The Ecumenical Adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr William Adam, is to be the new Director of Unity, Faith and Order for the Anglican Communion. His new role, which he takes on with immediate effect, will be held alongside his role at Lambeth Palace, which he has held since 2017. He succeeds the Revd Canon Dr John Gibaut, who was appointed to the post in 2014 and held it until earlier this year, when he became President, Provost and Vice–Chancellor of Canada’s Thorneloe University.

Will Adam was ordained in the Church of England in 1994 and held parish appointments until taking up his post advising the Archbishop of Canterbury. From 2017 until now he has also served as Ecumenical Officer in the Church of England’s Council for Christian Unity. He has experience of ecumenical dialogue at national and international level.

The Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) has elected Linda Nicholls, the Bishop of the Diocese of Huron, as its next primate. She will become the first woman to hold this position in the ACoC and only the second female primate in the Anglican Communion.

The election, held during the Church’s General Synod at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver on 13 July, began with five nominees. Bishop Linda was elected on the fourth ballot, with 64 per cent of lay votes and 71 per cent of votes among the clergy.

Speaking shortly after the election, Bishop Linda said: “you have bestowed on me an honour that I can hardly imagine, and it is terrifying. But it is also a gift, to be able to walk with the whole of the Anglican Church of Canada from coast to coast to coast.”

Despite an amendment to slow down the process, the Church of England’s General Synod has agreed a series of motions to take forward its Covenant with the Methodist Church in Britain to allow interchangeability of ministries and intercommunion between the two Churches.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, told the General Synod: “I for one am profoundly committed to moving forward in this matter, for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of the Church and for the sake of the world we are sent to serve.”

At the end of Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis and Orthodox Archbishop Job of Telmessos walked down the stairs under the main altar in St. Peter‘s Basilica and prayed together at the apostle‘s tomb. The archbishop was representing Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople at the pope‘s celebration of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, who were martyred in Rome and are the patron saints of the Roman church.

Greeting the archbishop in his homily June 29, Pope Francis told him, “Your presence reminds us that we can spare no effort in the journey toward full unity among believers, in communion at every level. For together, reconciled to God and having forgiven one another, we are called to bear witness to Jesus by our lives.” Meeting members of the Orthodox delegation June 28, the pope said Sts. Peter and Paul are exemplars of “the apostolic courage of proclamation, which also entails a commitment to respond to the new challenges of the present time.” Patriarch Bartholomew and his longstanding theological and pastoral concern about climate change is one example of that, the pope said, and “has been a source of inspiration for me.”

Lutherans and Ukrainian Catholics in Regina, Saskatchewan joined the annual celebration of the Anglican and Roman Catholic ecumenical Covenant on Sunday afternoon, May 26. The Covenant began in 2011 between the Anglican Diocese of Qu‘Appelle and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina. In recent years, the Covenant partners have been working towards a renewed covenant which will include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. This year‘s annual covenant service was an opportunity to give thanks to God for drawing the four churches towards this renewed relationship.

The Bishop of Mauritius, the Most Revd Ian Ernest, has been appointed Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Personal Representative to the Holy See. Archbishop Ian, who served as Primate of the Anglican Church of the Indian Ocean for 11 years until 2017, will take up his new role towards the end of 2019. One of his last duties as Bishop of Mauritius will be to welcome Pope Francis to the island when he makes an official visit in September.

“I feel deeply honoured and humbled by this appointment. It is a calling from God which I accept with all humility”, Archbishop Ian said. “I will try my best to honour this calling and to honour the office. I look forward to working in close collaboration with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Board of Governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome.”

The Anglican Consultative Council has adopted new procedures for the official recognition of agreed statements from mandated ecumenical dialogues. The decision was taken this week by members at the seventeenth meeting of the Council (ACC–17) in Hong Kong. Previously, the Anglican Communion received such texts through the Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, but Canon Dr John Gibaut, the Anglican Communion’s Director of Unity, Faith and Order, said that the previous system had not functioned for more than two decades.

The new system was recommended by the Inter–Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith and Order (IASCUFO). Dr Gibaut explained that previously, texts would first go out to the provinces of the Anglican Communion who were responsible for making a judgement on the text before feeding back to staff at the Anglican Communion Office. The Lambeth Conference would study those responses and the texts themselves, and then would discern whether each text was “consonant with the faith of the Church as Anglicans have received it”. The texts would then be recommended to member churches of the Anglican Communion.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Right Reverend Justin Welby led a retreat with Pope Francis in Casa Santa Marta this week (10–11 April) for the political leaders of South Sudan. The Reverend John Chalmers, former Moderator of the Church of Scotland was also in attendance. The ecumenical retreat was the fruit of an unprecedented collaborative effort by Lambeth Palace and the Secretariat of State.

