Eurobishop

The Malines Conversation Group gathered on Saturday at the Sofia Centre just outside Helsinki for our annual sessions. The Malines Group brings together Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians working for the visible unity of our two Communions. On Sunday on a visit to Porvoo we received generous hospitality and warm words from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Bishop Bo-Göran Åstrand of Borgå (Porvoo) encouraging the members of the Conversations in our work for unity. Thanks to the Porvoo Agreement between the Anglican Churches in Britain and Ireland and most of the Nordic/Baltic Lutheran Churches, I was able to concelebrate the Sunday Mass in Porvoo Cathedral with a Lutheran priest. This was not only a sign of our unity in Porvoo but holds out a vision of visible unity with those with whom we are not yet in communion, especiallly the Roman Catholic Church. Our first session of the Conversations began in the presence of some invited ecumenical leaders of the Finnish Churches....

Chancellor David Wright (on the right) On Sunday 24 September, the Revd Prebendary David Wright became the Chancellor of St Paul’s Pro Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, and Chaplain of the Anglican Church in Malta and Gozo. The Cathedral was packed as parishioners gathered to welcome their new priest. It was a joyful ecumenical occasion with significant Roman Catholic presence at the service, including His Grace Charles Scicluna, the Archbishop of Malta.  Archbishop Scicluna giving the blessing at the end of the installation mass The President of the Republic, and High Commissioners and Ambassadors from the UK, Australia, and Ireland were also present, underlining the significant role of the Pro Cathedral and the Chancellor’s ministry in Malta, even though Anglicans are a minority. 

It was not what I was planning for the week after the New Year break, but nevertheless it was a  privilege to be one of the representatives of the Anglican Communion at the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Christopher Hill, a distinguished ecumenist and one of my predecessors as Co-Secretary of ARCIC, and Archbishop Ian Ernest the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and I made up the trio of delegates. Bishop Hill, Fr Martin Browne OSB (the Vatican's man for Anglican relations) and Archbishop Ernest It was cold and rather misty morning in St Peter's Square (and we were seated 2 hours before the mass began). But the square was soon filled with mourners from around the world who joined prayerfully in the requiem at which Pope Francis presided (from the chair) with the cardinals and bishops concelebrating.  Preparing for the Requiem There is no denying the range of views about Pope Benedict. He was loved by some for his strong teaching, particularly in his encyclical...

  It is hard to believe as the time has flown by, but 9 May is the 40 th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood, which took place in St Jude’s Church, Oakville, Ontario, in the   Diocese of Niagara.  St Jude's Oakville, the concelebration with the Bishop following the ordination, as is the custom in the Canadian Church In the presence of Colleen and some close friends I was able to celebrate the anniversary with a quiet eucharist. Ecumenical relations have been central throughout the years of my priestly ministry, so I was particularly moved that a friend arranged for me to use a a particular chalice and paten for the anniversary mass.  The sacred vessels were from the 16 th century and were used by St Edward Campion and other English martyrs, and so are linked to that fraught time in our history when Anglicans and Roman Catholics were persecuting each other in England. I thank God that despite this tragic history, Anglicans and Roman Catholics have made ...

Don Felice, assistant at Ognissanti, and Fr Rob preaching together 5 years ago, a bishop paid a visit to a parish and encouraged them in their life and mission. Not an unusual thing to happen, except it was the Bishop of Rome visiting the Church of England parish of All Saints in Rome !  At that time All Saints entered into a twinning partnership with the Roman Catholic parish of Ognissanti Appia Nuova in Rome. Together, inspired by Pope Francis’s visit and his ecumenical encouragement, the two parishes covenanted together to share the love of Christ in the city through common projects. One of these is a weekly provision of food to the homeless at Ostiense train station.  As the Anglican Co-Chairman of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), established by the highest authorities of our two communions to translate the theological agreement and spiritual communion achieved through our dialogue into visible and practical outcomes, I...

Not only is Holy Cross Church, Palermo, one of the architectural beauties in our diocese, it is also a place of active ecumenical and interfaith engagement. Excellent relations are maintained with the Roman Catholics, Waldensians and Orthodox, as well as with representatives of Muslim and Jewish communities.  On 7 November, I believe that ecumenical history may have been made when the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Palermo, Corrado Lorefice, preached the sermon at the installation of the new Chaplain of Holy Cross, the Revd Dr James Hadley. Certainly this is a first in this diocese and in the Church of England itself it may well be unprecedented for a Roman Catholic Archbishop to take such a significant role in the installation of an Anglican parish priest!  Many other local clergy were present for the mass, including the Orthodox Archimandrite for Southern Italy, representing Metropolitan Policarpo of Italy. The depth of ecumenical commitment was further demonstrated when Monsi...

A tragic on Wednesday afternoon this week killed at least 4 persons in buildings belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid parish of the Virgen de la Paloma in the heart of the Spanish capital. One priest was among those who died. The building was close to a school, where, due to the snow, the children were not in the playground, or else there would likely have been further tragic deaths and injuries. Reader Celia Paterson who serves in St George's Madrid, knows some of the teachers and LaSalle Brothers at the school, for she has trained them in Godly Play courses. Celia has been in contact with them.   I also sent a message to the Cardinal Archbishop on behalf of Anglicans. In this week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we remember that we are also united in times of grief and sorrow. The International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, IARCCUM, of which I am the Anglican Co-chairman, describes what we call "the ecumenism of the Cross...

