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ACNS 1893 · 21 September 1999 · Dundee [ACC-11/29]

ACC CONSIDERS THE GIFT OF AUTHORITY
"The dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics is only one stream in
the wider river of ecumenical dialogue. The issue of authority comes up
sooner or later, in one form or another, in every dialogue which addresses
itself seriously to the questions of communion and unity," the Rt Rev Mark
Santer, Bishop of Birmingham and previous Co-Chairman of ARCIC (the Anglican
and Roman Catholic International Commission, said. He was taking part in a
presentation of the ARCIC document The Gift of Authority: Authority in the
Church III, to members of the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in
Dundee, Scotland.
"In local or national dialogues the issue of authority comes up on the local
or national level. In global discussions, as we have discovered within the
Anglican Communion, the issue of authority comes up at a global level," he
said. "It is simply inescapable...Authority has been in the Church since the
days of the apostles. It is not a new issue. The apostles had to struggle to
maintain unity in the Church, and their authority was at stake in the
struggle. The issue of authority was likewise central to the story of the
split between East and West, and to the tensions in the Church in the West
in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries which lead to the schism of the
Reformation. Questions of authority and obedience will be at issue in the
Church until the end of time," Bishop Santer said.
He was joined by the Rev Canon David Hamid, Ecumenical Officer for the
Anglican Communion, and the Rev Timothy Galligan, Secretary to the
Pontifical Council for Christian Unity in Rome, as they brought The Gift of
Authority to the ACC.
Canon Hamid pointed out this was presentation was a part of the reception
process of the work, noted that this was a significant occasion for the
Anglican Communion, for the Anglican Consultative Council is the first of
the Anglican Communion's 'instruments of unity' to receive this document for
careful study and reflection.
Bishop Santer said that Anglicans tended to focus on the question of the
authority of the Pope, but he said this "is a cop-out." for the Pope's
authority is only one of a number of questions, including the authority of
bishops, and the problematic authority if kings and of civil authorities
over the Church. He suggested another major question is "who speaks for the
people as a whole, and by what authority."
"Perhaps the deepest question is whether we really believe that Christ has
given living organs of authority to his people, such that when necessary the
Church as a whole can recognise that it is being spoken to and spoken for in
the name of its Lord," Bishop Santer said.
Fr. Galligan set this present ARCIC statement into the context of previous
documents and demonstrated the logical background of these prepared
statements in the earlier ARCIC work which commenced with Pope Paul VI's
meeting with Archbishop Michael Ramsey in 1966.
"The Gift of Authority lists points of convergence on ARCIC's earlier work.
The opening paragraphs of The Gift of Authority are an invitation to go back
and re-read that earlier work which, remember, has been officially reflected
on and evaluated by our churches," Fr. Galligan said.
He suggested that the ACC members might like to consider is how might this
whole corpus of work on authority be made available for reflection by our
churches?
The document has been sent to all Roman Catholic Episcopal conferences
throughout the world and to Papal Nuncios, and it was accompanied by a
letter commending it for study and reflection. It has also been circulated
to every Primate in the Anglican Communion by the Anglican Communion office.
ACC members gathered for group discussion of the presentation and prepared
written questions that were handed in for the consideration of ARCIC. The
next meeting of the ACC in 2002 will also address the The Gift of Authority
after the discussions in the provinces of the Anglican Communion.
The text of the ACC ARCIC resolution is:
The Gift of Authority
The Anglican Consultative Council, recalling that the 1988 Lambeth
Conference encouraged ARCIC "to continue to explore the basis in Scripture
and tradition of the concept of a universal primacy" and that areas for
further work identified at that time included: the relationship between
Scripture, Tradition and the exercise of teaching authority; collegiality,
conciliarity and the role of the laity in decision making; and the Petrine
ministry of universal primacy,
Welcomes the publication of the report entitled The Gift of Authority:
Authority in the Church III; and all other reports of ARCIC II which have
yet to be considered;
Expresses its appreciation to ARCIC for these agreed statements, the fruit
of five years of dialogue, which seeks to address the issues identified at
Lambeth 1988 and to deepen the agreement expressed in previous statements on
authority;
Commends these reports to the provinces for careful and critical study over
the next five years, particularly with a view to considering any outstanding
issues of ecclesiology and authority;
Directs the Inter Anglican Standing Commission on Ecumenical Relations
to facilitate and monitor the process of response to The Gift of Authority
and the other reports which the member Churches of the Communion will
undertake;
to ask helpful questions to the member Churches of the Anglican Communion
based on the suggested questions circulated to the Primates in May 1999 and
those offered by ACC-11; and
to report to ACC-13 in 2005.
The Communications Team
ACC-11
Ian Douglas, Margaret Rodgers, Jim Rosenthal, Mannasseh Zindo