wfn.org | Message from Pope John Paul II to Anglican - Roman Catholic Consultation

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ACNS 2125 VATICAN 18 May 2000

Message from His Holiness John Paul II

 From the Vatican, 9 May 2000

To My Venerable Brother
Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy
President of the Pontifical Council For Promoting Christian Unity

I am pleased to send warm greetings through you to all taking part in the
current Consultation between Anglican and Catholic Bishops being held at
Mississauga near Toronto.

I greet with particular affection His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the Most Reverend Dr George Carey, who together with you has called this
special gathering. On several occasions I have had the joy of meeting His
Grace, most notably when he visited Rome in 1996 and when we opened together
the Holy Door of the Basilica of Saint Paul's Outside the Walls in Rome on
18 January this year. On each occasion we prayed fervently for the
restoration of the full visible unity which is Christ's will for his
followers.

I also greet in a special way my brother Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic, and
Anglican Bishop Terence Finlay of Ontario, who have welcomed all of you to
Toronto, as well as those who have worked so hard to prepare this important
meeting.

For more than thirty yeas the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church
have been on a journey towards the restoration of unity, guided by the Holy
Spirit who leads into all truth. In some places there have been very
positive developments, as bonds have been strengthened through common prayer
and joint action for the sake of the Gospel. In other places we are not so
far along the road. Our international dialogue, ARCIC, has given real signs
of hope that in the end our journey will not be in vain, even though new and
serious obstacles have slowed our progress.

In our Common Declaration of December 1996, the Archbishop of Canterbury and
I stated that it might "be opportune at this stage in our journey to consult
together about how the relationship between the Anglican Communion and the
Catholic Church is to progress". I am happy to learn that your meeting in
Mississauga in this Jubilee Year of the Lord's Incarnation is in response to
that suggestion. I pray that it will bear lasting fruit.

I thank all those who have so generously travelled long distances and given
up their time in order to take part in the Consultation. The search for
unity in truth, which will enable us to preach the Gospel powerfully and
without reserve, is a quest for a pearl of great price. Together with all
those taking part I pray that the Lord will grant you his gifts of wisdom,
patience, repentance and love, so that the spiritual bonds that have always
linked Catholics and Anglicans may be strengthened and, where possible,
deepened even further.
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