Anglican
- Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II)
Statement from the co-chairmen of the
Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission
For the launch of The Gift of Authority, 12 May 1999
in Westminster Abbey
The Rt. Revd Mark Santer (Bishop of Birmingham, UK)
The Rt. Revd Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, UK)
1. The background: Official Anglican-Catholic dialogue at an international
level
In March 1966 the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Michael
Ramsey, paid an official visit to Pope Paul VI in Rome. This inaugurated a new
era in relations between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church, with
the emphasis on Christian charity and sincere efforts to remove the causes of
conflict and re-establish unity.
They decided to set up an official international dialogue
whose work might lead to the unity in truth for which Christ prayed. The
Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) took up this task in
1970. It is an international dialogue whose specialist members have been
officially appointed to represent the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church
worldwide.
Three main dialogue topics were initially given to ARCIC: the
Doctrine of the Eucharist; Ministry and Ordination; and Authority in the Church.
Various Agreed Statements, issued as the Commission carried out this work, were
published together in 1981 as The Final Report and presented to
the two Churches for evaluation and reception. The Anglican Communion gave its
official response in a resolution at the 1988 Lambeth Conference. The Catholic
Church responded in 1991.
Since the publication of The Final Report ARCIC has
produced Agreed Statements on other important matters, on which it was asked to
enter into dialogue by Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie when they
met at Canterbury in 1982. The Gift of Authority which is published today
is the fourth Statement from this second phase of ARCIC's work.
We are happy to be launching this document in a location
which dates from the time before our divisions. We hope this new Statement will
contribute to their healing. It is a document for Anglican and Catholic
Christians in the many countries throughout the world where they live together.
So it has already been sent to Anglican Primates and the Presidents of Catholic
Episcopal Conferences and is being made available translated into several
languages, and on the worldwide web.
2. Why has ARCIC produced another statement about authority?
Even before the dialogue began it was obvious that authority
in the Church would require considerable attention. Authority, particularly the
authority of the Bishop of Rome, had been a key element in the division that
occurred at the time of the English Reformation. For four centuries the Anglican
Communion and the Catholic Church developed their structures of authority in
separation from each other, and Anglicans lived without the ministry of the
Bishop of Rome.
The Final Report of 1981 devoted two Agreed Statements
and an 'Elucidation' to the subject of authority in the Church. They already
document considerable agreement which has been acknowledged by both our
Churches.
- about how authority operates in the Church;
- about the particular role of bishops;
- and, very importantly, even about the significance of the Bishop of Rome
in a reunited Church and the place his ministry has in God's providential plan
for his Church.
Why, then has ARCIC now returned to this issue?
- Firstly, because The Final Report itself recognised that, despite
the considerable progress achieved, some serious issues had still to be
resolved;
- Secondly, because the official Anglican and Catholic responses to The Final Report
both requested ARCIC to do so. They indicated that the Statement in The Final Report provided a good foundation for further dialogue. The principal points they
put to the Commission are mentioned in paragraph 3 of
The Gift of Authority.
- A third reason is that this further Statement will, it is hoped,
contribute to the discussion of authority that is taking place in both
Churches. Anglicans have been asked by the 1998 Lambeth Conference to reflect
and study important questions about authority in the Anglican Communion raised
in The Virginia Report, which was prepared for the Conference. Among
these questions is the issue of universal authority in the Church. Pope John
Paul in his 1995 Encyclical Ut unum sint has also called for a patient
and fraternal dialogue about the ministry of unity of the Bishop of Rome so
that it can be accepted by all.
- Finally, unless we can reach sufficient agreement about authority, which
touches so many aspects of the Church's life, "we shall not reach the full
visible unity to which we are both committed", as Archbishop Carey and Pope
John Paul II said plainly when they met in 1996.
3. What sort of statement is The
Gift of Authority?
It is the product of five years of dialogue, patient
listening, study and prayer.
The Commission has responded to the requests of our
respective authorities. With their authorisation, it is now published as a
Statement agreed by the Commission and put before our Churches for reflection
and discussion.
The Statement builds on all the previous ARCIC work on
authority - hence its subtitle, Authority in the Church III. It therefore
needs to be read alongside those earlier Agreed Statements. It is a closely
argued, rich text, with every sentence important leading towards its
conclusions. It therefore will need careful study and reflection in our two
Communions.
It is important to understand what the commission members
have attempted to do: they have tried to express what they believe flows
from our common shared faith; in other words, the members have engaged in
dialogue as best they can as representatives of their two Churches, not engaging
in a kind of negotiation but attempting to express together what they believe
faith demands.
The title of the new document gives a very important
orientation. Rightly understood, authority in the Church is God's gift,
to be received gratefully.
A scriptural image, taken from St Paul's Second letter to the
Corinthians, is repeatedly used to keep before our minds the ultimate purpose of
authority. Authority serves the Church's remembering of the "Yes" God has given
to humanity in Jesus Christ and enables its members to respond with a faithful
"Amen", as they walk Christ's way.
Then, agreement about how authority is exercised at various
levels in the Church's life is outlined, including how the whole people of God
bears the Tradition across space and time, and the particular role bishops have
in discerning and articulating this faith of the Church and ensuring that all
the Churches are in communion.
The document expresses agreement that the college of bishops
can come to a judgement that, faithful to Scripture and consistent with
apostolic Tradition, is free from error (cf. N°42). This duty of maintaining the
Church in the truth is one of the essential functions of the episcopal college"
(N° 44).
The Statement builds on the agreement about the Bishop of
Rome in ARCIC's previous work, and offers agreement about his specific ministry
within the college of bishops concerning the discernment of truth, which has
been such a source of difficulty and misunderstanding. It seeks to make clear
how in certain circumstances the Bishop of Rome has a duty to discern and make
explicit, in fidelity to Scripture and Tradition, the authentic faith of the
whole Church, that is the faith of all the baptised in communion. The commission
believes that this is a gift to be received by all the Churches and is entailed
in the recognition of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome.
4. What happens next?
The detailed study of this Statement will evidently offer
challenges to both our churches, regarding how authority is exercised in them.
Some of these challenges are mentioned in the latter part of the document. The
Commission's task has been to enter into dialogue on an important and difficult
issue. It believes it has arrived at further agreement which it offers to our
Churches. It is for our authorities to decide in time if they do recognise our
faith in this new Agreed Statement and how to address its consequences.
Anglican Communion News Service
May 12, 1999
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