Roman & Anglicans to Unite Churches?

[melensdad]

There has been talk in the past about the Roman Catholic and Anglican Catholic churches joining.
**
What is the status of this? **

I’m especially curious because I was married in an Anglican Church (to an Episcopalian). I’ve spoken to our parish Priest about being remarried in the Catholic Church, we raise our daughter Catholic.

Here is the start of another article about this:

From The Times
February 19, 2007
Churches back plan to unite under Pope

 Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt.

The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches.
In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope.
The statement, leaked to The Times, is being considered by the Vatican, where Catholic bishops are preparing a formal response.

It comes as the archbishops who lead the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion meet in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in an attempt to avoid schism over gay ordination and other liberal doctrines that have taken hold in parts of the Western Church.

For the rest of the article: timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1403702.ece

​

 

[francesco920]

This was a story that was around a few months ago that turned out to be really bad reporting on the part of Ruth Gledhill (surprise, surprise.) Both Churches denied that the reports were true, and it is quite obvious from the path that the Anglican Communion has taken that reunion between Catholics and Anglicans is more difficult and improbable now than it ever has been.

 

[francesco920]

This was a story that was around a few months ago that turned out to be really bad reporting on the part of Ruth Gledhill (surprise, surprise.) Both Churches denied that the reports were true, and it is quite obvious from the path that the Anglican Communion has taken that reunion between Catholics and Anglicans is more difficult and improbable now than it ever has been.

 

[ruthgledhill]

The Iarccum report on which my story was based can now be purchased. This is a link to a weblog I wrote on it:
timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2007/02/growing_togethe.html

Here are the relevant passages from the document on which I based my story:

1. Anglicans and Roman Catholics agree that God desires the visible unity of all Christian people and that such unity is itself part of our witness. Our churches share a commitment to work for that unity in truth for which Christ prayed (John 17).

2… Through this [Arcic] dialogue over 40 years Anglicans and Roman Catholics have grown closer together and have come to see that what they hold in common is far greater than those things in which they differ.

4… Its purpose [of the Mississauga meeting] was to address the imperative for Christian reconciliation and healing in a broken and divided world at the beginning of a new millennium … and to chart a way forward for the future.

[In the next few pars, the members go on to say that given the difficulties in the Anglican Communion over gays and women’s ordination, they cannot formally sign a ‘Joint Declaration of Agreement’ as originally hoped. This statement is as far as they can go. Nevertheless, it still goes quite a long way.]

17… The Church’s living of communion is therefore a vital part of its mission, and mission is harmed when communion is lacking.

18… We are therefore irrevocably committed to the re-establishment of full visible unity.

25… In our search for unity, the goal of the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion is to come together n a common confession of Apostolic faith and a shared sacramental life with a common ministry of oversight. The sharing of those inter-related elements will serve and strengthen the Church’s witness in mission.

71…Anglicans rejected the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome as universal primate in the 16th century.Today, however, some Anglicans are beginning to see the potential value of a ministry of universal primacy, which would be exercised by the Bishop of Rome, as a sign and focus of unity within a re-united Church.

99… We, the bishops of Iarccum, invite Anglicans and Roman Catholics everwhere to consider the following suggestions. They are offered as practical examples of the kind of joint action in missionm that we believe our shared faith now invites us to pursue and which would deepen the communion we share.

100…Local churches may consider joint programmes for the formation of families… as well as preparing common catechetical resources for use in baptismal and confirmation preparation and in Sunday schools. We suggest that our local parishes regularly make a public profession of faith together, perhaps by renewing baptismal promises at Pentecost each year. We invite local churches to use the same baptismal certificate, and, where necessary, to review and improve those currently in use.

101… We encourage attendance at each other’s Eucharists, respecting the different disciplines of our Churches… While this would take the form of non-communicating attendance in each other’s churches, it would nonetheless initiate a renewed awareness of the value of spiritual communion.

1. We also encourage more frequent joint non-eucharistic worship, including celebrations of faith, pilgrimages, processions of witness (eg on Good Friday), and shared public liturgies on significant occasions.
2. We encourage Anglicans and Roman Catholics to pray for the local bishop of the other church as well as for their own bishop… We welcome the growing Anglican custom of including in the prayers of the faithful a prayer for the Pope, and we invite Roman Catholics to pray regularly in public for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leaders of the Anglican Communion.

111… Episcopal consultation and cooperation in the formulation of protocols for handling the movement of clergy from one Communion to the other is encouraged.

1. We urge Anglicans and Roman Catholics to explore together how the ministry of the Bishop of Rome might be offered and received in order to assist our Communions to grow towards full, ecclesial communion.

 

[AnglicanVisitor]

I’m more confused.

