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DOCUMENTS

ON

ANGLICAN/

ROMAN CATHOLIC

RELATIONS

m

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o

n

73



.



DOCUMENTS

ON

ANGLICAN/ROMAN

CATHOLIC RELATIONS

Compiled by

BISHOPS’ COMMITTEE ON

ECUMENICAL and INTERRELIGIOUS

AFFAIRS

in Cooperation with the

JOINT COMMISSION ON ECUMENICAL RELATIONS

1972

UNITED STATES CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

1312 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.E. 20005





TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

1. Prefatory Note 1

2. ARC IV Statement on the Eucharist 3

3. Letter from Cardinal Bea to Archbishop Ramsey 5

4. ARC VII Statement 9

Actions of Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical

and Interreligious Affairs 23

Action of the Episcopal General Convention 23

5. Lambeth Conference 1968 Section Report 26

Lambeth Conference 1968 Actions 31

6. Cardinal Willebrands' Address in Cambridge, England . . 32

7. Pope Paul VI, Remarks at Canonization of Forty Martyrs. 42

Archbishop Ramsey's Response 44

8. Anglican/Roman Catholic International Commission ... 45

Windsor Statement 45

Material from The Lambeth Conference
,
1968 (New York: SPCK

and Seabury Press, 1969) reprinted with permission;



https://archive.org/details/documentsonanglicath_1



Prefatory Note

On March 24, 1966 a Common Declaration was signed in

Rome by Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael of Canterbury.

In that statement they declared that they "are, indeed, aware that

serious obstacles stand in the way of a restoration of complete

communion of faith and sacramental life; nevertheless, they are

of one mind in their determination to promote responsible con-

tacts between their Communions in all those spheres of Church

life where collaboration is likely to lead to a greater understand-

ing and a deeper charity, and to strive in common to find solu-

tions for all the great problems that face those who believe in

Christ in the world of today." To that end they stated their in-

tention "to inaugurate between the Roman Catholic Church and

the Anglican Communion a serious dialogue which, founded on

the Gospels and on the ancient common traditions, may lead to

that unity in truth for which Christ prayed."

The determination of the Pope and the Archbishop is re-

flected in the many efforts of Anglicans and Roman Catholics who

work to restore complete communion of faith and sacramental

life between these two sister churches. The establishment of the

international Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission paralleling

the work of similar national commissions in this country and

abroad is but one indication of that resolve. In the United States,

the bishops of our churches have been together in days of retreat

and prayer. The clergy of our churches have increased their con-

tact and exchange through joint days of study and other forms of

collaboration. And an increasing number of Episcopal and Roman

Catholic parishes have found ways to join in common witness

and sharing of their energies and resources. The continuous prog-

ress being achieved from year to year in Anglican-Roman Catholic

relations is one of the bright areas among many hopeful ecumeni-

cal endeavors in our time.

In this booklet are gathered several significant documents

and statements made since the time of the Common Declaration.

These have not been generally available after their initial publica-

1



tion. They are collected here as a service to the people of our

churches.

Because of the genuine promise it contains, this record

should be a source of encouragement to many. Its suggestions

for practical steps toward closer relations at local and other levels

provide ways in which clergy and laity of the two Churches

throughout the nation may play an important part in this great

enterprise.

Bishop of Kansas City
, St. Joseph

Co-Chairman, ARC, U.S.A.

J

Bishop of West Missouri

Co-Chairman
,
ARC, U.S.A.

2



ARC IV Statement on the Eucharist

"Since the time of the Reformation, the doctrine of Eucharis-

tic sacrifice has been considered a major obstacle to the recon-

ciliation of the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic

Church. It is the conviction of our commission that this is no

longer true.

"We have made a careful study of the documents of the

Second Vatican Council, the Lambeth Conference Report of 1958,

the 1949 statement of faith and order of the Protestant Episcopal

Church in the U.S. and other statements of the contemporary

position of both our Churches. From these statements it is clear

to us that the findings of modern biblical, theological and liturgi-

cal studies have transcended many of the polemical formulations

of an earlier period.

"We believe that it is of utmost importance for the clergy

and laity of our two Churches to acknowledge their substantial

identity in this area of Eucharistic doctrine and to build upon it as

they go forward in dialogue. Whatever doctrinal disagreements

may remain between our churches, the understanding of the

sacrificial nature (of the Eucharistic) is not among them.

"Here is an effort to sum up the consensus at which we

have arrived:

"The Church is the Body of Christ and is built up by the Word

through the Eucharist.

"Baptism is the entrance into the Eucharistic community.

In the Holy Eucharist, Christians are united with Christ as the

fulfillment and perfection of their baptismal union with Him.

"In the Lord's Supper, we participate at the same time in

Christ's death, Resurrection and Ascension; the Christian com-

munity is thus transformed in grace, and the pledge of future

glory is given to us.

3



"Our communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist is also

communion with one another. Such union is achieved through

the Holy Spirit.

"Christian people participating in Christ's priesthood through

Baptism and Confirmation are meant to be a living sacrifice to

God. That sacrifice finds its fullest expression in the Eucharistic

offering of the priesthood of the people of God. Such sacra-

mental offering of the whole people is made possible through the

special action of the ministerial priest who is empowered by his

ordination to make present Christ's sacrifice for His people.

"The sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist is not just the sacrifice

of the Cross, but the sacrifice of Christ's whole life of obedience

to the Father, which culminated in His death on the Cross and

His glorious Resurrection. We offer nothing we have not first
received; because of our incorporation into Christ at Baptism, He

offers us in Himself to the Father."

Milwaukee, Wis.—May 29, 1967

4



Letter from Cardinal Bea

to Archbishop Ramsey

Secretariat for Promoting

Christian Unity

Vatican City,

10 June 1968

Your Grace,

It is with heartfelt joy that I am sending to you the personal

letter of the Holy Father in which he expresses his satisfaction and

gratitude for the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Joint Pre-

paratory Commission, which after its sessions held during 1967 at

Gazzada, Huntercombe, and in Malta, has completed the prepara-

tory work committed to its members by compiling at its last ses-

sion a report which makes concrete proposals for the continua-

tion of the work done by the Commission. Despite our diversities

we have some truths in common, which are very important and

oblige us to travel the road towards unity.

