wfn.org | PB Griswold, Pope discuss Christian Unity

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99-184

Griswold, Pope discuss Christian unity

by Jerry Hames

     (Episcopal Life) The concept of lay presidency, or the 
celebration of the Eucharist by Anglicans who are not priests, 
was among several topics discussed when Presiding Bishop Frank T. 
Griswold, co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International 
Commission, met in Rome in late November with senior Vatican 
officials for informal conversations.

     The Australian Diocese of Sydney three months ago approved a 
proposal that would allow lay people to preside at the Eucharist. 
The diocesan bishop, Archbishop Harry Goodhew, subsequently 
overturned the resolution, saying such action would impair 
relations with other churches in the Anglican Communion.

     Griswold used this issue to illustrate the topics on the 
agenda with Cardinal Edward Cassidy and other representatives 
from the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity during an annual 
review of the commission's work.

     The meetings took place at the Anglican Center, where the 
presiding bishop installed Bishop John Baycroft of the Anglican 
Church of Canada as the center's new director and presided at a 
meeting of the center's board. Baycroft, who served the Diocese 
of Ottawa, is an experienced ecumenist who has participated in 
earlier international talks between Anglican and Roman Catholics.

Center as a meeting place

     "We talked about the center's new role, about its future 
program, and explored ways by which it could become a place of 
meeting between the Roman Catholic Church and Anglicans around 
the world." Griswold said.

     Griswold and his wife, Phoebe, also paid a formal visit to 
Pope John Paul II, at which the presiding bishop and the pope 
discussed the future of Anglican-Catholic relations. Griswold 
said he expressed support for the pope's recent document that 
stressed the need for the Western Hemisphere to be seen as "the 
Americas," with a need for a greater sense of interconnection and 
relationship between the continents and a more global vision of 
what it means to be community.

     "We also talked about how the pope's ministry could be 'a 
ministry of service' to those outside the Roman Catholic Church--
how it could be a gift to the wider Christian world," Griswold 
said.

     He presented the pope with a small bronze statue of Christ 
holding aloft a child, which was sculpted by the Rev. Gurdon 
Brewster, a former Episcopal chaplain at Cornell University. John 
Paul gave the presiding bishop a millennium pectoral cross.

     Accompanying the presiding bishop and Phoebe Griswold were 
the Rev. Canon David Perry, ecumenical officer, and his wife, 
Ricki. 

     Perry described the visit as significant, considering the 
pope's ill health and his onerous work schedule. "I think it is a 
sign of the deep affection for us and his desire that both 
churches continue on the search for unity," he said.

A ride and a lesson

     It was during the ride to his hotel after dinner with 
Vatican officials at the residence of the British ambassador to 
the Holy See that Griswold said he gained a greater appreciation 
of what the international dialogue symbolizes for many people.

     "The Italian taxi driver pointed to my clerical collar and 
said; 'Are you Anglican?'" Griswold related. "I told him I am. 
When we got to the hotel, he refused to accept any payment and, 
interlocking his fingers of both hands, he said, 'Anglican, Roman 
Catholics, uno, uno.' One, one.

     "It deepened my own commitment to the ecumenical 
enterprise," Griswold said. "Though we go through more hopeful 
and less hopeful times, there are people in the street who see 
this question with a sense of urgency.

     "It made me think that my time is well invested in this 
whole area of ecumenism and search for unity among Anglicans and 
Roman Catholics--and certainly among other Christians as well."

--Jerry Hames is the editor of Episcopal Life, the church's 
national monthly newspaper.