wfn.org | ACNS3607 Archbishop of Canterbury's greeting to Pope John Paul

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3607     |     EUROPE     |     6 OCTOBER 2003 

Archbishop of Canterbury's greeting to Pope John Paul II

[ACNS source: Lambeth Palace]

4 October 2003

Your Holiness, Beloved Brother in Christ,

It gives me the greatest pleasure to greet you on this my first visit to
the See of Peter. Since the visit of my predecessor Dr Geoffrey Fisher
in 1960, each Archbishop of Canterbury has been welcome here, and has
found an awareness of fellowship and Christian love. In 1966 Pope Paul
VI gave Archbishop Michael Ramsey his own episcopal ring, which has been
treasured by his successors and which I wear today. I am glad of the
opportunity to thank you for the personal gift of a pectoral cross, sent
to me on the occasion of my enthronement earlier this year. As I took on
my new ministry I appreciated deeply that sign of a shared task, that of
bearing the cross of Christ.

That occasion was also the opportunity to build on a friendship with His
Eminence Cardinal Walter Kasper. Since then, we have met privately and
have shared a platform, speaking together about our vision for the unity
of the Christian Church. Yesterday we met at the offices of the
Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, and discussed
informally the possibilities and challenges of our way forward together.
His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster,
has also become a close colleague and dear friend. I was glad to be able
to sign with him and other leaders of Churches in England a Covenant to
work, pray and study together. In God's grace, it is out of these warm
friendships and shared mission that we are enabled to grow together.

Here at the Chair of Peter, from which Augustine was sent to be the
first Archbishop of Canterbury, I am glad to reaffirm my commitment to
the full, visible unity of the Church of Christ. It is a vision that I
know you share, and I rejoice in our shared baptismal faith and the
growth in fellowship between our churches. I inherit with gratitude the
theological work done by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International
Commission over thirty years, and I look forward to the completion of
their present mandate with their agreed statement on the Blessed Virgin
Mary. I am also encouraged by the creation of the International
Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission and the
possibilities it is exploring of bringing our theological convergence
into practical outcomes that will enrich the lives of our Communions.

It is great joy to be here, in this month of the silver jubilee of your
election. Over the last twenty-five years, your pontificate has been a
source of strength to countless Christians, and both within and beyond
the family of the Roman Catholic Church. Your invitation to Church
leaders and theologians to engage with you in a patient and fraternal
dialogue about the Petrine ministry is a sign of generosity and
openness, and I will be glad to participate in reflection on the
possible sharing of a Primacy of love and service. I am glad to be able
to present my new Representative to the Holy See, Bishop John Flack,
whom I know you will welcome with the warmth and hospitality extended to
his predecessors. His ministry, and that of the Anglican Centre of which
he is Director, is a sign of the Anglican Communion's commitment to this
dialogue and a means to our growth in deeper understanding and
fellowship. I pray that we may continue to deepen the communion we
share, until Our Lord's command is fulfilled that we may be one in him.

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