His Holiness has charged me to explain more in detail how

this continuation, on the basis of the work already done, should

further be planned:

We approve the idea and agree that further studies be made

on the points related in the report:

(a) on a common declaration of faith between Catholics and

Anglicans;

(b) on liturgical problems of common concern for the Roman

Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion;

(c) on the possibility of co-ordinate action through joint or

parallel statements on urgent human issues at international,

national, and local level;

(d) on the problems and difficulties which arise in the field of

missionary strategy and activity of the Church, and the pos-

sibility of co-operation;

5



(e) on the theological and pastoral problems of the doctrine of

marriage and the difficulties caused by mixed marriages;

(f) on the ecclesiological principles of the Roman Catholic

Church and the Anglican Communion in connection with the

problem of sacramental intercommunion;

(g) on the theology of the Church and the theology of the min-

istry in connection with the nature of the priesthood and the

application of this doctrine to the Anglican ministry of today;

(h) on the nature of authority in the Church and its concrete

form in the teaching authority, in the Petrine primacy, etc.;

(i) on problems of moral theology;

(j) on the application of practical directions given in the Decree

of the Second Vatican Council on Ecumenism and in the

Directory issued by our Secretariat for Promoting Christian

Unity.

Moreover we approve certain practical recommendations

made in the report such as:

(a) periodical joint meetings in regions where both the Roman

Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion have a

hierarchy of either the whole or some considerable repre-

sentation of the two hierarchies;

(b) consultations on pastoral problems of evangelization in the

modern world;

(c) common prayers, according to the rules of the Directory is-

sued by our Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity;

(d) development under the direction of the respective Superiors

of a special relationship between religious orders of similar

inspiration in the two communions.

Other practical recommendations, however, such as agree-

ments for joint use of churches, and agreements to share facilities

for theological education and temporary exchange of students

require further investigation and especially consultation with the

appropriate authorities (the episcopal conferences and the com-

petent authority in Rome).

6



In order to assure the continuation of the work done by the

Anglican-Roman Catholic Joint Preparatory Commission and to

carry out the proposals for further studies and activities, we ac-

cept the recommendations made by the Commission:

(a) that the Commission be replaced by a Joint Commission re-

sponsible for the oversight of Roman Catholic-Anglican rela-

tions, and the co-ordination of future work undertaken

together by the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican

Communion;

(b) the constitution of joint sub-commissions, responsible to the

Joint Commission, which are necessary for the execution of

the programme if approved by the authorities on both sides;

(c) the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity and the Church

of England Council on Foreign Relations in association with

the Anglican Executive Officer should study the methods and

concrete ways in which the practical recommendations, as

far as they have been approved on both sides, can be

realized.

Concerning the question of the publication of the Malta

Report, we believe it is better not to give the report for publica-

tion to the press. In some of its phrases, the formulation seems

not quite clear and exact. Its publication through the press might

create the impression that the report represents more than a

report of a preparatory commission and even create among the

Bishops of the Church the impression that the Report has been

already approved by the competent authorities in all its details

and that it was communicated to them for implementation. But

in fact we are still at a phase of study and for the present moment

we prefer that further steps be taken after careful study and with

approval of the official authorities on both sides. Of course we

do not intend to prevent Your Grace from communicating the

content of the report to the members of the Lambeth Conference,

if you would think this advisable in order to have their reactions

and their proposals for the continuation of the dialogue and the

co-operation.

I express my sincere hope that with the support of the prayers

of all the faithful through the grace of God the Churches may be

led by Him who is the way, the truth, and the life, to the unity in

7



the Holy Spirit, "That there may be one visible Church of God, a

Church truly universal and sent forth to the whole world that the

world may be converted to the Gospel and so be saved, to the

glory of God" (Decree on Ecumenism, 1).

With a warm and heartfelt greeting in the name of our com-

mon Lord and with a renewal of my personal pledge of prayers

for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your momentous labours

this summer,

I remain,

Yours devotedly in Christ,

Augustin Cardinal Bea

President

J. G. M. Willebrands

Secretary

8



ARC VII Statement

Anglicans and Roman Catholics in the United States have

been meeting officially since June of 1965. The group of repre-

sentatives named by the Roman Catholic Bishops' Committee for

Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the Joint Commission

on Ecumenical Relations of the Episcopal Church in the United

States of America has subsequently been known as the Joint

Commission on Anglican-Roman Catholic Relations in the United

States (usually informally abbreviated to ARC).

Seven meetings have been held to date. These were ARC I,

in June of 1965, in Washington, D.C.; ARC II, in February of 1966,

at Kansas City, Missouri; ARC III, in October of 1966, at Provi-

dence, Rhode Island; ARC IV, in May of 1967, at Milwaukee, Wis-

consin; ARC V, in January of 1968, at Jackson, Mississippi; ARC

VI, in December of 1968, at Liberty, Missouri; ARC VII, in De-

cember of 1969, at Boynton Beach, Florida.

From the beginning, members of ARC have sensed the cre-

ative theological and ecumenical possibilities in the situation of

their two churches in the United States. At their first meeting,

they came to a speedy agreement on several questions relating

to the sacraments of Christian initiation. In particular, they were

agreed that the instances of conditional baptism of Episcopalians

upon admission to the Roman Catholic Church or of confirma-

tion of Roman Catholics by Episcopalians were abuses. With their

common sacramental emphasis, the group chose at the same time

the topic of the ensuing conversations to be: "The Eucharist,

Sign and Cause of Unity; the Church as a Eucharistic Fellow-

ship." ARC studied this theme continuously in meetings II

through V.

At ARC II, the question was immediately raised, as the con-

clusion to one of the several papers presented it: "Could not we,

in the controlled situation which is ours, celebrate together the

Eucharist? If not, why not? What precisely are the barriers?"

