Metropolitan Kallistos Ware (Orthodox) was simply outstanding. ”˜If one member of the body suffers, all suffer’, he began, referring to 1 Corinthians 12.16. ”˜Your questions are our questions’. He continued by noting that there are two questions he would be asked on his return from Lambeth (I wonder will they be the same two in Down and Dromore for me?)
* Did the bishops at Lambeth clearly proclaim Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of the world?
* Did they clearly uphold Christian teaching on marriage and the family?
On the first, from the Indaba reflections, he is clear we pass the test, but on the second, he felt there was a degree of ambiguity. Have we fully affirmed Lambeth 1.10, he asked? His speech finished with a clear comment that our answers on these questions would have a decisive impact on future ecumenical dialogue with the orthodox churches, and that truth matters more than outward unity. I wanted to say ”˜Amen’!
The second ecumenical speaker was Professor Ian Torrance, representing the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, who was also most helpful in his comments. He noted that some people were living with the notion that the Anglican Communion might ”˜self-correct’, which he said he did not believe. A quiet and reserved man, he had given himself to a great deal of listening, and said ”˜I could feel the anxiety’. His speech ended with a quote from St Cyprian about bishops (great to have a Presbyterian telling us what bishops should be!), ”˜The episcopate is one, each part of which is held by each bishop for the whole.’ The message couldn’t be clearer.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s questions were simply fantastic (he was raised an Anglican as some of you know).