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.

Visiting holy sites to pray in both Rome and Canterbury was very much part of the process. On January 23 it was moving for us to be part of an Anglican Choral Evensong being held for only the second time ever in the Choir Chapel of St Peter’s Basilica. The meeting coincided in part with the annual Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity which always ends on January 25 when our churches mark the Feast of the Conversation of St Paul.

Appropriately that evening all the bishops attended Catholic vespers at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, where the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury both preached and commissioned the IARCCUM delegates in their pairs for their work. For us and many of those attending the liturgy, it was encouraging to observe both church leaders clearly at ease in each other’s company and both committed to the goal of Christian unity.

I was recently appointed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales to become a member of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM). 25 Catholic bishops and 25 Anglican bishops from across the world gathered in Rome to be commissioned jointly by Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, the conclusion of the Octave of Prayer for the Unity of Christians.

The Catholic and Anglican bishops were paired from each nation, I being united with Bishop Stephen Race of Beverely who was representing the Church of England. We assembled in Rome on Monday January 22 and transferred the conference to Canterbury on Friday January 26, concluding our deliberations on Monday January 29.

The experience was intense, enlightening and fruitful. Each pairing was charged with sharing their national experience of ecumenical dialogue and cooperation. This sharing proved to be a most powerful experience.

The second summit meeting of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) took place in Rome and Canterbury from 22 to 29 January 2024. IARCCUM is an official commission of the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church, established to deepen the relationship between Anglicans and Catholics and promote shared mission, based on the significant degree of theological agreement that has been reached over sixty years of dialogue. The first IARCCUM summit took place in 2016. The 2024 event, with the theme Growing Together, gathered pairs of bishops, Catholic and Anglican, from 27 different countries around the world.

The summit began in Rome on 22 January, with introductions to the background and history of the commission and presentations by each bishop-pair on the ecclesial and ecumenical situations in their countries. On Tuesday 23 January, the Anglican office of Choral Evensong was celebrated in the Chapel of the Choir in St Peter’s Basilica. Other elements of the Rome phase of the summit included a discussion on synodality in the two traditions and reflection on justice, peace and reconciliation, including testimonies about the challenging situations in their territories by the bishops from Sudan, South Sudan and the Holy Land.

The Roman Catholic-Anglican dialogue is advancing on the path of reconciliation after four centuries of conflict and separation. This decades-long effort is now moving beyond theological dialogue at the international level to building a movement whose guiding principle is: “The Christian churches should do all things together except where deep differences require that we act separately.”

Canada’s Catholic archbishop of Regina, Don Bolen, and the Canadian British-born Anglican suffragan bishop in Europe, David Hamid, explained this to America at the Basilica of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, on Tiber Island in Rome, on Jan. 25.

The two bishops are the co-chairmen of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, which goes by the acronym IARCCUM. Composed entirely of bishops from both churches, the commission came into existence in 2001 and held a two-part summit in Rome and Canterbury during this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Jan. 18-25. The summit brought together pairs of bishops from 27 countries, one from each Anglican province and one from the Catholic bishops’ conference in the same region.

I spoke to them just before the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, celebrated the Anglican Holy Eucharist in the Basilica of St. Bartholomew “with the permission of the bishop of Rome,” he said. (Archbishop Welby’s predecessor, Archbishop Rowan Williams, celebrated the Holy Eucharist in the Basilica of Santa Sabina on Rome’s Aventine Hill on Nov. 26, 2006, with the permission of Pope Benedict XVI.)

Both bishops agreed that Pope Francis’ approach to ecumenical dialogue dovetails well with the commission’s model. Indeed, from the beginning of his pontificate in March 2013, Francis has encouraged Christians to cooperate in concrete ways in addressing the problems of the world, even when theological or doctrinal problems may still create roadblocks to unity between the different Christian churches. He believes that “by walking together,” “praying together” and “working together” wherever possible, friendships can be built between the leaders and members of the different churches that not only give an important Christian witness to the world but also make it easier to address the theological obstacles to Christian unity.

It’s time to ‘walk together, pray together, and seek justice together’, say Anglican and Catholic Bishops.

