Anglican and Catholic bishops in talks on common Christian witness
by Jennifer Gold
Posted: Monday, November 17, 2008, 14:48 (GMT)
Members of the Church of England House of Bishops and the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales are in London today for their second bi-lateral meeting on shared Christian witness.
The meeting between the bishops is taking place at Lambeth Palace, the official residence of the head of the Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, and follows a similar meeting held in Leeds in 2006.
The meeting will be chaired jointly by Dr Williams and the head of the Roman Catholic Church of England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.
The bishops will join together in prayer and discussion as they reflect on the office and ministry of bishops as Christ’s disciples and the further development of the Churches’ shared Christian witness.
Dr Williams and Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor will address the bishops and offer Scripture readings to help guide their reflections.
In a joint statement released ahead of today’s meeting, two leaders said, “On our journey forward, though our communion remains imperfect, our partnership in mission and service to the people of our country is based on our Christian faith and rooted in our common baptism.
“Presenting our shared Christian witness to society and working together to for the common good in society continues to be crucially important for us.”
The meeting is held in line with the mandate of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, a joint commission of bishops responsible to the Anglican Communion and the Holy See for finding practical ways to express the fruits of the dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics. Its mandate draws on the recommendations of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission in Malta, in 1968.
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Added: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 6:43 (GMT)
Perhaps, a very basic and significant sealant to the brotherhood and sisterhood of all who truly follow Jesus Christ, [R.C., Orthodox and Protestants, as long as believing totally, Jesus Christ as The Saviour and the Bible, the Holy Word of God] is what He laid as the only other "ritual" and which we are to partake as a body [family] in Christ in the remembrance of His great sacrifice and death at the cross, the Holy Communion, the Eucharist.
In this country and as is in many others, non-R.Catholics are constantly reminded not to share in the Eucharist by the R.Catholics. On the other hand, I have had "enlightened" R.C. priest, in an R.C. Church in the U.S. inviting all baptised non-Catholic bretheren [and sisters] to share in the Eucharist.
Surely, none of us who are in our hearts a believer in our Lord's great sacrificial work at the cross, would ever approach the partaking together of this important ritual with nothing short of the deepest reverence and awareness of the significance and holiness. Let's hope that we will be able to break bread together and share the cup of His love, in oneness of heart soon.
"and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself"
1 Cor 11: 24 -29.
"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me."
John 17: 20-23
May the Lord's blessing be upon this effort to "one common witness".
K
kopiong, Jakarta, Indonesia
Added: Monday, November 17, 2008, 19:25 (GMT)
Any small step forward on the road to mutual recognition and respect is to be welcomed. Since the taking of Communion was stopped as one of the last acts of separation, I would like to argue that we re-trace our common witness by restoring that sooner rather than later.
After all unless we can Commune together, in our separateness, we can never Commune together in unity. Unity of course should not mean uniformity of belief in everything. This was not the situation in the early church, nor is it likely to be our situation - this side of St Paul's "through a glass darkly..." One thing we can agree on is that Communion is the central mystery of our faith. Lets participate in that mystery together not apart
philip in belfast, Belfast N Ireland
