The full Commission will meet as a whole on three occasions: in February; June; and September 2004. It intends to complete its initial report on the nature, extent and consequences of Impaired Communion in the Anglican Communion as a result of recent developments by the end of September 2004 for submission to the Archbishop of Canterbury in October. Intensive work will also be commissioned from individual members of the Commission and others, and undertaken beyond the main sessions set out above.

As required by its mandate, the Commission will begin by considering recent work elsewhere on the issue of Communion. It will give primary consideration to the resolutions of the Lambeth Conferences of 1988 and 1998 on this issue, together with a consideration of what has been achieved in the Grindrod, Eames and Virginia Reports, which addressed matters of Communion, particularly in relation then to the issue of the ordination of women to the episcopate. It will also wish to give especial attention to the recent work of the Inter Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission on the theological nature of Communion, and the various statements and pastoral letters issued by the Primates at their recent meetings.

There are no plans at this stage to hold sessions of the Commission in public, but it is felt that it will be important for the work of the Commission to be as open as possible. For this reason, evidence considered by the Commission will generally be published on the web site associated with the Commission, and it is intended to publish interim reports of the work of the Commission following each plenary session. Specific submissions to the Commission will be invited from particular groups or individuals, both in written form and by the reception of evidence in interview, either at plenary sessions, or at subsidiary meetings and sub-committees. The Initial Report in its final form will not be published until it has been received formally by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Most Revd Peter Carnley, Primate of Australia, has been asked to fill the post of co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Rowan D Williams.

Archbishop Carney was a member of the “Eames Commission” on women in the episcopate and has served the Anglican Communion in varying tasks over the years.

He has served as a member of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), since its inception, and took part in the Mississauga consultation of May 2000, which reflected on the work of ARCIC over the past three decades and issued the texts “Communion in Mission” and the “Action Plan”.

Since the consecration of Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire on November 2, nine of the 38 worldwide Anglican provinces have declared themselves to be in “impaired” or “broken communion” with all or part of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

The latest to assert its disassociation is the Province of South East Asia, one of the Communion’s most conservative churches. The province includes Anglicans in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Nepal.

In a statement, the province said that it did not recognise the ministry of Gene Robinson “as a Bishop in the Anglican Church. We are no longer in communion with the Presiding Bishop of ECUSA and all those Bishops and Dioceses who voted for the confirmation of Dr [sic] Gene Robinson’s election and those who joined in the consecration of the same…. If ECUSA refuses to repent, we will commit ourselves through our Primate to work with like-minded Primates for the realignment of the Anglican Communion.”

he Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has received the resignation of the presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church (USA), Bishop Frank Griswold, as Anglican Co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. Following recent events in the life of ECUSA, Bishop Griswold has written to the Archbishop of Canterbury to announce his decision, in the interests of “not jeopardizing the present and future life and work of the Commission”. In his response, Archbishop Williams thanked Bishop Griswold for his “outstanding labour and commitment.” The text of the letters is below.

ARCIC began work in 1970, following the historic meeting of Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI in Rome in 1966. It has produced agreed statements on many of the questions that have divided the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, particularly in the areas of Eucharist, Ministry and Authority. Bishop Griswold has been the Anglican Co-chair since 1998. The Roman Catholic co-chair is Archbishop Alex Brunett, Archbishop of Seattle. A new Anglican co-chair will be appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, after consultation with the Secretary General of the Anglican Consultative Council.

Named today by the Archbishop of Canterbury to lead a 16-member commission formed to report on “understandings of communion” that unite Anglicans worldwide, Archbishop Robin Eames of Ireland said this morning that opportunities for growth and reconciliation can be found amid “what some are calling a crisis” in Anglicanism worldwide as the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire proceeds with the November 2 ordination of a bishop living in a same-sex union with his male partner.

“We will try under God to provide channels on communication, channels of understanding, but most of all a path forward,” Archbishop Eames said in remarks to a previously scheduled gathering here of the Compass Rose Society, an organization of supporters of the mission of the Anglican Communion. “Please pray for me,” he asked.

Archbishop Eames, who from 1988-93 led a similar international commission on the ordination of women who now serve as priests and bishops in many of the Anglican Communion’s 38 member churches, said he did not accept the invitation from Dr Williams “easily” but “there are times in life that … a situation has to be addressed.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has announced the makeup and the terms of reference for a Commission to look at life in the Anglican Communion in the light of recent events. It is to be made up of members appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and will be chaired by the Most Revd Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh.

The Commission, which is expected to begin its work early in the New Year, was formed as a result of a request from the recent Primates meeting at Lambeth Palace to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It will take particular account of the decision to authorise a service for use in connection with same sex unions in the Diocese of New Westminster, Canada, and the expected Consecration of the Revd Canon V Gene Robinson as Bishop Co-adjutor of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church (USA) on Sunday, November 2nd.

The broad smiles and warm handshakes told it all. Christians and Muslims are back on track discussing the “heavenly religions,” as the Sunni Muslim leader put it.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, played a key role in re-establishing the dialogue that was disrupted in the wake of the election of Canon Gene Robinson – an openly gay man living in a committed relationship – as bishop of New Hampshire. A letter from him to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, delivered October 4, reassured the Sunni leader that Anglicans were not about to change their theology.

The letter which was delivered by the Episcopal Bishop in Egypt, the Rt Revd Dr Mouneer H Anis, said that the official position of the Anglican Communion over human sexuality remains unchanged.

When Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher returned from his historic visit to Pope John XXIII in 1960 he reported that the Holy Father asked him when the Anglicans would come back to the Catholic Church. Fisher replied: ‘We cannot come back but we can go forward together.’ At the time this revelation stunned and excited both Anglicans and Catholics. It appeared to mark one the most hopeful moments in the 424 bitter years since Henry VIII broke with Rome and changed the ‘Church in England’ into ‘the Church of England’

On reflection the comment raises more questions than it answers about the one Church that existed before the schism, and about the Churches that might be going ‘forward together’. If there is no going back to the oneness of the Church before 1534, in what sense will the Churches be one in the new togetherness?

A glance at the early Church in Britain, and a more detailed look at some of the various manoeuvrings toward going ‘forward together’ can give us a somewhat better understanding of the difficulties involved.

In an effort to forge closer links with the Roman Catholic Church, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and president of the Anglican Communion, began a three-day visit to Rome yesterday, which will include a meeting with Pope John Paul II on October 4.

Archbishop Rowan is being accompanied by his wife, Mrs Jane Williams, and representatives of the Anglican Communion, including Canon James M Rosenthal and the Revd Canon Gregory Cameron. Also present as a member of the Archbishop’s official party is the Rt Revd Geoffrey Rowell, Bishop of the Diocese in Europe, who is responsible for overseeing the Anglican work in Rome.