Acronyms and Glossary

The following term and acronyms appear frequently in ecumenical documents, particularly those related to Anglican and Roman Catholic dialogue.

ACRAnglican Centre in Rome. The ACR is the permanent Anglican presence in Rome. The Centres Director is the Archbishop of Canterburys Representative to the Holy See.

ACCAnglican Consultative Council. The role of the ACC is to facilitate the cooperative work of the churches of the Anglican Communion, exchange information between the Provinces and churches, and help to coordinate common action. It advises on the organisation and structures of the Communion, and seeks to develop common policies with respect to the world mission of the Church, including ecumenical matters. The ACC is one of the four Instruments of Communion that serve the world wide family of Anglican/Episcopal churches.

ACOAnglican Communion Office, a permanent secretariat that serves the Anglican Communion and is responsible for facilitating all meetings of the conciliar Instruments of Communion as well as the commissions and networks of the Communion. ACO staff are based in London.

Anglican CommunionThe Anglican Communion comprises 38 selfgoverning member churches or provinces that share several things in common including doctrine, ways of worshipping, mission, and a focus of unity in the Archbishop of Canterbury. Formal mechanisms for meeting include the Lambeth Conferences, the Anglican Consultative Council, and the Primates’ Meetings, together known as the Instruments of Communion. Most Communion life, however, is found in the relationships between Anglicans at all levels of church life and work around the globe; dioceses linked with dioceses, parishes with parishes, people with people, all working to further Gods mission. There are around 85 million people on six continents who call themselves Anglican (or Episcopalian), in more than 165 countries. These Christian brothers and sisters share prayer, resources, support, and knowledge across geographical and cultural boundaries.

ARCusually refers to national or regional AnglicanRoman Catholic dialogue groups. Each ARC is constituted by sponsoring bodies from each church. While each ARC has its own mandate, one aspect of the IARCCUM mandate is to assist the national ARCs to connect to the work of ARCIC and IARCCUM, as well as with each other. This website is a key way that IARCCUM is attempting to meet this mandate.

ARCCMAnglicanRoman Catholic Commission on the Theology of Marriage. Originally a subcommission of the ARCJPC, the ARCCM worked from 1967 to 1975 on a report of the theology of marriage and the problem of mixed marriage. Some documents bear the acronym ARCJPCMM.

ARCICAnglican-Roman Catholic International Commission. Originally called the Anglican/Roman Catholic Permanent Joint Commission, the name was changed at the first meeting in January 1970. There have been three phases of ARCIC.

ARCJPCAnglican/Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission. This body was established by Archbishop Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Pope Paul VI in 1966. In the Malta Report, ARCJPC recommended the establishment of a permanent dialogue commission.

ARCPJCsee ARCIC

CCUthe Council for Christian Unity was the Church of Englands committee to promote Christian unity. Until the establishment of the Anglican Communion Office the CCU facilitated the dialogue with Roman Catholics on behalf of the Anglican Communion.

CDFCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican office responsible for doctrinal matters; the CDF and the PCPCU are responsible for the official response to ARCIC Is Final Report.

CICCodex Iuris Canonici. The Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983, the CIC is a reform of the 1917 Code.

Curia (also the Roman Curia) – the administrative offices of the Holy See that assist the pope in his ministry of governing the Roman Catholic Church. For ecumenical relations, the key curial office is the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Eastern Catholic churchesThe Eastern Catholic Churches are autonomous, selfgoverning particular churches in full communion with the Pope. Together with the Latin Church, they make up the entire Catholic Church. They preserve many centuriesold Eastern liturgical, devotional, and theological traditions, which are in most cases shared with the various other Eastern Christian churches with which they were once associated, such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church.

ECEWEcumenical Commission for England and Wales. A commission of the BishopsConference of England and Wales.

Episcopal Conferencessince the Second Vatican Council, bishops in the Roman Catholic Church have gathered into national or regional conferences. Although the ecclesiological significance of the episcopal conferences is still evolving, they are not understood as national churches (cf. Anglican Provinces).

The Final Reportthe 1982 report of ARCIC I. It contained the work of the dialogue from 1970 to 1981. The individual agreed statements have been published separately, but collected together in this report for submission to the sponsoring Communions for formal response and reception.