9



It became clear that some of both Roman Catholic and An-

glican members felt it possible, on the basis of principle, to pro-

pose that discriminate Eucharistic communion be celebrated, now

or in the near future, by the group as a legitimate ecclesial action.

In all of the ARC meetings, on successive days, Anglican and

Roman Catholic liturgies have been celebrated with all of the

members attending. In every instance, only Anglicans have re-

ceived communion at the Anglican liturgy and only Roman Cath-

olics have received at the Roman Catholic liturgy.

ARC II considered a number of barriers which have existed

to the full communion and organic unity of our Churches. Many

of these appeared no longer to be obstacles to the participation

of Anglicans and Roman Catholics together in the Eucharist in

one another's churches. Some important difficulties remained,

barring such an action insofar as could be seen at that time. Still

some expressed the sentiment that perhaps such communion was

not so far away, especially when the urgency of the Churches'

united presence to the world was sufficiently realized. In the

press conference which followed, it was this optimism which

overshadowed the report on the specifics of the conference and,

consequently, several newspapers had headlines suggesting im-

minent intercommunion or a new joint rite. While such sugges-

tions did not become actualities in succeeding meetings, never-

theless, a certain expectation, which cannot be ignored, was

created among our people and, indeed, among certain members

of the commission itself.

ARC III advanced agreements by clarifying language, the

meaning of liturgical practices and the general theological nature

of holy orders and of the priestly ministry. Both churches hold

firmly for the necessity of an ordained ministry in which are in-

cluded the three orders of bishops, priests (presbyters) and

deacons. Problems and practices of intercommunion were again

discussed and not entirely resolved.

ARC IV took up the study of Eucharistic sacrifice, studying the

Documents of the Second Vatican Council, the Lambeth Confer-

ence Report of 1958, the 1948 Statement of Faith and Order of the

Episcopal Church, and other statements of the contemporary

position of both our Churches. It concluded that while, since the

time of the Reformation, the doctrine of Eucharistic sacrifice had

10



been considered a major obstacle to the reconciliation of the

Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church, this was

no longer true. It based its conclusion on the findings of the

modern biblical, liturgical and theological studies which, ARC

members believed, had transcended the polemical formulations

of an earlier period.

This same consultation considered it to be of the utmost im-

portance for the clergy and laity of the two Churches to acknowl-

edge their substantial agreement in this area of Eucharistic doc-

trine and to build upon it as they go forward in dialogue. In

elucidation, ARC IV published a statement as a kind of brief sum-

mary of such consensus (see appendix I).

The next consultation again studied official documentation

and theological papers, this time on the necessity and role of the

ordained priesthood and the relationship of this ministry to the

common priesthood and to the role of the laity in the church.

It concluded that there was no basic difference of understanding

on these topics and that whatever minor differences of under-

standing did exist, they did not in themselves constitute the bar-

rier to the two Churches celebrating and receiving communion

together.

The sixth consultation heard papers exploring the problem of

unity from the viewpoint of a layman's experience and of a

bishop's experience as a guardian and representative of church

unity. However, most of the dialogue was devoted to considera-

tion of the future of such bilateral consultations as ARC and to

the procedures for the issuance of releases, interim statements

and the occasional publishing of the proceedings of such

sessions.

Most of the meeting was spent clarifying such procedures.

An Executive Committee was set up to expedite internal house-

keeping matters in the future. A careful statement of the com-

petence of ARC and of its relation to the news media was drawn

up and is appended to this report (see appendix II).

B. Pastoral Situation

ARC members, as they work toward Christian reconciliation,

feel the demands of urgency pushing them ahead. The religious

11



situation in the United States today is challenging and, we believe,

pressing. Its salient characteristics are these:

(1) American cultural patterns have changed. During the

past two generations the mobility of people—in residence, in
social interaction, and in income level—has weakened the sense
of dependence upon cultural and national traditions linking peo-

ple to their background in the Old World. Present tensions of

race and region are uniquely American problems existing within

an emerging American culture. Attachments to religious affilia-

tions embedded in other national traditions increasingly are no

longer dominant influences. In this emerging socio-cultural con-

text, a fragmented Christianity finds it difficult to contribute the

healing and cohering influences so clearly needed.

(2) The Second Vatican Council spoke to the hearts of all

people. In the American setting it was heard as the promise of

a renewed Christianity and raised hopes for a united Christendom.

A variety of influences have combined in the United States to

bring about a pattern of consultations, involving both Roman

Catholics and Episcopalians, in separate exploratory discussions

with other Christian groups. Especially noteworthy is the Con-

sultation on Church Union, an effort at shaping a united church

in which nine Churches, including the Episcopal Church, are

engaged. Renewal and the rediscovery of the Christian commit-

ment influence the American religious scene. The Anglican-

Roman Catholic Commission understands itself as part of this

movement.

(3) Because the Roman Catholic and Anglican Communions

in the U.S. share a greatly treasured Christian tradition, they are

deeply aware of their common commitment to preserve these

inheritances and to carry them forward into the emerging fabric

of American religious life. At the same time, both are sensitive

to the larger world-wide scope of their communions, and they

are resolved through ARC both to contribute to the Permanent

Joint Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission the fruits of their

efforts in the American context and also to utilize the accom-

plishments realized by the International Consultation.

(4) The members of ARC feel strongly the urgency to move

soundly and positively toward a position of organic unity of their

12



communions. Concerned Christians are already finding ways for

the expression of their shared commitment. Often these are be-

yond the bounds of the formal church structures.

C. Projections

We, the members of the Joint Commission on Anglican-

Roman Catholic Relations, now declare that we see the goal as

to realize full communion of the Roman Catholic Church with the

Episcopal Church and the other Churches of the Anglican Com-

munion. For the past four and one half years we have given our

energies to the task of this consultation. Nothing in the course of

this serious enterprise has emerged which would cause us to think

for a moment that this goal, given the guidance and support of

the Spirit of Christ, is unattainable. To the contrary, the progress

which we hope we have achieved in the Holy Spirit has deeply

encouraged us to press forward with a sense of earnest responsi-

bility toward this achievement, insofar as this lies within our

strength and capacity. This we want to do, not only with a sense

of the seriousness of our undertaking, but with a profound sense

of responsibility to the now separate churches to which we be-

long. We wish to submit all our findings, and the proposals which

we offer, to the serious, searching scrutiny and judgment of our

Churches. We shall be most attentive to their response.

