Australian primate to co-chair Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue

9 December 2003 • Persistent link: iarccum.org/?p=4952

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“.

Speaking from Australia, Archbishop Carnley spoke to ACNS with enthusiasm about the work of ARCIC. He said, “It is a great honour to have been asked to be the Anglican Co–chair of ARCIC for the final phase of its present work. A good deal of the intensive labour has, of course, already been done by the Commission under the chairmanship of Bishop Griswold, to whom we are all much indebted.

“It will be a particular delight for me to work with my good friend Archbishop Alex Brunett, with whom I have already worked on the International Anglican–Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission.”

He added, “As a member of the IARCCUM sub–committee, which has been developing strategies to facilitate the reception of the ARCIC documents, so as to make them better known in the life of the Roman Catholic Church and the member churches of the Anglican Communion, it will now be a real pleasure to be involved in the completion of ARCIC‘s latest document on the place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in our shared tradition of faith and spirituality. I look forward to this task with warmest enthusiasm.”

Peter Frederick Carnley was born in New South Wales, Australia, in 1937. He was educated at Trinity College at the University of Melbourne, and awarded a first class honours degree in Arts. After working briefly in the legal profession, he studied for a Licentiate in Theology, and was ordained priest in the Diocese of Bathurst in 1964. Dr Carnley undertook his doctoral studies in Theology at Cambridge University. He was awarded his PhD in 1968, and went on to hold a Fellowship at St John‘s College, Cambridge.

On his return to Australia in 1972, Dr Carnley became Warden of St John‘s College at the University of Queensland. While in Queensland, Dr Carnley was Lecturer in Systematic Theology and a Canon of St John‘s Cathedral.

He was made Archbishop of Perth in 1981 at the young age of 44 years and was elected Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia in 2000.

The Archbishop has written a number of books including the ground–breaking “The Structure of Resurrection Belief” [1987] and his most recent book “The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Sermons” [2001].

As Anglican Co–Chair of ARCIC, Archbishop Carnley will be responsible for bringing the current phase of the Commission‘s life to completion with its work on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and seeing the dialogue through to its next phase.

The Revd Canon John L. Peterson, Secretary–General of the Anglican Communion, welcomed the appointment of Australia‘s Primate to this work. He said, “I am delighted that Archbishop Carnley has accepted the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury to serve as the Co–Chair of ARCIC. As the five–year dialogue on the Blessed Virgin Mary continues, Archbishop Carnley will be ideally situated to help the Anglican Communion be involved in its reception process“.

ARCIC is the main instrument of theological dialogue and reflection between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.