Holy Seethe episcopal see of the Bishop of Rome, the sovereign entity that constitutes the central government of the Roman Catholic Church. Also known as the Apostolic See (a title it shares with other ancient churches), the Holy See stems from the ministry of St. Peter, the first bishop of Rome, and of St. Paul, both of whom were martyred here. The pope, as bishop of Rome, exercises his authority as successor of both St. Peter and St. Paul. ARCICs reflections on ministry have highlighted the significance of a universal ministry of unity identified with the Petrine ministry. As a sovereign state, the Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with numerous countries in the world and participates in intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations. An ambassador from the Holy See is known as a papal nuncio.

Informal TalksThe annual Informal Talks is a meeting of staff of the PCPCU, the Anglican Communion Office, Lambeth Palace, the Anglican Centre in Rome and the ARCIC and IARCCUM cochairs.

IARCCUMInternational AnglicanRoman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission

Instruments of CommunionEstablished to enable Anglican unity in the diversity of the Communion, the four Instruments of Communion comprise the following: Archbishops of Canterbury; Lambeth Conferences; Primates’ Meetings; and the Anglican Consultative Council. In 2005, the ACC accepted a proposal to identify the Archbishop of Canterbury as thefocus for unity“, and to change the formerinstruments of unitytoinstruments of communionin reference to the three conciliar instruments.

Lambeth Conferencesone of the global Anglican Communion‘s four Instruments of Communion. It takes place roughly every ten years at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is the one occasion when all bishops can meet for worship, study and conversation. Archbishops, diocesan, assistant, and suffragan bishops are invited. Also invited are bishops from other churchesin communionwith the Anglican Communion, bishops from United churches, and a number of ecumenical guests.

PCPCUPontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The Vatican office responsible for ecumenical relations, the Pontifical Council was established in the preparatory stages of the Second Vatican Council (196265) as the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.

Primatesthe chief archbishop or bishop of a province of the Anglican Communion. In certain provinces the primate is also called Archbishop and/or Metropolitan, while in others for historical reasons, the term Presiding Bishop, or as in Scotland, Primus, is preferred. In some provinces the term is translated to their own language such as Obispo Primado, in the Province of the Southern Cone (South America).

PrimatesMeetingsa gathering of theprimatesof each Anglican Province, established in 1978 by Archbishop Donald Coggan (101st Archbishop of Canterbury) as an opportunity forleisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation”. In theUnited Churchesof South Asia, it is the Moderators of the churches who are invited to the PrimatesMeetings by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury is recognised as the primus inter pares, the first among equals, of the college of Primates, and attendance at a PrimatesMeeting is by invitation from him.

Provincesthe Anglican Communion consists of national and regional churches gathered together by the four Instruments of Communion. Each province is governed by its own canon law. The termprovincemay be confusing because each Anglican Church may also be divided into provinces (e.g. the Anglican Church of Canada, which is the Canadian province within the Anglican Communion, also has a Province of Canada, which is one of four metropolitan provinces).

Vatican Citythe sovereign territory of the Holy See in the centre of Rome, it is the worlds smallest independent state, with an area of 110 acres and a population of approximately 800. The most prominent features of Vatican City are St. Peters Basilica, St. Peters Square, the Apostolic Palace, museums, libraries, and numerous gardens. The offices of the Curia are mostly located outside of Vatican City. The pope is resident in Vatican City, but as bishop of Rome his cathedral is St. Johns Lateran. Vatican City was constituted by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and the Italian Republic in 1929 and is not considered a remnant of the former Papal States. In common usagethe Vaticanrefers to the Holy See. It is the Holy See, not Vatican City, that establishes diplomatic relations with foreign states.

Vatican IIa council of Roman and Eastern Catholic bishops held in the Vatican from October 1962 to December 1965. Called by Pope St. John XXIII on January 25, 1959 the council was the largest and most geographically diverse gathering of Roman and Eastern Catholic bishops in history. For the first time in history, invited guests and observers from other Christian communities contributed to the working groups and discussion. The Catholic Church considers Vatican II to be the twentieth ecumenical council, in a succession beginning at Nicaea in 325.