At the same time, we hasten to add that we cannot conceive

our efforts in this bilateral consultation as divorced from the other

significant efforts which in our times we are privileged to witness

being made to achieve the goal of further reconciliation and full

ecclesial unity among all Christians. We would never wish our
own specific efforts and our own specific goal to be regarded as

prejudicial to the many different efforts that are being made by

our Churches toward this end. Specifically, we wish to mention

in this regard the Consultation on Church Union, in which the

Episcopal Church is engaged, and the other bilateral consultations

in which both our Churches are honored to participate. All of

these endeavors have been a source of gratification to the mem-

bers of the ARC and we, in turn, hope that our endeavor may be

seen as a source of encouragement to them.

Moreover, we cannot see the task that is set before us as

unrelated to the agonizing and critically important quest of the

13



men of our times, amid the deeply painful experiences of our

century, to achieve a fuller unity among all the members of the

human family. Our faith impels^usjo look to the Church of Christ

as a visible sign of the possible unity of mankind. We are, there-

fore, keenly distressed that the one Church, of which all baptized

Christians are members, is seen to be divided more than it is per-

ceived to be one Church. We understand all too well how this

state of affairs has come to be and how it persists. But we wish

to encourage all faithful Christians who, with us, regard this pres-

ent condition of the Church as a source of suffering to her mem-

bers and of scandal to others.

We offer our efforts to be joined with those of all others who

seek to alleviate this suffering and remove this scandalous state

both from the Church and from the whole human family as well.

If the full significance of the Anglican and Roman Catholic ecu-

menical quest for unity cannot be perceived apart from the quest

of all Christians for their fullest unity, neither will our furthest

hopes be fulfilled apart from the need of all men for a much

greater realization of the fitting unity of all mankind.

This we regard as an important imperative of the Church of

Christ among men in human history, there both serving and re-

joicing over the possibilities that God has bestowed upon us. We

see our communities as intimately linked with mankind and its

history. "The joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties- of the men

of this age, these too are the joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties

of the followers of Christ." (Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, n. 1.)

In the recommendations of the Preparatory Commission for

Anglican-Roman Catholic Relations, we are able to discern three

possible stages in the restoration of full communion between our

churches.

(I) Re-encounter through personal exchange and dialogue.

After four centuries of estrangement, we have witnessed the

beginning of reconciliation between Anglicans and Roman Cath-

olics. The visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury to Pope Paul VI

marked in a visible way the success, not only of the program for

ecumenical effort proposed by the II Vatican Council, but also of

many earlier, courageous initiatives on the part of Anglicans and

14



Roman Catholics. This meeting of our leaders and especially their

participation in a Service of Prayer, gave proof of their personal

commitment to the quest for full organic unity.

This meeting led happily to the establishment of an interna-

tional Preparatory Commission and to its results, namely, the

Malta Report and the creation of an international Permanent

Commission for Anglican-Roman Catholic Relations.

It is now our purpose in ARC to pursue, as far as possible, in

the United States of America, the recommendations of the inter-

national Preparatory Commission as they have been approved by

the Holy See and Canterbury.

ARC already has a history and has laid a foundation upon

which we can build. Our earlier statements stand as our testi-

mony. Still we await expectantly further response and criticism

of these efforts from our Churches.

Around the world and across our nation there are many

signs of a developing rapport between Anglicans and Roman

Catholics. There is need at this time, however, to signalize in new

ways our commitment to the cause of unity. Among the recom-

mendations of the Malta Report is one which calls for fraternal

meetings between Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops. Given

our common belief in the role of bishops as bearers of an apos-

tolic office and as "the visible principle and foundation of unity"

in their particular churches (Vd. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium
,

n.

23), we look forward to such exchanges in the U.S.A.

At some appropriate time in the not too distant future, we

also hope for an event which, following the example set by Pope

Paul and Archbishop Michael, will manifest anew the character

of the close relations between our churches. At the national level,

some public service, both a solemn celebration of our given unity

and a humble prayer for full unity, should take place under the

leadership of representative bishops of both Churches and with

participation by representatives of the clergy and laity of both

Churches. This event would be intended as a common pledge of

our resolve to seek full communion and organic unity.

(II) Growing together: Interim Steps

We in ARC feel the necessity for a common declaration of

15



faith between Catholics and Anglicans, but we feel that this proj-

ect would be more appropriately undertaken by the newly

formed international Permanent Anglican-Roman Catholic Com-

mission than by ARC. As we now see it, such a statement would

affirm, in the description of the Preparatory Commission, "our

common faith in God our Father, in our Lord Jesus Christ and in

the Holy Spirit; our common baptism in the one Church of God;

our sharing of the Holy Scriptures, of the Apostles' and Nicene

Creeds, the Chalcedonian definition, and the teaching of the

Fathers; our common Christian inheritance for many centuries

with its living traditions of liturgy, theology, spirituality, Church

order, and mission." (Paragraph 3 of the Malta Report.)

Having achieved agreement in our past meetings of ARC on

the Church as a Eucharistic fellowship, on the theology of the

celebrant, and on the nature of Eucharistic sacrifice, we now feel

our next step in ARC should be to move on toward mutual recog-

nition of ministry in a statement that we can forward to our re-

spective church authorities for action.

We endorse the following statement from the international

Anglican-Roman Catholic Preparatory Commission:

"We are agreed that among the conditions required for

intercommunion are both a true sharing in faith and the mutual

recognition of ministry. The latter presents a particular difficulty

in regard to Anglican Orders according to the traditional judg-

ment of the Roman Church. We believe that the present growing

together of our two communions and the needs of the future

require of us a very serious consideration of this question in the

light of modern theology. The theology of the ministry forms

part of the theology of the Church and must be considered as

such. It is only when sufficient agreement has been reached as

to the nature of the priesthood and the meaning to be attached

in this context to the word 'validity' that we could proceed, work-

ing always jointly, to the application of this doctrine to the Angli-

can ministry of today. We would wish to reexamine historical

events and past documents only to the extent that they can throw

light upon the facts of the present situation." (Paragraph 19 of

the Malta Report.)

