As the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission meeting continues its work in Durban, South Africa, the head of Rome’s Anglican Centre says he expects “significant progress” at the 10 day meeting. Archbishop David Moxon, who serves as the Anglican co-chair of the ARCIC III talks that run from May 12th to 20th, also told Vatican Radio that new collaboration in mission has brought the dialogue to “the verge of something quite new which will bear real fruit”
The theme for this fourth phase of the current ARCIC talks is to explore the Church as Communion, local and universal, and how, together, they come to discern correct ethical teaching. Just before his departure for Durban, Archbishop Moxon sat down with Philippa Hitchen to talk about the goals of the meeting and his own hopes for the future of Anglican-Catholic relations….
I seriously doubt it. Alas, there is no future for better Anglican-Roman Catholic relations without some drastic changes in global Anglicanism. As it stands today, there is simply no coherence or integrity to Anglicanism as a whole. Before we Anglicans have any realistic expectations of making real progress toward meaningful unity with ecclesial traditions we have to set our own house in order first. The necessary prelimiary to achieving real progress in ecumenical relations is for us Anglicans to recognize that we are a house divided against itself on many levels and in many ways. We simply must resolve our own inner disputes before we can hope to be fit to enter into closer relations with others. And I see not the slightest sign of hope that the Anglican Communion as we know it has either the desire or the ability to pull off that internal reconciliation.
I agree with those observers on both sides who judge the once-significant ARCIC dialogue to have become a dead end, a useless journey to nowhere. And it’s we Angllicans who are to blame for the failure.
David Handy+
Indeed NRA! Anglicans have been working overtime to setting more and more obstacles in the way of unity with the Catholic Church. Why continue this charade?