Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury have said relationships between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion will not be obstructed by a recent Vatican offer to allow disaffected Anglicans to maintain some of their traditions if they convert.
An official communiqué issued after a Nov. 21 meeting at the Vatican between the two Christian leaders said that they reiterated, “the shared will to continue and to consolidate the ecumenical relationship between Catholics and Anglicans.”
A commission preparing a third phase of international theological dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church is due to meet in the coming days, the statement said.
The only question is whether there is really anything serious left to discuss. The Vatican seems to be taking a diplomatic stand here, but I don’t get the sense that the Pope takes +Cantaur, or the revisionists in control of the AC machinery, seriously anymore. If he wants serious theological dialogue with Anglicans, I suspect he will talk to orthodox primates of the Global South and newly emerging leadership in ACNA. The Pope will afford Rowan Williams 20 minutes in deference to his office, but that’s about it. The Pope is a serious Christian theologian, Rowan Williams is not. The Bishop of Rome clearly has more important things to do with his time.