Anglican and Catholic bishops participating in the ecumenical summit Growing Together have shared their post-conference ‘Call’ today. Entitled Our Common Witness, Calling and Commitment, it comes after a weeklong gathering (22-29 January) that saw the bishops meeting in Rome and Canterbury, for pilgrimage and discussion on joint mission and witness.

Meeting during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the summit was attended by Catholic and Anglican bishop pairs, representing 27 countries from all over the world. During the summit, each pairing was commissioned by Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, during Vespers, at the basilica of Saint Paul outside the Walls in Rome.

The summit was organised by IARCCUM, an ongoing International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission. It is supported by the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome and the Anglican Communion Office, Secretariat to the Anglican Communion.

Last week I had the privilege of participating in a summit of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission. IARCCUM’s mandate is to help give tangible expression to the formal agreements reached between our two communions of churches over the past 60 years. Even with so much theological consensus on so many things, there is still so much more that Anglicans and Catholics can and should be doing together.

In that spirit, 50 bishops from 27 countries where Catholics and Anglicans live side by side in significant numbers spent a week gathered in Rome and then Canterbury on an ecumenical pilgrimage of common prayer, relationship building, discussion, and discernment about how we can be better witnesses of reconciliation in our own lands and in the world.

IARCCUM bishops work in pairs – an Anglican and a Catholic bishop from each country represented. My Canadian Catholic “twin” is Bishop Martin Laliberté of Trois-Rivières. He’s also currently the president of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Quebec/Assemblée des évêques catholiques du Québec. Bishop Martin and I have known each other since 2019 when he served as an auxiliary bishop in Quebec City. We got to know each other better still over the course of the week, and discussed ways Anglicans and Catholics in Quebec and the rest of Canada might work more closely together.

Each pair of bishops was invited to briefly share a snapshot of the context of their ministries. Bishop Martin and I explained some of the challenges and opportunities of being the church in a sometimes aggressively secular age – something we were reminded is not unique to Quebec or Canada. We also shared our churches’ involvement in the residential schools system, and our attempts to be reconciled with Indigenous peoples.

“Called to be Jesus Partners”. The bishops taking part in Anglican and Catholic “Growing Together” ecumenical summit, went on pilgrimage to Canterbury this weekend.

They attended Sunday Eucharist at Canterbury Cathedral with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Stephen Chow Saau-yan (Bishop of Hong Kong) shared a message of hope.

Watch the video highlights from a weekend of discussion and friendship.

The bishops of the ‘Growing Together’ ecumenical summit have travelled from Rome to Canterbury for the second phase of their programme. The summit coincided with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and run from January 22-29.

Meeting in Anglican and Catholic bishop pairs, it has been a week seasoned with themes of friendship, conversation and journeying together.

The bishops have explored the importance of listening and learning from one another, celebrating what they have in common and how faith traditions can work together as partners in the gospel.

This sense of partnership was celebrated most significantly on January 25, when Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury commissioned the bishops in joint mission, during Vespers, at the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the church of Saint Paul Outside The Walls.

From Rome to Canterbury! Co-Chairs of IARCCUM and the ‘Growing Together’ summit, Archbishop Donald Bolen and Bishop David Hamid, talk about what it means for Catholic and Anglican bishops to meet together for conversation and pilgrimage in Canterbury this weekend.

San Gregorio al Celio in Rome is the church from where Pope Gregory the Great sent St Augustine to England in 597, to be the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

Yesterday, the ‘Growing Together’ summit travelled from Rome to Canterbury. Co-Chair of IARCCUM, is the Archbishop Donald Bolen, the Catholic Archbishop of Regina, Saskatchewan. Standing on the steps of San Gregorio, he shared his reflections on the significance of this meeting of Catholic and Anglican bishops.

This week’s “Growing Together” summit has seen pairs of Anglican and Catholic bishops gather for a series of ecumenical discussions and visits to holy sites in Rome, that have significance to the common roots shared by both traditions.

Today, before the summit moves to Canterbury for the second phase of the programme, the bishops gathered to pray at the Church of San Gregorio al Celio during their last day in Rome. It was a fitting location, as San Gregorio al Celio is the church from where St Augustine was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great in 597, to be the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

During the service, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Anthony Poggo, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, along with Archbishop Donald Bolen and Bishop David Hamid (Co-Chairs of IARCCUM) stood at the Chair of Gregory the Great.