A remarkable, spontaneous gesture. Breaking protocol, at the conclusion of his remarks at the end of the spiritual retreat, Pope Francis fell to his knees, kissing the feet of South Sudan’s civil authorities.

“To the three of you who signed the Peace Agreement, I ask you, as a brother, remain in peace”, the Pope said. “I ask you from the heart. Let us move forward. There will be many problems, but don’t be afraid, go forward, resolve the problems”. In impromptu remarks following his address, Pope Francis said, “You have started a process; may it end well. Although struggles will arise, he said, these should stay “within the office”. However in public, he said, “before the people: [keep your] hands united”. In this way, the Pope said, “from simple citizens, you will become Fathers of the Nation”.

A Spiritual Retreat involving civil and ecclesiastical authorities of South Sudan is held in the Vatican, and is opened by the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. Reflections include a meditation centered on the national anthem of Africa’s youngest country.

A time of grace dedicated to reflection and prayer, to ask God “for a future of peace and prosperity for the people of South Sudan“. In the words of the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, this is the meaning of the spiritual retreat currently underway in the Vatican, at the Casa Santa Marta.

Participants at a historic gathering of church leaders from five Christian World Communions have issued a statement recommitting themselves to communicating the biblical message of salvation in new ways to contemporary society. We “wish to make more visible our common witness, in worship and service, on our journey together towards visible unity, walking together, praying together and working together.”

The meeting, which took place at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States from 26 to 28 March, brought together ecumenists from the five global Christian communions who have affirmed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ). That landmark agreement was originally signed by leaders of the Catholic Church and The Lutheran World Federation in 1999 and has since been broadened to include the World Methodist Council, the Anglican Communion and the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

In the statement, participants say that their churches witness to the fact that through the JDDJ process “centuries–old controversies” are being overcome. They underline the urgency of bringing this witness of reconciliation to a “broken, divided and contentious world” and they pledge to “communicate this message to people of our time in meaningful and relevant ways through our common witness and service.”

An ecumenical appeal for the return of the mummified head of an 800–year–old body known as “The Crusader” has been made by the Anglican and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin. The head was stolen during a raid on the crypt of St Michan’s Church in Dublin at the weekend. The crypt, a popular tourist attraction, contained other mummified remains, including the 400–year–old remains of a nun, which were also vandalised in the attack. Since news of the attack first broke earlier this week, it has emerged that the intruders also broke into the family vault of William Rowan Hamilton, the 19th–century mathematician whose studies paved the way for quantum theory and stole another skull.

Yesterday (Wednesday) the Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Archbishops of Dublin, Michael Jackson and Diarmuid Martin, made a joint visit to the crypt to see the damage alongside Assistant Garda (police) Commissioner Pat Leahy. Afterwards, they issued a joint appeal for the return of the remains.

Thieves have stolen the head from an 800–year–old mummified body, known as “The Crusader” from the crypt of a church in the Irish capital Dublin. The vandals responsible also damaged other human remains in the attack on St Michan’s Church in Church Street, Dublin. The church is a popular tourist destination attracting visitors who come to see the mummified remains in the crypt. The vandalism was discovered shortly before lunchtime today (Monday) as volunteers were preparing to open the crypt for visitors.

In a statement, the Church of Ireland said that the body of The Crusader was overturned and its head taken. They say that the crypt was badly damaged and other remains, including the 400–year–old remains of a nun, were desecrated in the attack.

“I am shocked that someone would target this ancient burial place and desecrate the remains of those lying within it”, the Archbishop of Dublin, Michael Jackson, said. “Not only have these individuals desecrated the sacred crypt but they have destroyed these historic mummies which have been preserved in St Michan’s for hundreds of years.

“I would appeal to those responsible to examine their consciences and return the head of The Crusader to its rightful place.”

