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Issued in Rome on March 24, 1966

by

Pope Paul VI and Anglican Archbishop

Michael Ramsey of Canterbury

In this city of Rome, from which St. Augustine was sent

by St. Gregory to England and there founded the cathedral See

of Canterbury, toward which the eyes of all Anglicans now turn

as the center of their Christian communion, His Holiness Pope

Paul VI and His Grace Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canter-

bury, representing the Anglican Communion, have met to ex-

change fraternal greetings.

At the conclusion of their meeting they give thanks to

Almighty God who by the action of the Holy Spirit has in these

latter years created a new atmosphere of Christian fellowship

between the Roman Catholic Church and the Churches of the

Anglican Communion.

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This encounter of March 23, 1966, marks a new stage in

the development of fraternal relations, based upon Christian

charity, and of sincere efforts to remove the causes of conflict

and to re-establish unity.

In willing obedience to the command of Christ, who bade

His disciples love one another, they declare that, with His help,

they wish to leave in the hands of the God of mercy all that in

the past has been opposed to this precept of charity, and that

they make their own the mind of the Apostle which he expressed

in these words: “Forgetting those things which are behind, and

reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward

the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”

(Phil. 3:13-14).

They affirm their desire that all those Christians who belong

to these two communions may be animated by these same senti-

ments of respect, esteem and fraternal love, and in order to help

these develop to the full, they intend to inaugurate between the

Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion a serious

dialogue which, founded on the Gospels and on the ancient com-

mon traditions, may lead to that unity in truth, for which Christ

prayed.

The dialogue should include not only theological matters

such as Scripture, tradition and the liturgy, but also matters of

practical difficulty felt on either side. His Holiness the Pope

and His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury are, indeed, aware

that serious obstacles stand in the way of a restoration of com-

plete communion of faith and sacramental life. Nevertheless,

they are of one mind in their determination to promote respon-

sible contacts between their communions in all those spheres of

church life where collaboration is likely to lead to a greater

understanding and a deeper charity, and to strive in common

to find solutions for all the great problems that face those who

believe in Christ in the world of today.

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Through such collaboration, by the grace of God the Father

and in the light of the Holy Spirit, may the prayer of our Lord

Jesus Christ for unity among His disciples be brought nearer

to fulfillment, and with progress toward unity may there be a

strengthening of peace in the world, the peace that only He can

grant who gives “The peace that passeth all understanding,”

together with the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and

Holy Spirit, that it may abide with all men forever.

* * * *

Translation provided by NCWC News Service

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1966

National Catkolic Welfare Conference

1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N. W. Washington, D. C. 20005