• Malines Conversations Group (Communiqués & Press Releases)

Malines Conversations Group’s meeting at York Minster

The Malines Conversations Group met for its eleventh annual residential meeting in York between Sunday 30th March and Thursday 3rd April 2025. The Group was welcomed for daily worship at York Minster by The Very Revd Dominic Barrington, Dean of York, and to Bishopthorpe Palace for Evening Prayer by the Archbishop of York.

At Bishopthorpe, Archbishop Stephen Cottrell addressed the group on the topic of baptism, a key theme for this year’s meeting, at the beginning of the process of drafting a new document on ministry. Other guests included Sr Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ, who helped the Group explore the synodal process of the Roman Catholic Church, Dr Andrej Jeftic, Director of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, and Bishop Raimo Goyarrola, Catholic Bishop of Helsinki, who spoke on the deepening relationships between Catholics and Lutherans in Finland. Members of the group presented papers on topics including baptism and sanctification, ministry and theological method, and on the mundus imaginalis.

Celebrating the heritage of the Malines Conversations, the Group was co-hosted for dinner at Bishopthorpe by the Earl of Halifax (great-grandson of the 2nd Viscount, progenitor of the original Malines Conversations), alongside representatives of the Anglican and Catholic dioceses, and religious communities across Yorkshire. The Group was also privileged to visit The Bar Convent, England’s oldest continuously-working religious house, where they celebrated the heritage and legacy of Mary Ward, and the brave, committed women who followed her heroic example at times of great danger for English Catholics.

A future meeting is planned for next Spring, at a venue to be determined.

Anglican members
The Revd Dr Kirsty Borthwick, Christ Church, Oxford
The Revd Canon Prof Sarah Coakley, Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity Emerita, University of Cambridge – absent –
The Revd Canon Dr Jennifer Cooper, Canon Theologian of Newcastle Cathedral
The Revd Canon Dr James Hawkey, Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey, London
The Rt Revd David Hamid, Former Suffragan Bishop of the Church of England Diocese in Europe; Former Co-chairman of IARCCUM
The Revd Canon Dr Jeremy Morris, National Adviser for Ecumenical Relations for the Church of England Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University
The Most Revd David Moxon, Former Co-Chairman of ARCIC III and former representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See and director of the ACR Rome – present online –
The Revd Canon Dr Nicholas Sagovsky, Former Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey; member of ARCIC I & II

Catholic members
Prof Dr Joris Geldhof, Chair of the Liturgical Institute, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven
Dr Maryana Hnyp, European Network on Religion and Belief, President – absent –
Prof Dr Arnaud Join-Lambert, Centre de théologie pratique, UC Louvain – not present –
Ms Vera La Mela, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, Sweden
The Revd Prof Thomas O’Loughlin, Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology, University of Nottingham,
The Revd Prof Dr Keith Pecklers, SJ, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome
The Revd Prof Dr Thomas Pott OSB, Pontifical Atheneum Sant’Anselmo, Rome
The Revd Dr. Gemma Simmonds CJ, Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Cambridge
The Revd Cyrille Vael OSB, Monastic Association for Encounter and Dialogue, Belgium

Old-Catholic member
The Revd Prof Dr Angela Berlis, Institut für Christkatholische Theologie, Theologische Fakultät, Universität Bern, member of the Faith and Order Commission

Observers
The Rt Revd Anthony Ball, Representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See and director of the Anglican Centre in Rome – not present –
The Revd Martin Browne OSB, Secretary to the Anglican and Methodist dialogues, DCPCU, Rome
Dr. Andrej Jeftic, Director of the Faith and Order Commission, World Council of Churches, Geneva

Guest speakers and guests
The Most Revd and Right Honourable Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York
The Most Revd Raimo Goyarrola, Bishop of Helsinki
The Most Revd Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, Co-chair of ARCIC
Prof. Dr. David Roef Nieuwejaers, University of Maastricht
The Revd Vincenzo Cretella, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome

Companions
His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Tobin, C.Ss.R, Archbishop of Newark
The Rt Hon The Earl of Halifax
The Rt Revd Dr David Stancliffe, Former Bishop of Salisbury
The Revd Em Prof Dr Gordon Lathrop, Professor Emeritus of Liturgy, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia
The Most Revd Donald Bolen, Archbishop of Regina (Canada); Co-chairman of IARCUUM
The Very Revd Canon David Richardson, Former representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See and director of the ACR

Patrons
His Eminence Jozef Cardinal De Kesel, Emeritus Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon The Lord Williams of Oystermouth, Former Archbishop of Canterbury