Special Relationship Between Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Reaffirmed at 50th Meeting Here

Author/editor(s): USCC
Creation: 24 Sept. 2000 (The date of original creation or publication, if known)
Event: ARC-USA 50th meeting, Washington, DC, 21-24 September 2000

Persistent link: https://iarccum.org/doc/1464 (Please use this permanent URL in your publications and bookmarks to link to this document. The files linked below may be modified, but this record will remain at this location.)

Citation:
    United States Catholic Conference. Special Relationship Between Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Reaffirmed at 50th Meeting Here (24 Sept. 2000). https://iarccum.org/doc/1464.

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WASHINGTON (October 3, 2000) — Meeting for the 50th time since the first meeting in June 1965, the AnglicanRoman Catholic Consultation in the United States (ARCUSA) convened at the College of Preachers, Washington, DC, September 2124, 2000. Taking special note of the occasion, dialogue members and their guests gathered for choral evensong at The Washington National Cathedral on Friday evening, September 22, and hosted a reception and banquet afterwards. Bishop John J. Snyder (Diocese of St. Augustine), Catholic cochairman of ARCUSA, preached the homily at the special evensong, and Bishop Arthur A. Vogel, retired bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Missouri and a member of ARCUSA from its beginning until 1984, was the dinner speaker.

At the final session of the meeting, ARCUSA agreed to a communique, the full text of which appears below.

Reflecting on the Scriptural lessons for the evensong (Is. 35:110 and Lk 7:1823), Bishop Snyder observedthat Isaiahs vision of Gods deliverance and the Lukan Gospel speak not only of hope, promise and fulfillment but arise in response to the insidious temptations to discouragement, disillusionment and disappointment.” Observing thatafter a generation of remarkable ecumenical progress we still remain sadly separate,” Bishop Snyder called attention to the lessons: “In our successes and failures in working towards the visible unity of Christs Church, may we always remember that Jesusanswer to the broken and fragile, the blind, the dead, the unclean is that we find the One in Him, and that as his disciples we have no choice but his will to be One.”

With stories and details from the historical record, Bishop Vogel reminded everyone of the groundbreaking nature of the early meetings and agreements between Anglicans and Roman Catholics. In his review, he noted from time to time a few sensitive points in the early years, such as the practice of conditional baptism, issues related to ordination, and the relationship between the national and international dialogues. He concluded with encouragement to the current members of the dialogue to keep up the good work and maintain the goal of full visible communion.

During its working sessions, the dialogue continued its examination of the exercise of authority in the two communions with discussion of a paper by the Rev. Dr. Ellen Wondra on the modes and national structures of authority in the Episcopal Church. For several meetings, the dialogue has been reviewing how authority is exercised in the provinces of the Anglican Communion (especially the Episcopal Church) and national conferences of bishops in the Roman Catholic Church, in relation both to local dioceses and to the worldwide communion. Members are anticipating the preparation of an agreed report similar to their last statement, an agreed report on the local/universal church, released last year and available on church websites and in the June 22, 2000, issue of Origins.

Bishop Ted Gulick (Kentucky), Anglican cochair of the dialogue, and Archbishop William J. Levada (San Francisco), an invited guest to the 50th meeting, together reported on the special meeting of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from 13 countries, convened by Cardinal Edward Cassidy and Archbishop George Carey (Canterbury), near Toronto, Canada, in May 2000. Members discussed the meeting with the two U.S. representatives and reviewed in detailCommunion in Missionand theAction Planresulting from the meeting. This was immediately followed by a candid discussion of Dominus Jesus and related materials recently released by the Holy See. The dialogue devoted other sessions to a proposal to prepare materials to aid churchwide reception of agreements on Eucharist and ministry which have been clarified and accepted, to discussion of an appropriate way respond to the international dialogues most recent text, The Gift of Authority, and to plans for another project on the relationship between culture and authority.

ARCUSA is now on a schedule of semiannual meetings. Members will gather in Baltimore in March 2001 for the next meeting. At the final session of the meeting, ARCUSA agreed to the following communiqué:

At its 50th meeting in September 2000 the AnglicanRoman Catholic Consultation in the United States (ARCUSA) celebrated and reaffirmed the special relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as expressed at the Second Vatican Council and the Lambeth Conferences.

At a choral Evensong at The Washington National Cathedral to give thanks to God for this occasion, the Most Rev. John Snyder, Roman Catholic Cochair of the dialogue, preached a homily in which he summed up the experience of the dialogue participants. Bishop Snyder saidour collaboration has provided me with a rare view of the richness and variety of the churchs life, a glimpse of the passion for ecclesial union for which we strive, and a source of great hope, comfort and joy.” He highlighted the substantial agreements which have been achieved by the more than thirtyfive years of official dialogue in the United States and also recognized the obstacles that remain on the road to the full visible unity of the Church.

ARCUSA is heartened by reports from two members who attended the historic meeting of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from thirteen countries, convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, gathered in Mississauga, Ontario, in May 2000. The members of ARCUSA rejoice that the bishops could together declare thata sense of mutual interdependence in the Body of Christ has been reachedand thatwe have moved much closer to the goal of full visible communion than we had at first dared to believe.” A significant outcome of the bishopsmeeting is a new Joint Unity Commission to promote reunion efforts. ARCUSA urges the Pontifical Council and the Anglican Communion Office to establish this commission as soon as possible so that it may, among other tasks, prepare a joint Anglican/Roman Catholic Declaration of Agreement on the Apostolic Faith which we both profess.

On the occasion of this 50th meeting, the members of ARCUSA issue an invitation to a new generation of Anglicans and Roman Catholics. We ask them to join in the ecumenical enterprise which continues to enrich our faith, enlarge our vision, and energize our joint commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ in the world.

For the members of ARCUSA, this dialogue has been one not only of addressing difficult matters that concern our churches but also of experiencing signs and symbols that have encouraged us along the way. Among these ARCUSA recalls with particular gratitude Paul VI‘s reference to the Anglican Communion asever beloved sisterand his symbolic gesture of presenting his own episcopal ring to the one hundredth Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael Ramsey. We also recall the invitation of Archbishop Robert Runcie to John Paul II to join him in leading worship in Canterbury cathedral and Archbishop George Carey‘s participation at the side of the Pope in the opening of the Holy Door inaugurating this Jubilee year.

May the grace of this Jubilee year lead to that full communion which is our Lords prayer, our task and the Spirits gift.