The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has told the Church of England that the two Churches must continue to seek deeper unity and confront the challenges of secular society together.
In his first and almost certainly last address to the Church of England’s General Synod before he retires, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said Anglicans and Catholics needed to keep working towards the goal of visible and sacramental communion “even if it still seems so distant”.
"In the end our ecumenical journey has to be a journey towards fuller communion," he said on Monday, the start of the five-day Synod at Church House in Westminster.
"I must say that we cannot give up on that ultimate goal even if it still seems so distant. It has to be visible and sacramental communion. We are Eucharistic communities and the communion we seek is Eucharistic – communion in one Eucharist and in the ministries, faith and authority that make it possible. Full communion is more than rediscovering a shared history, or fellow-feeling, and it is more than the parallel structures of life and worship that currently exist between us."
Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor was invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to speak at Synod on ongoing efforts towards unity. He based his address on a document on communion he helped draw up 18 years ago as co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and which was “noted” by Synod in a debate today.
Efforts towards unity between the two Churches have cooled in recent years in light of the Anglican Communion’s jostle over homosexuality and divisions in the Church of England over the consecration of women bishops.
In today’s address, the Cardinal went on to express regret over challenges to unity among Anglicans.
"Divisions within any church or eccclesial community impoverish the communion of the whole Church. We Roman Catholics cannot be indifferent to what is happening to our friends in the Anglican Communion and, in particular, in the Church of England,” he said.
