ECCLESIOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON THE CURRENT SITUATION
IN THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION IN THE LIGHT OF ARCIC
Report
of the ad hoc sub-commission of IARCCUM presented to the Most Reverend
and Right Honorable Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams and
to the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper
June
8th, 2004
I. Introduction
1. The Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic
Church have been committed for almost forty years to 'serious dialogue
which, founded on the Gospels and the ancient common traditions,
may lead to that unity in truth, for which Christ prayed' (Common
Declaration of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, 1966).
Over these decades, remarkable progress has been made towards the
'restoration of complete communion of faith and sacramental life'
called for by the 1966 Declaration. The importance of steady
movement towards this goal was emphasized by Pope John Paul II and
Archbishop Robert Runcie in their Common Declaration of 1989:
Against the background of human disunity the arduous journey to
Christian unity must be pursued with determination and vigor,
whatever obstacles are perceived to block the path. We here solemnly
re-commit ourselves and those we represent to the restoration
of visible unity and full ecclesial communion in the confidence
that to seek anything less would be to betray our Lord's intention
for the unity of his people…
We also urge our clergy and faithful not to neglect or undervalue
that certain yet imperfect communion we already share.... This
communion should be cherished and guarded as we seek to grow into
the fuller communion Christ wills.
The Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops who
gathered in Mississauga in May of 2000, after reviewing the extensive
progress made both in theological agreement and in practical relationships
since the Second Vatican Council, confidently observed that the
communion we already share is 'no longer to be viewed in minimal
terms'. It is 'a rich and life-giving, multi-faceted communion.
We have ... moved much closer to the goal of full visible communion
than we had at first dared to believe'.1
2. It is a significant confirmation of the progress
we have made, and of the importance of our common commitment to
the goal of full ecclesial communion, that the appearance of a fresh
obstacle to achieving that goal has led to a common initiative to
address that difficulty. The question raised by the episcopal consecration
in New Hampshire is immediately an Anglican concern and is being
addressed by the Anglican Communion itself. However, consultations
with the Roman Catholic Church led the Archbishop of Canterbury
to take the initiative of inviting Cardinal Kasper of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity to join him in setting up
a special sub-commission of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic
Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) to address the ecclesiological
concerns raised by the event. As members of this sub-commission,
we are grateful to be given an opportunity to contribute to the
process of discernment within the Anglican Communion. We believe
that the invitation to make this ecumenical contribution illustrates
how close our two communions have come to each other, and reflects
the fact that what one communion does has consequences for the other.
Cardinal Kasper said of the present situation that Catholics do
not see themselves simply as observers: because of our close relationship,
there is no such thing as an entirely unilateral decision or action.
He added that it was precisely in the midst of problems that dialogue
was most necessary.
3. Our theological dialogue of the past decades,
carried out through the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission
(ARCIC), has been principally concerned with doctrinal issues, but
it has also dealt with moral matters, and in the process, has shown
how closely the two are interconnected. The Agreed Statement, Life
in Christ: Morals, Communion and the Church (1994), claimed
that:
despite existing disagreement in certain areas of pastoral and
practical judgement, Anglicans and Roman Catholics derive from
the Scripture and Tradition the same controlling vision of the
nature and destiny of humanity and share the same fundamental
moral values. (Life in Christ, 1)
Our
sharing in this common Apostolic heritage enables us to give shared
witness and to speak prophetically on moral questions. Recent developments,
however, call into question the extent to which we in fact share
a moral vision. The episcopal consecration in New Hampshire raises
two areas of concern: one relating to the moral teaching involved;
the other to the ecclesiological difficulties deriving from the
course of action taken. With regard to the moral aspect, the Roman
Catholic Church holds a firm position on homosexuality, which is
set out, for example, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
nn. 2357-2359. The consecration, following the endorsement of the
General Convention, has caused Roman Catholics, and many Anglicans,
to question, however, whether the churches of the Anglican Communion
can sustain a coherent teaching and practice in this area, since
the action was taken in spite of Resolution 1.10 of the 1998 Lambeth
Conference and the statement of the meeting of Primates in October,
2003. This very fact simultaneously highlights the major ecclesiological
questions that have been raised.
4. The Lambeth Commission has not been asked
to address directly the question of homosexuality but rather to
focus on related ecclesiological issues. In like manner, our sub-commission
has been asked specifically to give attention to the ecclesiological
implications arising from the recent developments in the Anglican
Communion, particularly in the light of, and with reference to,
the relevant Agreed Statements of ARCIC. The major focus of our
report, therefore, will be to draw out of the ARCIC texts pertinent
signposts which relate to the current situation in the Anglican
Communion, in the hope that they may help the Lambeth Commission
in addressing the questions before it. In order to contextualize
the contributions from ARCIC, showing them to arise both out of
our ancient common traditions, and out of recent ecclesiological
thinking in both the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church,
we offer a preliminary section on shared ecclesiological foundations.
We look first at the 4th century, where there are certain
parallels to the current context which suggest some helpful insights
for the present situation. Next, we look to recent statements from
both our communions on the maintenance of communion, which have
shaped and, in some instances, been influenced by the work of ARCIC.
Finally, in the principal section of this document, we turn to the
ARCIC Agreed Statements, identifying five areas relevant to the
task facing the Lambeth Commission. We hope that our reflections
will help the Commission to take full account of that 'certain yet
imperfect communion we already share', and to cherish and guard
it 'as we seek to grow into the fuller communion Christ wills' (Common
Declaration, 1989).
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