel when churches can’t themselves agree on the essentials of the religion.