During his tenure as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper commented in 2006 that such a move would \u201ccall into question what was recognized by the Second Vatican Council (Unitatis Redintegratio, 13), that the Anglican Communion occupied \u201d\u02dca special place\u2019 among churches and ecclesial communities of the West.\u201d\u009d Cardinal Kasper warned that \u201crestoration of full church communion \u201d\u00a6 would realistically no longer exist following the introduction of the ordination of women to episcopal office.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Register, Father Tony Currer, secretary to the Anglican and Methodist dialogues at the Vatican\u2019s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said that while the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) has made great strides in addressing theological differences, two issues have emerged \u201cwhich make progress towards full visible unity extremely difficult.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first concerns the ordination of women; the second is that of human sexuality and ethical teaching,\u201d\u009d he commented. \u201cIt has to be admitted that it is extremely difficult to see a way forward on these issues at the moment.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Father Currer added that the Church\u2019s dialogue is with the whole Anglican Communion, not only the Church of England. Many elements of that communion are acting similarly to the Church of England on these issues, he said, \u201cwhich constitutes a very significant obstacle to the full visible unity that we continue to seek.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n