Depending on how you read it, there is more that unites than divides Anglicans and Catholics, church leaders emphasized at the Anglican-Catholic summit in Rome and England.
On the solemnity of the conversion of the apostle Paul, Francis called for prayer and active charity. “When Christians mature in the service of God and others, then…
At Canterbury Cathedral, the center of the Anglican World Communion, the Catholic Bishop of Hong Kong called around fifty bishops from both denominations to unity on Sunday. “We, Anglicans and Catholics, are called to be partners with Jesus, individually and together,” said Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan in his homily.
“The twelve apostles and disciples were not called to form camps, work on their own missions, or compete with each other,” Chow said. On the contrary, they should form a community that prays, judges, teaches and serves in the name of the triune God, the Catholic bishop emphasized.
Document for closer cooperation announced
Last Tuesday, the meeting of Anglican and Catholic bishops from 27 countries began in Rome under the motto “Growing Together”, which also had the occasional presence of Pope Francis and Anglican Archbishop Primate Justin Welby of Canterbury. In Canterbury, southern England, bishops continued their discussions on church and world issues on Saturday and discussed a document on possibilities for common witness and closer cooperation between the two main Christian denominations. The document is expected to be published soon. The Anglican Church has between 77 and 85 million members worldwide; for Catholics around 1.4 billion.
In an unusual gesture, Pope Francis and Anglican Primate Welby sent a strong signal for Christian unity on Thursday. Next to the tomb of the Apostle Paul, in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Catholic and Anglican bishops were commissioned to be witnesses of this unity.
(kap – vn)