The broad smiles and warm handshakes told it all. Christians and Muslims are back on track discussing the “heavenly religions,” as the Sunni Muslim leader put it.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, played a key role in re-establishing the dialogue that was disrupted in the wake of the election of Canon Gene Robinson – an openly gay man living in a committed relationship – as bishop of New Hampshire. A letter from him to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawy, delivered October 4, reassured the Sunni leader that Anglicans were not about to change their theology.

The letter which was delivered by the Episcopal Bishop in Egypt, the Rt Revd Dr Mouneer H Anis, said that the official position of the Anglican Communion over human sexuality remains unchanged.

When Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher returned from his historic visit to Pope John XXIII in 1960 he reported that the Holy Father asked him when the Anglicans would come back to the Catholic Church. Fisher replied: ‘We cannot come back but we can go forward together.’ At the time this revelation stunned and excited both Anglicans and Catholics. It appeared to mark one the most hopeful moments in the 424 bitter years since Henry VIII broke with Rome and changed the ‘Church in England’ into ‘the Church of England’

On reflection the comment raises more questions than it answers about the one Church that existed before the schism, and about the Churches that might be going ‘forward together’. If there is no going back to the oneness of the Church before 1534, in what sense will the Churches be one in the new togetherness?

A glance at the early Church in Britain, and a more detailed look at some of the various manoeuvrings toward going ‘forward together’ can give us a somewhat better understanding of the difficulties involved.

In an effort to forge closer links with the Roman Catholic Church, the Most Revd Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and president of the Anglican Communion, began a three-day visit to Rome yesterday, which will include a meeting with Pope John Paul II on October 4.

Archbishop Rowan is being accompanied by his wife, Mrs Jane Williams, and representatives of the Anglican Communion, including Canon James M Rosenthal and the Revd Canon Gregory Cameron. Also present as a member of the Archbishop’s official party is the Rt Revd Geoffrey Rowell, Bishop of the Diocese in Europe, who is responsible for overseeing the Anglican work in Rome.

The Blessed Virgin Mary has always had a special place in the hearts of Catholics of the Australian Church over its comparatively short history. The “mother church” of Australia, St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, first built in 1821, witnesses to the devotion of early Sydney Catholics, both clergy and laity, in being named in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

Our first bishop, John Bede Polding, had a particular devotion to the Virgin Mary, writing her initials atop all his writings. Two years after the establishment of the Australian hierarchy, Mary Help of Christians was proclaimed patroness of Australia. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, expressed in the 20th century particularly by a love of the rosary, is a strong element of Australian Catholicism.

In more recent times various devotional movements have brought about a renewed love of the Blessed Virgin Mary, following a dip in devotion in the latter quarter of the last century.

There are two references to Mary in “Nostra Aetate” [the 1965 declaration on the relation of the Church to Non-Christian religions].

The first notes that Muslims “also honor Mary, his virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion” (NA, 3). The second emphasizes the Jewish roots of Jesus and his mother quoting Paul “about his kinsmen: ‘theirs is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ according to the flesh’ (Romans 9:4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary” (NA, 4).

Since Vatican II, the main areas of Mariological research in other religions have been in Judaism where the symbol “Daughter of Zion” has been studied and on the place of Mary in Islam (see “The Virgin Mary in Intellectual and Spiritual Formation,” [VMISF], Congregation for Catholic Education, March 25, 1988; No. 15).

In the beautiful final chapter of the dogmatic constitution of the Church “Lumen Gentium,” dedicated to the Virgin Mary, we read, “After this manner the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood, (see John 19:25) in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with his sacrifice, and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth. Finally, she was given by the same Christ Jesus dying on the cross as a mother to his disciple with these words: ‘Woman, behold thy son’ (see John 19:26-27)” (No. 58).

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, has appointed the Revd Andrew Norman as his Assistant Officer for the Anglican Communion and Ecumenism. Andrew Norman is currently serving as Associate Vicar in the Parish of Christ Church, Clifton in the diocese of Bristol. He studied PPE at Oxford and holds diplomas in French and Management studies. He trained for the ministry at Ridley Hall and holds a theology degree from the University of Cambridge.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has appointed the Revd Jonathan Gough as his Officer for Ecumenism in succession to the Revd Canon Dr Richard Marsh. Jonathan Gough is currently Senior Chaplain at the Army Foundation College in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Following his ordination in 1985, he served four years as a curate in North Devon and in Gloucester. Since 1989 he has held a series of appointments within the Royal Army Chaplains department.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has appointed the Revd William Adam as his Assistant Officer for the Anglican Communion and Ecumenism. Will Adam is currently Team Vicar in Witney in the Oxford diocese following his curacy spent at Beaconsfield, and since 1998 has been one of the Oxford Diocese’s Ecumenical Officers.

One of the subtleties of Shakespeare’s As You Like It is the existence of layers of sexual ambiguity implied in its original performance: a boy-actor played the part of a young woman disguised as a young man who at one point is pretending to be a girl. I was put in mind of these layers of meaning when I read The Eucharist: sacrament of unity (ESU), the Church of England’s highly courteous and careful response to the British and Irish bishops’ 1998 teaching document on eucharistic doctrine and sharing entitled One Bread One Body (OBOB). There is of course one vitally important difference: whereas the play’s layers form the stages in a dialectic, i.e. an interactive process, of ambiguity, the theological document offers a dialectic of clarification, which provides a model of what is involved in ecumenical reception.

