What is it like to make a choice? The temptation we easily give way to is to think that it‘s always the same kind of thing; or that there‘s one kind of decision making that‘s serious and authentic, and all other kinds ought to be like this. In our modern climate, the tendency is to imagine that choices are made by something called the individual will, faced with a series of clear alternatives, as if we were standing in front of the supermarket shelf. There may still be disagreement about what the ‘right,’ choice would be, but we‘d know what making the choice was all about. Perhaps for some people the right choice would be the one that best expressed my own individual and independent preference: I‘d be saying no to all attempts from outside to influence me or determine what I should do, so that my choice would really be mine. Or perhaps I‘d be wondering which alternative was the one that best corresponded to a code of rules: somewhere there would be one thing I could do that would be in accord with the system, and the challenge would be to spot which one it was – though it might sometimes feel a bit like guessing which egg–cup had the coin under it in a game. But in any case the basic model would be much the same: the will looks hard at the range of options and settles for one.

A top official of the Roman Catholic church has offered a positive but cautionary assessment of the relationship between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, according to ecumenical consultants assisting at the Lambeth Conference.

The homily at Monday night‘s ecumenical vespers service by Edward Cardinal Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity at the Vatican, reasserted that the two churches “share a real, but imperfect communion,” said Dean William Franklin of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University in the United States.

“He categorically reaffirmed the commitment of the Roman Catholic Church to the full visible unity of all the baptized, which means establishment of full communion,” including reconciliation of ministries and sacraments, Dean Franklin said. Cardinal Cassidy‘s statement that Anglicans and Roman Catholics are “increasingly bound up with each other,” also is a “technical but important description,” he said. And even though Cardinal Cassidy offered clear warnings that some developments in the Anglican Communion could impair that relationship, his comments reflected “a level of communion where we need to be realistic with one another,” Dean Franklin said.

It is a great pleasure to be here in this great Cathedral. It is also a pleasure to be surrounded by so many representatives of the Grand Duchy‘s diverse life. I am grateful to Archbishop Fernand Franck for his invitation to make my first visit to Luxembourg. I want to greet all the different Churches that make up Luxembourg‘s ecumenical community. Together, we pray Christ‘s prayer that “all should be one“.

A visitor to Luxembourg is made aware by the nature of this city that he is in the very heart of Europe, although a Europe that is undergoing great change and development. Over the next few days, I look forward to learning how Luxembourg and the various institutions that are based here, are responding to the challenges of those changes. The vision of a vigorous Europe with its own sense of identity and values is one, of course, that I embrace in common with many here. I believe that the Christian community has an important, indeed pivotal, role in helping to forge a European identity. An identity which, though conscious of and grateful to its Christian inheritance, is at the same time welcoming of other faith communities.

In an unprecedented act in the country‘s religious history, Ecuadorian Cardinal Bernardino Echeverria offered a sermon in the Anglican Church‘s El Salvador Cathedral.

The high–ranking Catholic leader spoke at the inaugural service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, held in the Anglican Cathedral. In his vibrant sermon, Cardinal Echeverria praised the ecumenical initiative and emphasized the importance of all Christians working for unity.

“It is the first time that I have participated in a worship service in a non–Catholic Church and I have realized how much we have in common,” said the prelate. He recalled the emphasis that the II Vatican Council placed on ecumenism and underlined the fact that Pope John Paul II exhorted Christians to persevere in prayer and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit in the search for Church unity.

Relations between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church have taken a further step with the publication of a Response by the House of Bishops to the Pope‘s 1995 Encyclical on Christian unity Ut Unum Sint. In the Encyclical, the Pope invited “church leaders and their theologians” to engage with him “in a patient and fraternal dialogue” on the ministry of unity which belongs to the Bishop of Rome.

In May 1995, Lambeth Palace and the Council of Christian Unity welcomed the publication of Ut Unum Sint with its reaffirmation of the ecumenical vision of the Second Vatican Council and its strong commitment to the goal of Christian unity. A more considered response to the Encyclical was promised and encouragement was given to members of the Church of England to explore the text.

Parishioners of both Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches have joined forces to build a single church in the eastern community of Arima, Trinidad, after 13 years of planning and fund–raising on the part of both denominations.

