On Wednesday, November 28, Pope Benedict XVI extended his weekly audience to Archbishop Robert Duncan and Bishop Ray Sutton of the Anglican Church in North America. The picture above was taken at the end of the session when Archbishop Duncan and Bishop Sutton were invited to join the Pope’s own Archbishops and Bishops to bring personal greetings. In 2003, Benedict XVI, then Cardinal Ratzinger, sent greetings to the very first Plano, TX gathering of orthodox Episcopal (now Anglican) bishops, clergy and laity in North America. This momentous conference, hosted by the AAC and Christ Church Plano, helped launch the Anglican Communion Network, the precursor to the Anglican Church in North America.
Is it a coincidence that during ACC-15 in Auckland, NZ, it was reported that the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue (ARCIC) now focuses more on exchanges of scholarly papers and less on high-level, face-to-face discussions? Is it a coincidence that Archbishop David Moxon of New Zealand has been appointed to replace the current director of the Anglican Centre in Rome? Is the Anglican Communion Office doing damage control in light of The Episcopal Church’s violations of Anglican– and indeed biblical and catholic– teaching on human sexuality and Holy Orders? Could the appointment of Archbishop Moxon be damage control for Canterbury’s persistent unwillingness to discipline TEC-even at the expense of Anglican Communion faith and order?
Interesting. The Curia indicated several times that it preferred that Anglicans remain united under the ABC, but it has had to face changing reality.
I expect this is what has happened here: the Curia recognises that ACNA is a player and is here to stay, so it may as well include it in the churches with which it holds dialogue.