The Pope, His Holiness John Paul II sent a message of greeting to the historic May 2000 gathering of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in Mississauga, Toronto, Canada. On the eve of his 80th birthday, the Pope expressed his hope that the meeting would “bear lasting fruit” and hasten unity of the two churches.

“For more than 30 years the Anglican and the Catholic Church have been on a journey towards the restoration of unity,” said the Pope in a statement read by Cardinal Edward Cassidy to 2,000 worshippers in St Michael’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Toronto. “In some places there have been very positive developments … in other places we are not so far along the road [and] new and serious obstacles have slowed our progress. I pray that the spiritual bonds that have always lifted Catholics and Anglicans will be strengthened and deepened even further.”

Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops, paired from thirteen regions around the world, have begun their meeting in Canada in which they are reviewing and evaluating the accomplishment of thirty years of ecumenical relationship between Anglicans and Catholics in their areas. The pairs of bishops come from New Zealand, Canada, England, United States, Ireland, India, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Southern Africa, Uganda, Australia, Brazil and the West Indies.

The bishops are gathered in private session at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre near Toronto, Ontario, under the joint chairmanship of Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Their first day has begun with a morning of prayer and scriptural reflection. The following days will begin and end with common prayer.

Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops from thirteen regions around the world are to gather in Canada May 14-20 to review and evaluate the accomplishment of thirty years of ecumenical dialogue between the two traditions and to reflect on how the special relationship between them has been developing in different parts of the world.

This high level meeting is happening at a time when Anglicans and Roman Catholics around the world are exploring the possibilities for further steps toward visible unity.

“The dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics is only one stream in the wider river of ecumenical dialogue. The issue of authority comes up sooner or later, in one form or another, in every dialogue which addresses itself seriously to the questions of communion and unity,” the Rt Rev Mark Santer, Bishop of Birmingham and previous Co-Chairman of ARCIC (the Anglican and Roman Catholic International Commission, said. He was taking part in a presentation of the ARCIC document The Gift of Authority: Authority in the Church III, to members of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Dundee, Scotland.

The Scottish Episcopal Church will host the 11th Meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) 14-25 September 1999. The gathering of the international groups of bishops, clergy and laity will meet in the Diocese of Brechin, Dundee, at the West Park Centre.

A full and timely agenda awaits the ACC members coming from the 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion. Much of the business will stem from resolutions of the Lambeth Conference 1998 that have been referred to the ACC for possible action.

At a press briefing in Westminster Abbey, London, today, the co-chairmen of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), the Rt Revd Mark Santer (Anglican) and the Rt Revd Cormac Murphy-O’Connor (Roman Catholic), launched the document “The Gift of Authority”, the latest in study documents issued by 18 members of the Commission.

This new document is the third agreed statement from ARCIC to address the question of authority in the church – its nature, exercise and implications. The statement takes into account the recent work in both Churches concerned with the matter of authority – the Lambeth Conference 1998 resolutions of the topic, “The Virginia Report” (Anglican document sent to the Provinces), and the 1995 Encyclical Letter on Ecumenism, “Ut Unum Sint”.

I welcome the publication of the ARCIC‘s latest document, “The Gift of Authority”. I would like to express my thanks to the Co-Chairmen of the Commission, Bishop Cormac Murphy O’Connor and Bishop Mark Santer, together with their colleagues, for all their hard work and dedication.

“The Gift of Authority” tackles the most controversial of theological issues separating Roman Catholics and Anglicans. It is noteworthy that in earlier stages in the life of ARCIC it was recognised that more work would be needed before the same level of agreement could be recorded on Authority as was achieved on the topics of the Eucharist and Ministry and Ordination.

It has just been announced by the Governors of the Anglican Centre in Rome that the Rt. Revd John Baycroft, currently the Anglican Bishop of Ottawa, Canada has been appointed as the next Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome.

While the Roman Catholic Church and Rome itself have been busy with massive campaigns of refurbishment of their great shrines, including St Peter’s, so too has the Anglican Centre in Rome been totally transformed.

Fund-raising and awareness building programmes have been a huge success and the Centre now finds itself in the midst of the splendour of the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in the heart of the Eternal City. Rome is expecting millions of visitors in 2000, marking the Jubilee and the Holy Year and now Anglicans can be even more proud of their presence in Rome.

The Lambeth Conference sent a strong message of commitment to church unity Tuesday (August 4, 1998).

In its first plenary session to debate resolutions, the bishops recommitted the international Anglican church to journey towards “the full, visible unity of the Church as the goal of the Ecumenical Movement,” and voted to strengthen the role of its own major ecumenical agency.

“As bishops, the visible unity of the Church is a vital part of our ministry,” said Bishop Jabez Bryce of Polynesia, who introduced the report and resolutions from the conference’s Section Four. The section, comprised of approximately 200 bishops, has been discussing the theme, “Called to be One,” for the past two weeks.