In France today there are more than thirty Anglican parishes and almost one hundred centres where Anglican worship takes place: a situation which often provides opportunities for contact with Roman Catholics, particularly when a church or chapel building is shared by the two communities.

At the end of the 1960s, shortly after the launch of ARCIC (the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission), a group for bilateral dialogue was also set up in France. Each year since 1970 it has brought together representatives of Anglican communities in France and Roman Catholics for a time of reflection that is both theological and pastoral. With an official mandate from the Diocese in Europe of the (Anglican) Church of England and from the French Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference, this joint Anglican-Roman Catholic Committee — generally known as French ARC — watches over the good relations which exist between Anglicans and Roman Catholics and seeks to encourage and develop them.

French ARC also has a concern for those Anglican faithful who live in France far from a place of Anglican worship, for visiting Anglican tourists, as well as for those involved in twinnings between French and British towns, which often give rise to annual meetings between Anglicans and Roman Catholics.

See also the Comités mixtes Anglican-Catholique de France fonds

Documents

• For a Common Prayer between Anglicans and Roman Catholics: “O Lord, open our lips”
  27 May 2014