We feel that ARC should immediately study the question of

orders together with the related topics of episcopal collegial ity.

16



the papacy, and the authority and teaching office in the whole

church. Our next meeting will examine these subjects also in the

context of developments in other bilateral conversations, such as

the Roman Catholic-Lutheran dialogue, and the findings of the

Consultation on Church Union.

Further agreements on the topics already listed may give us

more light on possible stages or steps of partial Eucharistic com-

munion on the way to full communion between the Roman

Catholic Church and the Churches of the Anglican Communion.

Without attempting to predict the shape of such stages because

of our limited perspective at this point and the new develop-

ments in polity and theology, we feel we should examine the

following relationships as offering, not static nor fully satisfactory

models, but some possible points of departure for new develop-

ments between our churches:

(1) The Concordat establishing communion between the

Old Catholic and Anglican Churches.

(2) The nature of uniatism within the Roman Catholic

Church.

(3) The proposals of the Second Vatican Council about

relationships between the Roman Catholic and the Ortho-

dox Churches.

(4) The Services of Reconciliation in the many proposed

church unions involving Anglicans, such as the Consulta-

tion on Church Union, the North-India/Pakistan Plan (now

officially approved by the constituting churches), and the

Plans in England, Ceylon, Nigeria, Ghana, Canada and New

Zealand.

If we can achieve a mutually acceptable statement concerning

episcopacy and priesthood, we hope to recommend the recon-

ciliation of the ordained ministries of the two churches without

Preordination" or "conditional ordination."

(Ill) Toward Full Communion and Organic Unity

Following the completion of the above-mentioned tasks, we

can hope for the restoration of full communion and organic unity.

The terms "full communion" and "organic unity" need further

definition, but both of them signify an intention to arrive at the

17



oneness for which Christ prayed in his high priestly prayer: a unity

which shows forth the relationship between the Father and the

Son in the Spirit, so that the world may see the glory of God

revealed in the relationship of His disciples with one another.

Full communion must not be interpreted as an agreement to

disagree while sharing in the Eucharistic gifts, nor may organic

unity be understood as a juridical concept implying a particular

form of Church government. Such a unity is hard to visualize,

but would include a common profession of faith and would mean

a sufficient compatability of polity to make possible a united

mission to the human family. Whatever structural forms emerge,

it is hoped that cultural and liturgical variety will remain so that

the values of both the Roman and the Anglican ethos will survive

and develop.

We hope also to further the reconciliation of our respective

Churches in such a way as to promote the still wider reconcilia-

tion with other Christian Churches.

D. Diffusion

Since the goal of ARC is full communion and organic union

between our two Churches, we recognize the need for making

this goal, and our progress toward it, widely known among the

bishops, priests, religious and laity of the two Churches. Accord-

ingly, we would like to see the following programs set in motion.

(1) In the press and the television news, with the assistance

of our press officers, we should arrange for an announce-

ment of our joint acceptance of this goal, accompanied by

interviews with our two chairmen and two other members

of the consultation.

(2) Promotion of spiritual ecumenism is necessary to make

us all realize that the varieties of spirituality within our two

communions can be a source of mutual enrichment, and that

loyalty to our relationships with God will be strengthened,

not eroded, by participation in each other's spiritual activity

and resources (communicatio in spiritualibus).

(3) The projected meeting of bishops, combining a day of

recollection with a day of discussion of pastoral concerns

and problems, should serve several purposes besides the

18



direct goals of the meeting itself: (a) making our efforts

toward union visible to the world; (b) establishing continuing

collaboration between bishops with overlapping jurisdic-

tions; (c) providing a model for further conferences, perhaps

on a regional basis, to strengthen relationships between our

two hierarchies throughout the nation.

(4) Joint clergy conferences should be encouraged, and our

ecumenical officers and diocesan ecumenical contacts should

become resources for subjects and speakers (perhaps as

"traveling teams") to assure successful programs that would

move our two Churches toward the common goal.

(5) The movement toward sharing in theological training

should be systematically encouraged with the aim of raising

up a new generation of priests who know and understand

their common spiritual heritage.

(6) Cooperation should be fostered between our program

resource persons, especially in the areas of adult education,

professional leadership development, and missions. Steps

should be taken toward unifying our basic approaches

toward religious education of the young.

(7) The religious orders should be made aware of the desir-

ability of closer relationships between orders of similar in-

spiration as recommended in the Malta Report and approved

by authority.

(8) Participation of the laity in joint retreats and conferences,

in living room dialogues, and in the week of prayer for

Christian unity, should be systematically encouraged.

(9) Our Christian brotherhood should issue in theologically

based joint action for the whole family of man. Together we

must bear witness to Christ's love for persons of all races and

identify with them in their struggle for justice. Together we

must work to build or preserve a natural environment fit for

the dignity of each human person and help to create a com-

munity in which every man can live in peace, free from fear,

hunger and poverty. In doing these things our mutual love

will grow to include all men.

(10) The special relationship springing from our many areas

of common life and tradition should not only be a source of

mutual enrichment for our two Churches, but should also

19



serve the purpose of moving toward the greater goal of unity

of the whole Christian fellowship. There should be continu-

ing consultation, in particular, on the subject of Anglican

union discussions with other Churches to help assure that

they will fulfill their declared purpose of being steps toward

the unity of the whole body of Christ.

(11) The Ecumenical Commissions of our two Churches,

through their staffs, should assume responsibility for these

and other means of diffusing ecumenical knowledge and

understanding through our Churches at all levels.