This week’s “Growing Together” summit has seen pairs of Anglican and Catholic bishops gather for a series of ecumenical discussions and visits to holy sites in Rome, that have significance to the common roots shared by both traditions.

Today, before the summit moves to Canterbury for the second phase of the programme, the bishops gathered to pray at the Church of San Gregorio al Celio during their last day in Rome. It was a fitting location, as San Gregorio al Celio is the church from where St Augustine was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great in 597, to be the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

During the service, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Anthony Poggo, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, along with Archbishop Donald Bolen and Bishop David Hamid (Co-Chairs of IARCCUM) stood at the Chair of Gregory the Great.

Today, Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, commissioned pairs of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from across the world at Vespers (Evening Prayer) at the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome. Marking the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the ecumenical congregation drawn from various Christian traditions, prayed for the unity of the Church.

The bishop pairs are currently attending ‘Growing Together,’ a weeklong programme of ecumenical dialogue and pilgrimage, taking place in Rome and Canterbury. It is organised by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), supported by the Anglican Communion Office and the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Pope and the Archbishop commissioned the bishops to engage in joint mission and witness and to promote reception of the agreements already reached in theological dialogues between the two traditions. The location of the commissioning is significant, as it marks the place where the apostle Paul was buried after his martyrdom in Rome.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, preached today at Anglican Eucharist held at San Bartolomeo all’Isola on Tiber Island (Sanctuary of the New Martyrs), a ninth-century Basilica in Rome.

The Anglican Eucharist at 11:45 was attended by Catholic and Anglican bishops from across the globe who are currently in Rome for the ecumenical summit Growing Together, organised by IARCCUM, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission.

Later in the day, the Archbishop of Canterbury is due to take part in Vespers at 17:30, at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, where Pope Francis and the Archbishop will commission the bishops for their joint witness and mission.

This morning’s Eucharist at San Bartolomeo was one of the pilgrimages the bishops taking part in “Growing Together” have made this week. In 2000, the Basilica of San Bartolomeo all’Isola was dedicated by Pope John Paul ll to the memory of new martyrs of the 20th Century.

Come, Holy Spirit, and set our hearts on fire with the flames of your love. Amen.

It is wonderful to see this meeting of IARCCUM (the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission), this gathering of God’s people from around the world. Many in places of immense suffering and difficulty, persecuted, hunted, and yet here you are.

I come to you today, and I wonder what you were thinking about in the readings when often our thoughts may wander a little bit, I was thinking, in this place, I am the least among you. For I come with the responsibilities of living amongst the troubles that Anglicanism has suffered the last few years, and being conscious that to you I must be as one who serves.

I come as the least. And so, what I will say today, is in that Benedictine tradition, in the rule of Saint Benedict, that when there are things to be decided, that the abbot, so called, should listen, to all, to the least, to the newest, to the youngest. And I come, as with all of us, a sinner, conscious of the judgment I will face.

Today, Anglican & Catholic bishops at the ecumenical summit ‘Growing Together’ have talked about the vital role of synodality in the church. How the people of God journey together, listen to one another & discern how God is speaking. They have discussed themes of justice, peace & reconciliation as they explore their joint mission and witness in the world.

#Anglican #Catholic #IARCCUM #GrowingTogether #Synodality

Watch highlights from the Anglican Choral Evensong at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The service was part of ‘Growing Together’, an ecumenical summit between Anglican and Catholic bishops. The summit is meeting during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

#Anglican #Catholic #IARCCUM #GrowingTogether

Pairs of Anglican and Catholic bishops from across the world have made a pilgrimage to St Peter’s Basilica today as part of a weeklong ecumenical summit called Growing Together, run by IARCCUM (International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission). It aims to strengthen bonds of friendship between Anglicans and Roman Catholics as they explore their joint witness and mission.

On the evening of January 23, set within the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the bishops participated in Anglican Choral Evensong in the Choir Chapel of St Peter’s. This was an important occasion in ecumenical relations. Traditional Anglican Evensong was celebrated previously in St Peter’s in 2017.

As one of the most important Christian places of pilgrimage, St Peter’s is believed to have been built over the burial site of the Apostle Peter, the head of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, the first Bishop of Antioch and later the first Bishop of Rome, thus the first Pope.