wfn.org | Episcopal Presiding Bishop urges careful reading

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)]

For further information contact:
Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
kmccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

99-134

Griswold urges careful reading of document on authority

by  David Harris

     (ENS) The senior Anglican on a commission in official 
dialogue with Roman Catholics is urging critics to get beyond 
emotions and look at the "nuances" of a recent document 
suggesting that Anglicans might recognize "the primacy of the 
bishop of Rome" some time in the future.

     Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, who co-chairs the group 
with Roman Catholic bishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said a recent 
publication by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International 
Commission (ARCIC) raising the possibility of a role for the pope 
as the chief bishop of the two churches is not meant to be the 
final word in a discussion. Rather, he said, it is "a vision of a 
future reality rather than dealing with complications present 
now" in the churches. "It's leaven in the dough."

     "The Gift of Authority" was jointly published in the spring 
by the two churches and has caused considerable reaction, 
especially in the Anglican world. But evangelical Anglicans have 
been joined by liberal Roman Catholics in condemning the 
statement that calls the pope's authority - known as universal 
primacy - a "gift to be shared."

     In an interview after ARCIC's recent meeting held outside 
Toronto, Griswold acknowledged much of the initial reaction to 
"The Gift of Authority" has been negative. But he said some of 
that was "emotional." He challenged the churches to look at the 
"quite significant nuances" in the text. He said Anglicans have 
to consider what kind of papal authority they might accept and 
Roman Catholics have to consider what role lay people might have 
in governing the church in synods.

     Griswold also admitted that most of the nuances concern what 
the Roman Catholic Church might consider re-establishing in its 
life and governance but he said that was because the role and 
authority of the pope has been a clear issue in ecumenical talks 
for a long time. "Early on, ARCIC identified universal primacy as 
a stumbling block," he said.

Agents of authority

     The role of the bishop in synod, which is the center of 
Anglican authority, will be important for Roman Catholics to 
consider in light of a similar emphasis in their church at 
Vatican II, Griswold observed. "How the mind of Christ is 
discerned is not merely through episcopal teaching," he added, 
but "the whole church, including the laity" is involved.

     Griswold also said some people are interpreting authority 
too narrowly. "Authority is not seen as a power so much as God's 
desire to bring the world to flourishing," he said. It is a 
"life-giving" word at the heart of "evangelization, mission and 
healing" that gives freedom.

     For Anglicans, he said that means the church has to consider 
what the agents of authority are. Still experiencing fallout from 
last year's Lambeth Conference where a narrower traditionalist 
interpretation of Scripture won out over a broader liberal view, 
Griswold said that Scripture is authoritative, "but what does 
that mean?" He said ARCIC was careful to note that both Word and 
Spirit are needed in the life of a community of faith.

     He is convinced that the Anglican Communion has to "live the 
question of authority corporately" as it explores different forms 
of authority and their interrelation.

     It was the first time Griswold had chaired the meeting of 
the commission. It was also the first meeting of the commission 
in Canada. Next year the group meets in Paris.

'Documents aren't enough'

     The 18 delegates, plus official observers, discussed initial 
reactions to "The Gift of Authority" and considered whether to do 
some work on different understandings of the Virgin Mary in their 
respective churches. Griswold said the "ecumenical questions of 
the Virgin Mary are still on the table" and ARCIC is not 
committed to producing a treatise.

     Just as important, he said, were some discussions about next 
year's meeting of 13 Anglican primates and 13 senior Roman 
Catholic bishops.  "ARCIC is going to listen very carefully" at 
that meeting, Griswold said, also indicating he is one of the 
primates who will be present at the closed meeting. But he said 
the meeting is important because "out of the affection" that 
rises in the relationships forged among participants are 
"profound experiences of Incarnation." He added that "documents 
aren't enough," that  "direct pastoral encounter" often 
accomplishes more.

     ARCIC was established just after Vatican II in the heyday of 
ecumenism in 1966 by Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and 
Pope Paul VI. It has produced several documents that consider 
some of the important connections and differences between the two 
churches.

--David Harris is editor of The Anglican Journal, newspaper of 
the Anglican Church of Canada.