Conclusion

The participants in the ARC present this statement, prepared

and reviewed by us at our seventh session, as one which records

our substantial agreement. As a group we also recognize the fact

that we must continuously seek more and more adequate ways

to express the insights that come to us and the hopes that we

share. It is in this spirit and with this clear understanding that

we submit this statement to the judgment of the authorities of

our Churches and offer it for the consideration of our fellow

workers in the ecumenical undertaking.

Co-chairmen:

The Most Reverend Charles H.

Helmsing

Bishop of Kansas City—St. Joseph

The Right Reverend Donald H. V.

Hallock

Bishop of Milwaukee

Participants:

The Most Reverend William D.

Borders

Bishop of Orlando

The Most Reverend Aloysius

J. Wycislo

Bishop of Green Bay

Reverend Monsignor William W.
Baum

Reverend Lawrence Guillot

Reverend John F. Hotchkin

Reverend Monsignor Bernard F. Law

Reverend Herbert Ryan, S.J.

Reverend George Tavard

The Right Reverend John M. Allin

Bishop of Mississippi

The Right Reverend John S. Higgins

Bishop of Rhode Island

The Right Reverend Edward R. Welles

Bishop of West Missouri

Reverend Arthur A. Vogel

Reverend William J. Wolfe

Mr. Peter Day

Mr. Clifford P. Morehouse

Mr. George A. Shipman

Boynton Beach, Fla.—December 8-11, 1969

20



Appendix I

The Church is the Body of Christ and is built up by the Word

through the Eucharist.

Baptism is the entrance into the Eucharistic community. In

the Holy Eucharist Christians are united with Christ as the fulfill-

ment and perfection of their baptismal union with Him.

In the Lord's Supper we participate at the same time in

Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension; the Christian com-

munity is thus transformed in grace and the pledge of future

glory is given to us.

Our communion with Christ in the Holy Eucharist is also

communion with one another. Such union is achieved through

the Holy Spirit.

Christian people participating in Christ's priesthood through

baptism and confirmation are meant to be a living sacrifice to

God. That sacrifice finds its fullest expression in the Eucharistic

offering of the priesthood of the people of God. Such sacra-

mental offering of the whole people is made possible through the

special action of the ministerial priest, who is empowered by his

ordination to make present Christ's sacrifice for His people.

The Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist is not just the sacrifice of

the cross but the sacrifice of Christ's whole life of obedience to

the Father which culminated in His death on the cross and His

glorious resurrection. We offer nothing we have not first re-

ceived; because of our incorporation into Christ at baptism, He

offers us in Himself to the Father.

21



Appendix II

The Joint Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission recognizes

that it can make only recommendations, not decisions, concern-

ing closer relations and doctrinal agreements between our two

Churches. Such decisions must be arrived at by the appropriate

authorities of each Church after consideration and recommenda-

tion by our parent bodies, the Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical

and Interreligious Affairs and the Joint Commission on Ecumeni-

cal Relations.

However, the work in which we are engaged is not secret by

nature and from time to time may be of interest and concern to

the people of God in general. They too are part of the process

whereby the Church makes its decisions and their reactions,

whether favorable or unfavorable, are significant to the authori-

tative decision-making bodies.

The mass media are, with all their limitations, a major means

of informing the people of God as to the ideas and opportunities

being proposed to the two parent bodies. We believe that a

policy of openness, in spite of occasional confusion or mistakes,

will result in the long run in more positive achievements than a

policy of close control of the dissemination of information. The

group itself must, of course, be sensitive to its responsibilities not

to misrepresent either its own status or the actual state of ecu-

menical agreement between our two Communions.

22



Actions of Bishops’ Committee on

Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs

Regarding the ARC VII Statement

and the Bea Letter

(Excerpt)

XIX) Anglican Consultation. The committee reviewed the

report drawn up at the seventh session of this dialogue. It was

pointed out that this report was forwarded to the international

dialogue, meeting in England in January. That group affirmed the

goal of Anglican-Roman Catholic relations to be 'Tull organic

union of our two communions" much as ARC affirmed the goal

to be "the realization of full communion." The Anglican partici-

pants are referring the ARC VII report to their General Conven-

tion through their Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations. In

parallel fashion this report is being submitted to the BCEIA.

The following resolution was moved and ordered: BE IT RE-

SOLVED that the BCEIA gratefully and enthusiastically accepts the

ARC report, considers it to be a very significant report and will

give it very serious consideration.

Kansas City—March 18, 1970

At the March 3, 1971 plenary meeting of the Bishops' Com-

mittee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, a motion was

approved to offer the assistance of the Committee and its staff

to dioceses or regions which would wish to have Anglican/Roman

Catholic Bishops retreats or days of recollection. This action was

taken after discussion of the positive experiences shared by the

participants in the May 1970 joint retreat. Support for similar

events for priests and the laity was included in the action.

Jackson, Mississippi, January 5, 1968

ACTION OF THE EPISCOPAL GENERAL CONVENTION,

Houston, Texas, Oct. 1970

(Excerpt)

5. Relations with the Roman Catholic Church

Whereas
,
Official representatives of this Church and of the

23



Roman Catholic Church in the United States have, in seven ses-

sions of the joint Anglican/Roman Catholic Commission (ARC),

made great progress in mutual understanding and agreement,

notably in regard to the nature of Baptism, Holy Communion, and

the Church as Eucharistic Community; and

Whereas

,

The seventh meeting of ARC, held in December,

1969, adopted a significant document which reported the prog-

ress to date, defined the goal as "full communion and organic

unity," and affirmed that "nothing in the course of this serious

enterprise has emerged which would cause us to think that this

goal is unattainable"; and

Whereas

,

The Bishops' Committee on Ecumenical and Inter-

religious Affairs of the Roman Catholic Church voted on March

18, 1970, that it "gratefully and enthusiastically accepts the ARC

report, considers it to be a significant report, and will give it very

serious consideration"; and

Whereas, The Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations also

gives its enthusiastic approval, and asks the General Convention

"to endorse the report and to implement it by adopting the rec-

ommendations in its final section"; now be it

Resolved
,
That this 63rd General Convention of the Episcopal

Church

(1) Gratefully and enthusiastically accept the report of the

Anglican/Roman Catholic Commission, as incorporated in the

Report of the Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations;

(2) Endorse the progress along the lines of the joint Angli-

can/Roman Catholic International Commission;

(3) Direct the Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations to

continue its participation in the joint Anglican/Roman Catholic

Commission, looking toward the defined goal of full communion

and organic unity between the Churches of the Anglican Com-

munion and the Roman Catholic Church; and

(4) Authorize and direct the Executive Council to cooperate

with the Joint Commission on Ecumenical Relations in the imple-

mentation of the programs recommended by the Anglican/

Roman Catholic Commission, especially as set forth in paragraphs

24



4, 5, 6, and 11 of Section D of the report, relating to joint clergy

conferences, sharing in theological training, cooperation between

staff personnel in the areas of adult education, professional lead-

ership training, education of the young, missions, and other

means of diffusing ecumenical knowledge and understanding

through our Churches at all levels.

