Eurobishop

In 1889 an English aristocrat, Viscount Halifax (Charles Lindley Wood) and a French Roman Catholic priest,  Abbé  Fernand Portal, met on the beautiful island of Madeira. A friendship began that led to the Malines Conversations of the 1920s which were the precursor of the modern bilateral dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, which now has two official commissions, ARCIC and IARCCUM.  The Malines Conversations continue in a modern form today as a theological working group, supporting the official dialogues through exploring ways to address some vital points which may still hinder our journey towards the unity to which we are committed as Anglicans and Catholics. Last December we published Sorores in Spe an evaluation of Apostolicae Curae,  Pope Leo XIII's negative judgement on Anglican Orders dating from 1896.   A recent session of the Malines Conversations were held in Madeira, returning to the place where one could say that...

It has been a while due to COVID, but this week some of the the clergy of the Italian deanery were able at long last to meet and to enjoy a meal together as colleagues. The Revd Jules Cave Bergquist is the Area Dean and convoked a clergy chapter in Rome to have some time to share together and to hear from an invited guest, Don Giuliano Savina, the Director of the National Office for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue for the Italian Bishops' Conference. After the conviviality of the chapter, some serious work followed: the Annual General Meeting of the Association of the Church of England in Italy (ACDI), the first such assembly since the final signing of the treaty between the Church of England and the Italian Republic which grants us some significant rights in Italy. The meeting was hosted in the Anglican Centre in Rome and the clergy were joined by the lay representatives to conduct the essential business of this important body in the life of our diocese. Tribute was paid to ...

  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 ...