I don’t see much hope for the Episcople chuch to join with the Roman Catholics until the Anglicans can figure out what we/they believe!

It is probably more likely that there will be division in the Anglicans with a liberal sect and a smaller concervative wing.

If any part of the Anglicans merge with the RCs it will be the conservative wing after a schism divides the Episcaplains into 2 separate churches. JMHO

 

[Digitonomy]

Ruth, welcome to CAF. We are privileged to have you here defending your article.

I don’t want to be rude to a new member, but I think it’s only fair to the OP to give an opposing view on the article. This is from John Allen, who in my opinion is one of the most knowledgeable and level-headed columnists reporting on the Catholic Church:

Irresponsible reporting on religion is dangerous

The latest case in point came on Monday, with an article in The Times of London on Anglican/Catholic relations. Under the headline “Churches back plan to unite under pope,” the paper suggested that a reunion deal based on “radical proposals” had been struck between Catholic and Anglican bishops.

The only problem is that the story was false – not oversold or exaggerated, but false.

…In other words, “Growing Together in Unity and Mission” unambiguously says that now is not the time for reunion under the pope. There is simply no other way to read the document – unless, that is, you’re inclined to distort it.

…Five minutes with anyone involved in the dialogue would have made clear that there’s no way Anglican/Catholic relations are at a point where official representatives of either side would agree to a sweeping plan for structural unity.

There is of course the possibility that an editor at The Times changed the content and/or headline in a way that made the reporting less straightforward than Ruth had originally written. Having read her blog back when the story came out, I don’t recall any mention of it, but she wouldn’t be a very good team player if she were to point this out in the heat of the moment.

Maybe now that the heat has dissipated, she can tell us more.

 

[Dale_M]

99… We, the bishops of Iarccum, invite Anglicans and Roman Catholics everwhere to consider the following suggestions. They are offered as practical examples of the kind of joint action in missionm that we believe our shared faith now invites us to pursue and which would deepen the communion we share.

100…Local churches may consider joint programmes for the formation of families… as well as preparing common catechetical resources for use in baptismal and confirmation preparation and in Sunday schools. We suggest that our local parishes regularly make a public profession of faith together, perhaps by renewing baptismal promises at Pentecost each year. We invite local churches to use the same baptismal certificate, and, where necessary, to review and improve those currently in use.

101… We encourage attendance at each other’s Eucharists, respecting the different disciplines of our Churches… While this would take the form of non-communicating attendance in each other’s churches, it would nonetheless initiate a renewed awareness of the value of spiritual communion.

1. We also encourage more frequent joint non-eucharistic worship, including celebrations of faith, pilgrimages, processions of witness (eg on Good Friday), and shared public liturgies on significant occasions.

1. We encourage Anglicans and Roman Catholics to pray for the local bishop of the other church as well as for their own bishop… We welcome the growing Anglican custom of including in the prayers of the faithful a prayer for the Pope, and we invite Roman Catholics to pray regularly in public for the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leaders of the Anglican Communion.

This excerpt from Ms. Gledhill’s post seems to encourage ordinary believers to engage in practical ecumenical activities. It would seem the bishops are not indicating an impending structural union, but suggesting that the time was right for laypeople to get involved.

The title given to Ms. Gledhill’s controversial article, "Churches back plan to unite under pope, seems misleading and is perhaps inflammatory. I am thinking the headline may have colored the impressions of the piece, imbuing it with an interpretation that the actual article didn’t support.

 

[Gerry_Hunter]

I’m more confused.

I don’t see much hope for the Episcople chuch to join with the Roman Catholics until the Anglicans can figure out what we/they believe!

Not just Episcopalians, but other Anglicans, too. For example, right now the Anglican Church of Canada is gathering for its General Synod, and a vote over blessing same sex “unions” could tear it, and the wider communion, apart.

It is probably more likely that there will be division in the Anglicans with a liberal sect and a smaller concervative wing.

If any part of the Anglicans merge with the RCs it will be the conservative wing after a schism divides the Episcaplains into 2 separate churches. JMHO

I should have said further apart above. And I think that the prospect of schism into two is optimistic. African Anglican Archbishops are making missionary bishops in North America hand over fist, and they have adherents in both Canada and the US. Anglicanism looks more like it will shatter than split.

And all this is sad. From our perspective we will welcome any and all of our separated brethren back into full communion. But where this can be arranged for a grouping, the effect is clearly more desirable. Not only does the situation bode ill for institutional reunion, there’s a real risk that the upheaval may prompt some Anglicans to forget about the practise of the Christian faith altogether.

But you are dead right that the current state of worldwide Anglicanism makes the phrase “Anglican and Catholic reunion” an oxymoron.

Blessings,

Gerry