The Church of the Annunciation, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Santa Rosa Heights, is the first church to be built under the auspices of both denominations. According to Anglican parish priest, the Revd George Pow, the joint church represents a further strengthening of the relationship between the two Churches. Mr Pow pointed to widespread instances throughout the country where the both communities have a tradition of sharing worship facilities.

In practical terms, both congregations hold separate services on Sundays and come together on three occasions during the course of the year for joint services. However, according to Mr Pow, congregations are unable to celebrate Mass together due to doctrinal differences.

The million dollar facility which seats 400 was designed as a dual purpose building allowing the community to also host cultural events.

The Archbishop of Canterbury will pay his first official visit to His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Rome between 3rd – 5th December 1996. He will stay as a guest of the English and Welsh Catholic Hierarchy at the Venerable English College in Rome. During the course of his visit he will have private conversations with His Holiness and other Curial Officials, and he and the Pope will join together in the celebration of Vespers at the Church of San Gregorio al Celio.

Ecumenism is an inseparable part of the mission of the church to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ, a group of worldwide Anglican Church delegates was told recently. Bishop Mark Dyer of the United States said the necessity for ecumenism – ultimately the unity of all Christian churches – comes from Jesus‘ words to his disciples the night before he was crucified, when he prayed that his followers might be one “in order that the world may believe.” Bishop Dyer told the 80–member Anglican Consultative Council meeting here that Christian unity is a sign to the world of the Kingdom of God. Consequently, he said, disunity is also a sign to the world, one that makes it hard for people to accept the gospel when churches can‘t themselves agree on the essentials of the religion.

The end of the road is nowhere near being in sight yet, but solid progress is being made: this was the impression given by the communiqué and press conference that followed last week‘s second meeting of the Anglican–Catholic joint preparatory commission, held at Huntercombe Manor, Taplow, Berks, from August 30th to September 3rd.

Indeed, the frequency of the commission‘s meetings seems to be increasing: while the first meeting was held seven and a half months ago at Gazzada in northern Italy, it is hoped to hold the third meeting towards the end of December, at the most only four months hence. Where it will be held is not yet certain: it has to be some where near a large international airport, but the likelihood of fog at that time of year rules out London airport, and therefore England.

Following the week of talks at Gazzada last January, the Anglican/Roman Catholic joint preparatory commission for dialogue between the two Churches will hold its second meeting at Huntercombe Manor, Taplow, Berkshire, from August 30th to September 4th. In addition to all the delegates present at the Gazzada talks, the Catholic team will be strengthened by Bishop Butler, 0.S.B., auxiliary of Westminster, and Fr. Camillus Hay from Australia, while the Anglican team will also include Dr. H. R. McAdoo, Bishop of Ossory, Ferns, and Leighlin (Church of Ireland), and Dr. T. A. Mollegen (American Episcopalian), of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary, Virginia. There will also be an observer from the World Council of Churches, Dr. Harding Meyer. The addition of a member of the Church of Ireland team would seem to be intended to answer the criticisms—voiced mainly by an Irish Jesuit writing in the Furrow — of the absence of any member of that Church from the Gazzada team.

Just before we went to press the first meeting of the Joint Preparatory Commission for dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion was concluded at Gazzada, Varese, in the north of Italy.

The Joint Preparatory Commission met at the conference centre at the Villa Cagnola; Gazzada near Milan from 9–13 January 1967. Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, following their meeting in Rome on 23/24 March 1966, affirmed:

“Their desire that all those Christians who belong to these two Communions may be animated by these same sentiments of respect esteem and fraternal love, and in order to help these develop to the full, they intend to inaugurate between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion a serious dialogue which, founded on the gospels and on the ancient common traditions, may lead to that unity in truth, for which Christ prayed“.

An Anglican–Catholic joint preparatory commission for dialogue between the two Churches has now been set up, in keeping with the common declaration made in Rome by Pope Paul and the Archbishop of Canterbury last March: in this the Pope and the Archbishop said they intended to inaugurate a serious dialogue covering not merely theological matters such as scripture, tradition and liturgy but also matters of practical difficulty felt on either side.