Anglicans & Catholics Call for More Reflection on ARCIC Mary Document

A major theological document prepared by the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ", which aims to reach a common viewpoint on the place of Mary in Church doctrine for both the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches worldwide, was recently endorsed by the Anglican Churches across the world.

The principal launch took place in St James' Roman Catholic Cathedral, Seattle, on Monday 16th May with the ARCIC Co-Chairs leading the celebration.

Anglican Co-Chair, Archbishop Peter Carnley of Australia preached at Solemn Vespers following a press launch in the Chancery Office, with both national and international media coverage as a result. Roman Catholic Co-Chair Archbishop Alex Brunett hosted the day and presided at the service.

The official launch in the UK - home to the Anglican Communion - was held at the prestigious Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey in London on Thursday 19th May with ARCIC members Abbey Canon Nicholas Sagovsky (Anglican) and Bishop Michael McMahon, Roman Catholic Bishop of Birmingham, addressing the gathering. Guests included representatives of Walsingham, the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary among many others.

According to the message of Canon Nicholas Sagovsky on the launching ceremony in London, the publication of the Mary document is truly something for both the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church to celebrate.

Roman Catholic and Anglican theologians have long been painfully divisive on the teaching of Mary in the Churches. While the Catholic Church believes that Mary was free of original sin and how she was assumed into heaven. Protestants, including the Anglicans, traditionally reject such a teaching because there is no Biblical basis for the claims that she was the product of immaculate conception and so free of original sin, or evidence that she was accepted body and soul into heaven upon her death.

Despite the centuries-long division, the Mary document issued by the ARCIC recently marks one more significant step along the road to unity. However, Canon Sagovsky cautiously pointed out that these are "not statements which have been agreed by a majority of members of the Commission" but "unanimous statements made in common".

Therefore, Canon Sagovsky said, "we must recognise that this is only a step and we cannot and should not pretend we yet have all the answers or have fully addressed the questions in some very difficult areas. We are delighted with our constructive debate and dialogue so far - but we do not underestimate the challenges to come."

The document, which has not yet been accepted by the Vatican or the Archbishop of Canterbury, is not an authoritative declaration. Churches are encouraged to study and evaluate on it.

Some evangelical Anglicans in the UK have already voiced their opposition against the document, insisting that the Catholic Church’s doctrines on Mary are "consonant with the teaching of scripture".

AFP news agency, Reform, the evangelical wing of the Church of England, said that the idea of praying to Mary "goes completely against the grain of Jesus Christ being our great high priest who intercedes on our behalf with the Father."

The Reverend Rod Thomas, the spokesman for Reform, told Ecumenical News International "theological fudge can never be a basis for moving forward in unity."

The Church of England Newspaper suggested that the document had closed the option for Anglicans agreeing to differ on Mary if the churches reunited. "Roman Catholics find it hard to envisage a restoration of communion in which acceptance of certain doctrines would be requisite for some and not for others."

On Trinity Sunday 22nd May, Roman Catholic Bishop Brian Farrell of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity presided at Vespers in All Saints Anglican Church, Rome alongside the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, Bishop John Flack.

The homily written by Cardinal Kasper of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity for the Vespers service may draw the conclusion for the publication of the document. It reads, "What is needed now is a wide-ranging reflection on the document itself, so that Anglicans and Catholics alike may feel drawn to conclude that the document ‘expresses our common faith about the one who, of all believers, is closest to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’."