25



Lambeth Conference 1968

Section Report

RELATIONS WITH THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

In the "Common Declaration", signed in Rome on 24 March

1966, the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury gave thanks to

Almighty God for the new atmosphere of Christian fellowship

now existing between the two Churches, and declared their inten-

tion of inaugurating "a serious dialogue which, founded on the

Gospels and on the ancient common traditions, may lead to that

unity in truth, for which Christ prayed." This dialogue, they de-

clared, was to include "not only theological matters such as Scrip-

ture, Tradition and Liturgy, but also matters of practical difficulty

felt on either side."

It was as a result of this Declaration that a Joint Preparatory

Commission was set up; and the Section received with gratitude

the report issued as a result of the three meetings of that Com-

mission.

Essential to such meetings is the spirit in which they are un-

dertaken. For our part we recognize in penitence that many of

our past attitudes and actions have contributed to our unhappy

divisions and that there are still many things in us for which we

must ask the forgiveness of God and of our fellow Christians. Yet

we are thankful for the many signs of renewal of the spirit of unity

in ourselves and in others.

Together with the Roman Catholic Church we confess our

faith in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as witnessed by the holy

Scriptures, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, and by the teaching

of the Fathers of the early Church. We have one baptism and

recognize many common features in our heritage. At the same

time substantial divergences exist, many of which have arisen

since the sixteenth century, in such matters as the unity and in-

defectibility of the Church and its teaching authority, the Petrine

primacy, infallibility, and Mariological definitions, as well as in

some moral problems. These matters will require serious study so

26



that they may be carefully identified and, under the guidance of

the Spirit, resolved. This task must be undertaken in the light of

the challenge to the whole Church of God presented by the mod-

ern world, and in the context of the mission of the Church

throughout the world and to all sorts and conditions of men.

Signs of Progress

Relations between Anglicans and Roman Catholics are pro-

gressing in various ways and to varying degrees in many places.

Examples include common services of prayer and thanksgiving,

the joint use of churches, the exchange of preachers, co-opera-

tion in theological education, and meetings of official commis-

sions and informal groups. With due regard to individual con-

sciences, we endorse and encourage these developments where

local circumstances permit the avoidance of misunderstanding.

We rejoice that the new attitude towards Scripture, ex-

pressed in the Constitution on Divine Revelation, has led to co-

operation in biblical studies and in the work of the United Bible

Societies.

Liturgical renewal and reform represent a field where co-op-

eration is urgent. Unilateral action in regard to the liturgical year

and the vernacular forms used by our people is to be avoided.

The Christian witness being given by our clergy and laity in

many urgent human issues, in many cases in close association with

Roman Catholics, claims our support and our prayers. Where

such witness may be strengthened by joint or parallel statements

by church leaders, these should be issued.

We welcome the increasing signs of mutual recognition, not
least in practical acts on both sides, of the reality of Anglican and

Roman Catholic ministry in the whole Body of Christ on earth.

A Permanent Joint Commission

We recommend the setting up of a Permanent Joint Commis-

sion, our delegation to be chosen by the Lambeth Consultative

Body or its successor and to be representative of the Anglican

Communion as a whole. This commission or its subcommissions

should consider the question of intercommunion in the context

of a true sharing in faith and the mutual recognition of ministry,

and should also consider in the light of the new biblical scholar-

27



ship the orders of both Churches and the theology of ministry

which forms part of the theology of the Church and can only be

considered as such. The hope for the future lies in a fresh and

broader approach to the understanding of apostolic succession

and of the priestly office. On this line we look for a new joint

appraisal of church orders.

Conversations between Anglicans and Roman Catholics

should be conducted with due regard to the multiplicity of con-

versations also in progress with other Churches. In them all we

propose to hold fast the principles of Catholic truth as we have

been given to understand them, though we realize that, in re-

newed obedience to the Holy Spirit, we must at all times be will-

ing to go forward adventurously.

Reports of Anglican/Roman Catholic conversations in the

several provinces should be made available to members of the

Permanent Joint Commission, and information on all these mat-

ters circulated by it throughout our communion.

Mixed Marriages

We are aware of the suffering which may arise from mar-
riages in which one partner is an Anglican and the other a Roman

Catholic, but welcome the fact that a Joint Commission on the

Theology of Marriage and its Application to Mixed Marriages has

been set up. The preliminary discussions of this joint commission

have shown that the two Churches are close to one another in

acknowledging that Holy Matrimony has a sacramental nature,

although this is somewhat differently expressed in our respective

formularies.

We welcome a suggestion from the (Roman Catholic) Third

World Congress for the Lay Apostolate that Anglican priests

should be acceptable as the official ministerial witnesses required

by the Roman Catholic Church.

We note that the same Congress has asked that the responsi-

bility for the Christian education of the children of a mixed mar-

riage should be regarded as the responsibility of both parents who

share in the grace of the marriage sacrament, and note that this

is endorsed by the Declaration on Religious Liberty of Vatican II,

which states: "Parents . . . have the right to determine, in accord-

ance with their own religious beliefs, the kind of religious educa-

tion that their children are to receive."

28



We also welcome the movement towards joint pastoral care

of all concerned both before and after marriage by the clergy of

the two Churches. Such joint pastoral care is an expression of the

theology of Holy Matrimony which both Churches share.

