wfn.org | [ENS] Anglican leaders meet with Pope Benedict XVI

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Friday, April 29, 2005

Anglican leaders meet with Pope Benedict XVI

ENS 042905-1

[ENS] -- The Archbishop of Canterbury and two U.S. Episcopal Church
bishops
were among ecumenical representatives greeted by Pope Benedict XVI
during an
April 25 audience at the Vatican.

Archbishop Rowan Williams greeted the Pope in German and presented him
with
a pectoral cross. Representing the Episcopal Church were Presiding
Bishop
Frank Griswold's deputy for Ecumenical Relations, the Rt. Rev.
Christopher
Epting, and the Paris-based Bishop-in-Charge of the Convocation of
American
Churches in Europe, the Rt. Rev. Pierre Whalon.

"I have appreciated the signals Pope Benedict XVI has been sending with
respect to ecumenical and interreligious affairs," said Epting, who
added
that "actions speak louder than words, so we shall have to wait and see"
in
terms of new advancements.

Epting said the Pope "told me, face to face, in our audience that he
prayed
that specific steps toward unity could be taken soon. I would expect
that to
include, at least, the release of the Mary document in Seattle in the
middle
of May and a renewing of the Anglican Roman Catholic International
Commission and the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission on
Unity
and Mission, both of which have been on hiatus lately."

Said Epting: "When asked how I evaluate the Pope's 'new' openness to
some of
his recent writings, I can only say two things: (1) being open to
ecumenical
and interfaith dialogue does not mean that one cannot be fully committed
to
one's own tradition and its truth; (2) Benedict is now Pope, not head of
the
office of the Doctrine of the Faith. He will hear voices even he has
never
heard before and this can be a good thing. Our church remains open to
dialogue and, as always, the ultimate goal of full communion. We
approach
the future with hope...and cautious optimism."

"No man was better placed to pick up where John Paul left off. [Pope
Benedict XVI] could conceivably make some significant changes; re-start
the
ecumenical movement, for instance," said Whalon, whose additional
observations are recorded in a statement posted at
http://anglicansonline.org/resources/essays/whalon/dispatchBenedictXVI.html.

In a statement April 19, the date Pope Benedict's election was announced
from the Vatican, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said: "Along with many
others, both within and beyond the Roman Catholic Church, I offer my
prayers
for Pope Benedict XVI as he takes up the august responsibility of his
office. I pray that the Holy Spirit will guide him in his words and his
actions and that he may become a focus of unity and a minister of
reconciliation in a church and a world in which faithfulness and truth
wear
many faces."

Note: See also comments from England's Bishop John Flack, director of
the
Anglican Centre in Rome, posted at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_60816_ENG_HTM.htm.

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