Here is something of interest to those in the diocese and beyond, who are keen to learn about our Anglican Communion's official dialogue and relations with the Roman Catholic Church. (And perhaps to know what it is I do as Co-Chairman of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission!) This is a series of 3 seminars, online, sponsored by the Anglican Centre in Rome. The official invitation is here: H.G. Archbishop Ian, Director of The Anglican Centre in Rome, is delighted to invite you to attend ACR Petertide  online interactive course subdivided into three sessions on Ecumenism, examining the work of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM). Course one, on the history and foundations of Arcic I and the beginnings of Arcic II and the Lambeth Conference of 1988, will be held on Monday 29 June – the feast of Sts Peter and Paul. Speakers wi...

Tomorrow, 14 May, is an international, interreligious day of prayer to ask God to lift this pandemic from the world, and to inspire scientists to find a cure for the disease. The inspiration for this comes from the "Higher Committee for Human Fraternity" which was set up when Pope Francis visited Abu Dhabi last year. The initiative transcends religious boundaries and invites all religious people to appeal to God, in accordance with their own faith and teachings.  Pope Francis has released a video which I post here to motivate us all. In it he calls on all believers, adherents of all religions to pray, fast and perform works of charity tomorrow. Dr Clare Amos, our Director of Lay Discipleship, was previously the Interfaith Director at the World  Council of Churches. She has composed this prayer which I commend for use: God of life, Creator of all,  Your reach stretches beyond the farthest stars that we can see,  Yet you are nearer to us than our o...

Fr Malcolm, Chaplain of St George's, the Patriarch and Fr Andrea, the priest responsible for the Gesuati parish  On Wednesday 23 rd October, the Patriarch of Venice, His Beatitude Francesco Moraglia, made a visit to St George’s Anglican Church in the city. He had dedicated the greater part of a whole week to a pastoral visit to the Roman Catholic parish of Gesuati in which St George’s is situated. This parish is composed of various significant churches to which are attached schools and institutions. Within his heavy schedule he had expressed a wish to visit St George’s, meet with the community and there hold a brief moment of prayer. After the prayers he spoke of both Churches standing under the Cross. He also mentioned that whenever he travelled up the Grand Canal and passed St. George’s he offered a prayer for its ministry.  This is not the first visit of a Patriarch of Venice to St George’s. Nevertheless, it speaks of the warmth of relationship and mutual respect...

A vigil for John Henry Newman in Sta Maria Maggiore Basilica on the eve of the canonisation John Henry Newman, the key figure in the Oxford Movement in the Church of England who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1845, was canonised by Pope Francis yesterday in Rome. His conversion was highly controvesial in the middle of the nineteenth century and at the time was felt by many to be a setback for the Oxford Movement itself. Nevertheless, we Anglicans owe much to Newman for his teaching and influence which restored to the Church of England a renewed understanding its rootedness in the Catholic Church of Christ.   Pope Francis receiving the offertory gifts at the mass I have a particular admiration for the way that Newman taught both Anglicans and Roman Catholics about how doctrine in the life of the Church can develop, through such doctrine being rooted implictly in Holy Scripture, attested to by the Tradition of the Church (through Patristic and other theologians), and u...

Dr Ben Gordon-Taylor of Mirfield presents items related to Bp Walter Frere CR a participant in the origial Malines Conversations. Many people know of the two official instruments of the international dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church: ARCIC, (the theological dialogue) and IARCCUM (the episcopal commission on unity and mission, of which I am privileged to serve as the Anglican Co-chairman).  There is another interesting and informal dimension to our international dialogue which takes its inspiration from a unique initiative in the 1920s, long before Vatican II, and not long after Pope Leo XIII declared in the 1896 Bull  Apostolicae Curae  that Anglican Orders were "absolutely null and utterly void" - the Malines Conversations, 1921 to 1926.  Fr Thomas Pott presents a gift to Professor Gordon Lathrop. Fr David Richardson looks on. In 2013 the Conversations began again with theologians from each Communion taking up the t...

Pops Francis listens to the formal petition to canonise the seven new saints Before a crowd of over 70,000 people, including Spain's former Queen Sophia, the Presidents of El Salvador, Panama, Chile and Italy, Pope Francis yesterday, 14 October, canonised 7 saints. Two will be well known to Anglicans: Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI. I was privileged to be present as part of the delegation of Anglicans attending the canonisation, headed by Archbishop Rowan Williams. After the mass in St Peter's Square the Pope expressed warm words of gratitude for our presence.   Archbishop Rowam is greeted by Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity Bishop Brian Farrell In his homily, Pope Francis spoke of Jesus inviting us to return to him, the source of joy, a courageous choice to risk everything to follow him. He reminded us of how St Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador, left the security of the world, even his own safety, in order to ...

On 30 June the Revd Canon Jonathan Boardman takes leave of his post as Chaplain of All Saints Anglican Church in Rome to assume a new position as Vicar of St Paul’s Clapham. Fr Jonathan has been serving in Rome for 19 years. In addition to his parochial responsibilities, he has been a key player in the rich ecumenical environment in the Italian capital. He has also served as Archdeacon of Italy and Malta for 9 years and guided Anglican life in the Archdeaconry through some major developments, including the legal recognition in Italy of the Church of England. He has also in the past as senior tutor for courses at the Anglican Centre in Rome, for 10 years. It has indeed been a rich ministry in Rome.  On 6 June Fr Jonathan’s colleagues from many churches hosted a service of evensong to thank him for his ecumenical leadership in Rome. The service was in the Roman Catholic Church of St Francesco Saverio (St Francis Xavier) del Caravita ,  a 17th-century baroque oratory in R...