The Revd Canon Dr John Gibaut, currently Director of Unity, Faith and Order at the Anglican Communion Office, is to leave his current role to become President, Provost and Vice–Chancellor of Canada’s Thorneloe University. Dr Gibaut will take up his new role on 1 June, after the next meeting of the triennial Anglican Consultative Council in Hong Kong. Thorneloe University is a founding member of the Laurentian University Federation on the campus of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

In his current role, Dr Gibaut has been the lead Anglican Communion staffer on ecumenical dialogues with other Church families. He has also been the lead advisor on theological issues and on inter–Anglican dialogue. He came to the Anglican Communion from the World Council of Churches, the international ecumenical organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Prior to these two international appointments, Dr Gibaut was an administrator and professor in the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University, a bilingual institution federated with the University of Ottawa. From 1994 to 2003, he served as the faculty’s Director of Anglican Studies.

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales and Church of England bishops met in Leicester from 16 to 17 January for their biennial conference. Together 27 Catholic and 27 Anglican bishops explored a diverse range of subjects including opportunities for closer collaboration at a regional and national level. Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu were present throughout. Cardinal Nichols and Archbishop Welby addressed the gathering.

Fifty bishops – 25 Anglicans and 25 Catholics – will convene in the British city next January 16–17. Rev Worthen told SIR: “Spirituality, theology and coexistence will be the ingredients of the meeting” that with a tight agenda: liturgy and debates with the spotlight on the Declaration “Walking Together On The Way.” Next January 16 and 17 fifty bishops, half of them Catholic and half of them Anglican, will convene in Leicester, central England, a city with an important tradition of interreligious dialogue, for a two–day ecumenical meeting.

“Synodality,” a key concept of Pope Francis‘ papacy, was used repeatedly in the final document of the Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocation discernment. In simple terms, “synodality” means “walking together” with every member of the church, recognizing that the grace of baptism makes one part of the body of the church and, therefore, responsible for its life and mission. “The church must really let herself be given shape by the Eucharist that she celebrates as the summit and source of her life,” being like “the bread made from many stalks of wheat and broken for the life of the world,” the synod document said.

A Roman Catholic bishop and his Anglican counterpart have been inspired by an official international ecumenical mission partnership to create a joint project to address the development needs of children living in poverty. In October 2016, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis jointly commissioned and sent out 19 pairs of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops to do joint mission across the world. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Saint John, Robert Harris, and the Anglican Bishop of Fredericton, David Edwards, were not part of that initiative; but inspired by it the two bishops – whose dioceses overlap – have signed a joint declaration to launch a child development programme.

The project, “Dads & Tots”, will work with single fathers from the Waterloo Village and South End neighbourhoods of Saint John, a port city in Canada’s New Brunswick province. The project will enable mentoring relationships with experienced fathers who can teach them parenting skills and facilitate weekly relationship–building sessions whereby the fathers can interact with their children in a controlled literacy– and play–based environment.

The project follows the formation last year of a Saint John IARCCUM Group between the two dioceses. Dads & Tots has now begun as a six–week pilot ahead of its permanent launch in January. It is being run by a specialist in early childhood intervention and will use facilities and equipment donated by the two dioceses.

Pope Francis‘ top–down change of the Roman Catholic Church took on an ecumenical dimension last week as two Church of England bishops were officially included in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales visit ad limina to Rome.

In their 1 Oct 2018 communique the bishops’ conference reported among the “firsts” of their 24–29 Sept 2018 meeting with Francis was the presence of two Anglican bishops and a representative from the Conference of Religious in England and Wales.

“In a number of our visits we have been accompanied by two bishops of the Church of England, Bishop Martin Warner and Bishop Christopher Foster. On one occasion we were joined by Sister Frances Orchard CJ of the Conference of Religious in England and Wales. We also visited the Pontifical Commission for Communication, whose Prefect, Dr Paolo Ruffini, is a layman. These are all ‘firsts’ – examples of openness and change” they said.

According to Catholic canon law, diocesan bishops and prelates with territorial jurisdiction are obliged to meet with the pope every five years to report on the state of their dioceses and prelatures. Last week’s visit included the 22 diocesan bishops of England and Wales, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, the Ordinary of the Military Ordinariate, the Apostolic Eparchs of the Ukrainian and Syro–Malabar Churches in Britain, and the Apostolic Prefect of the Falkland Islands.

At Solemn Vespers in the Shrine Church on Monday 24th September – the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham – a new Covenant agreed between the Anglican and the Roman Catholic Shrines in Walsingham was announced and signed by Fr Kevin Smith (Priest Administrator of the Anglican Shrine) and Mgr John Armitage (Rector of the Roman Catholic Shrine). Messages from the Bishop of Norwich and the Bishop of East Anglia were read out to mark the occasion. This historic event was witnessed by visiting pilgrims and members of the local community.