This January, I participated in a unique pilgrimage and summit, “Growing Together,” sponsored by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM). The event brought together 50 paired bishops, both Anglican and Roman Catholic, from 27 different countries to offer an ecumenical witness of solidarity between the two worldwide communions and to underscore the progress that has been made in relations between them. The pilgrimage began in Rome, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in this historic Christian centre, and then moved to the close of Canterbury Cathedral for its conclusion.

IARCCUM practices what is sometimes called the Lund principle: churches are called to act together in all those areas where conviction does not require them to act separately. If there are things that we can do together, we should be doing them. The pilgrimage and summit were intended to offer a common witness of Christians, in the midst of deep divisions in our world and enormous difficulties facing the human family, and to challenge our churches to work more closely together in those areas where we are able to do so.

On January 25, at the annual ecumenical service in Rome that marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Pope Francis spontaneously invited Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to offer remarks after Francis’ own homily. Archbishop Justin’s reflection constituted a second homily, though it was called a “discourse” in the Vatican media. Such an invitation had only been offered to Orthodox bishops in the past, so this marked a significant sign of welcome between two leaders who have become close collaborators in a number of projects. On previous occasions, Archbishop Justin and his predecessors had been invited to offer remarks at a later portion of the liturgy, but never immediately after the homily.

On 7 and 8 March 2024, the drafting group of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) met in London, UK. Convened by the two co-secretaries of the commission, the group held its working sessions at the church of St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, and at Westminster Abbey.

ARCIC-III’s current mandate is to examine how the Church in communion, local and universal, discerns right ethical teaching. It addressed the first ecclesiological part of its mandate in its 2018 agreed statement, Walking Together on the Way: Learning to be Church ‒ Local, Regional, Universal. In this phase of its work, ARCIC-III is now examining how the two communions practice moral discernment in search of right ethical teaching. The first three chapters of the report examine both the shared tradition which Catholics and Anglicans have inherited, and how distinct moral discernment developed in each tradition since the Reformation. During their meeting in London, the drafting group concentrated on refining and analysing two case studies which will form part of the fourth chapter of the report. These case studies examine one example of where Catholics and Anglicans reached the same teaching – Enslavement – and one where they did not – Contraception. Their work will be considered by the full commission when it gathers for its annual plenary meeting in Strasbourg, France, in May 2024.