Fully visible Anglican Catholic union not likely soon says Archbishop Moxon
15 May 2012 • Persistent link: iarccum.org/?p=3787
New Zealand Anglican Archbishop, David Moxon, says there seem to be many obstacles to fully visible Anglican Catholic union and it is unlikely to be achieved in the near future. He is the co-chairperson of the Anglican-Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and was speaking at the Commission’s meeting in Hong Kong last week. “We can, however, do a lot of things together during this slow process,” he says.
The Catholic co-chairperson, Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham, speaking before the meeting said,”I do understand those doubts, misgivings, and sometimes frustrations and disappointments particularly on the part of those people who have committed many years to dialogue and who at the outset thought the prospects of unity were much more realistic than they are now. New challenges, new obstacles have come in the way in the path of unity.
“At the same time that mustn’t deflect us. And it hasn’t deflected the Catholic Church from our commitment to search for a way towards the unity that we believe is the will of Christ for all the baptised.”
The Anglican—Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) is an organization created in 1969 which seeks to make ecumenical progress between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. The sponsors are the Anglican Consultative Council and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (formerly the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity).
ARCIC seeks to identify common ground between the two communions. In recent years internal changes in both churches has put strain on ecumenical relations.