Melbourne Dean gets key Vatican post

Melbourne’s Anglican dean has been appointed the worldwide church’s top diplomat, representing the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Vatican.

David Richardson, dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, said yesterday his job would be to interpret Anglicans to the Roman Catholic Church and relay what was going on in the Vatican to fellow Anglicans.

He will take up the post next April, at a time when Rome’s enthusiasm for improving ties seems to have cooled. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI put most of their ecumenical energy into Eastern Orthodox churches. Benedict said in July that Protestant denominations could not properly call themselves “churches”.

Dean Richardson, 61, said there had been “hesitations in the conversation” between the churches because the American church consecrated a bishop in a gay relationship and because of women priests.

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Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * Religion News & Commentary, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Provinces, Other Churches, Roman Catholic