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ACNS 3042 - LAMBETH PALACE - 29 June 2002

Letter from Pope John Paul II to Archbishop of Canterbury

UDIENZA DEL SANTO PADRE ALL'ARCIVESCOVO DI CANTERBURY E PRESIDENTE DELLA
COMUNIONE ANGLICANA

Pubblichiamo di seguito il saluto che Giovanni Paolo II ha rivolto a Sua
Grazia il dott. George Carey, Arcivescovo di Canterbury e Presidente della
Comunione Anglicana, ricevuto questa mattina in Udienza:

SALUTO DEL SANTO PADRE

Your Grace,

Dear Friends,

It gives me great joy to welcome you in the "grace and peace of God our
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philemon 1:3). I am most grateful that
you have chosen to pay a farewell visit here, prior to your forthcoming
retirement. Your visit is, as it were, a living sign of the close relations,
which have continued to develop down the years between the Anglican
Communion and the Catholic Church.

In looking back over the past eleven years, during which you have been the
Archbishop of Canterbury, my mind focuses especially on the Common
Declaration, which we signed in 1996. While acknowledging obstacles, which
keep us from full communion, we determined "to consult further about how the
relationship between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church is to
progress". In recent months we have begun to see the fruits of this spirit
of perseverance through the formation of the new International
Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, to accompany the
continuing work of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission.

I gladly repeat what I wrote in my Encyclical Ut Unum Sint, that "truly the
Lord has taken us by the hand and is guiding us" (No. 25). With the hope
that is born of the Spirit, let us trust that the initiatives and
instruments of reconciliation we have fostered and encouraged will be guided
always by the same Holy Spirit, who is ever capable of bringing forth
blessing upon blessing.

When we reflect on the dangers and challenges facing the world at present,
we cannot but feel the urgent need to work side by side in promoting peace
and justice. I know that Your Grace has been very active in trying to
sustain dialogue in the Holy Land, bringing together Christian, Jewish and
Muslim leaders to seek a lasting solution. May this and all your initiatives
for peace with justice find support and bring hope amidst struggle and pain.

Your Grace, I pray that the next phase of your life will offer you new ways
to share your gifts on the journey of reconciliation that we have
undertaken. Know that you and Mrs. Carey, with the whole Anglican Communion,
remain in my prayers. May the Lord abundantly bless you.

_______________________________________________
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