EPISCOPACY, COLLEGIALITY, PAPACY

The Anglican tradition has always regarded episcopacy as an

essential part of its Catholic inheritance. We would regard it as

an extension of the apostolic office and function both in time and

space, and, moreover, we regard the transmission of apostolic

power and responsibility as an activity of the college of bishops

and never as a result of isolated action by any individual bishop.

In the discharge of his episcopal responsibility, the bishop is

the guardian of the faith, the father of his people, and the driving

force of mission in his area.

Traditionally the bishop is father in God to the clergy and

laity of a territorial diocese, and part of his vocation is to represent

the Catholic Church in his diocese and, conversely, to represent

his diocese within the councils of the wider Church.

While we have no wish to diminish the importance of this

traditional pattern, the demands of a new age suggest the wisdom

of also consecrating bishops without territorial jurisdiction but

with pastoral responsibility, directly or indirectly, for special

groups such as the armed forces, industry, and particular areas of

concern within the mission of the Church. This principle would

simply be the extension of the widespread current practice of

appointing suffragans, auxiliaries, and assistants. We submit that

all such bishops, by virtue of their consecration as bishops in the

Church of God, should have their due place in episcopal councils

throughout the world.

The principle underlying collegiality is that the apostolic call-

ing, responsibility, and authority are an inheritance given to the

whole body or college of bishops. Every individual bishop has

therefore a responsibility both as a member of this college and as

chief pastor in his diocese. In the latter capacity he exercises

direct oversight over the people committed to his charge. In the

former he shares with his brother bishops throughout the world

a concern for the wellbeing of the whole Church.

Within the college of bishops it is evident that there must be

29



a president. In the Anglican Communion this position is at pres-

ent held by the occupant of the historic see of Canterbury, who

enjoys a primacy of honour, not of jurisdiction. This primacy is

found to involve, in a particular way, that care for all the Churches

which is shared by all the bishops.

The renewed sense of the collegiality of the episcopate is

especially important at a time when most schemes for unity are

being developed at a national level, because the collegiality of

the episcopate helps to stress the worldwide and universal char-

acter of the Church. This collegiality must be a guiding principle

in the growth of the relationships between the provinces of the

Anglican Communion and those Churches with which we are,

or shall be, in full communion. Within this larger college of

bishops, the primacy would take on a new character which would

need to be worked out in consultation with the Churches in-

volved.

As a result of the emphasis placed on collegiality at the Sec-

ond Vatican Council, the status of bishops in the Roman Catholic

Church was in great measure enhanced, though the teaching of

the First Vatican Council on the infallibility and immediate and

universal jurisdiction of the Pope was unaffected. We are unable

to accept this teaching as it is commonly understood today. The

relationships between the Pope and the episcopal college, of

which he is a member, are, however, still being clarified, and are

subject to development. We recall the statement made in the

Lambeth Conference of 1908, and repeated in 1920 and 1930,

"that there can be no fulfillment of the Divine purpose in any

scheme of reunion which does not ultimately include the great

Latin Church of the West, with which our history has been so

closely associated in the past, and to which we are still bound

by many ties of common faith and tradition." We recognize the
Papacy as a historic reality whose developing role requires deep

reflection and joint study by all concerned for the unity of the

whole Body of Christ.

Although the declaration and guardianship of the faith has

traditionally been regarded, as belonging fundamentally to the

episcopal office, the collegiality of the episcopate must always be

seen in the context of the conciliar character of the Church, in-

volving the consensus fidelium, in which the episcopate has its

place.

30



Lambeth Conference 1968 Actions

The Roman Catholic Church

52. The Conference welcomes the proposals made in the

report of Section III which concern Anglican relations with the

Roman Catholic Church.

53. The Conference recommends the setting up of a Perma-

nent Joint Commission, for which the Anglican delegation should

be chosen by the Lambeth Consultative Body (or its successor)

and be representative of the Anglican Communion as a whole.

54. In view of the urgent pastoral questions raised by mixed

marriages the Conference welcomes the work of the Joint Com-

mission on the Theology of Marriage and its Application to Mixed

Marriages, and urges its speedy continuance.

Collegiality

55. The Conference recommends that the principle of col-

legiality should be a guiding principle in the growth of the rela-

tionships between the provinces of the Anglican Communion and

those Churches with which we are, or shall be, in full communion,

and draws particular attention to that part of the Section III re-

port which underlines this principle.

31



Cardinal Willebrands’ Address in

Cambridge, England

January 18, 1970

Following is the text of an address given by Jan

Cardinal Willebrands
,
president of the Vatican Secre-

tariat for Promoting Christian Unity
,
in Great St Mary's

Church
,
Cambridge

,
England.

Let me first of all express my great joy and deep gratitude

for the fact that at your gracious invitation I am able to join you

before God in this prayer service to thank Him and to beg of Him

full and complete unity in faith and love.

May I begin by quoting some words which you will not

suspect of being taken from an ecumenical prayer or pamphlet:

. . . come with me you fools,

Into Unity of Holy Church—and hold we us there. . . .
And call we to all the commons—that they come unto
Unity and there abide and do battle—against Belial's
children.

The blunt words are from the great prophetic poet of four-

teenth century England, Piers Plowman. They remind us that the

unity of the Church, that effective sign of Christ living in her, is

always a matter of urgency to visionary minds. The New Testa-

ment is full of this urgency; the fourth Gospel makes it the mark

of the heirs of eternal life, of those who look with the eyes of

faith beyond this world. It is the glory of those whom God has

given to Christ his Son. "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name

which Thou hast given me, that they may be one even as We are
one" (Jn. 17, 11). He sent them into the world for the centuries

to come and prayed "for those who believe in me through their

word, that they may all be one" (Jn. 17, 20-21). If there is some

glory in unity, in togetherness, in a bond of love, it is the glory of

Christ, "the glory which Thou has given me, I have given to them,

that they may be one even as We are one" (Jn. 17, 22). This glory,

32



or, as the Greek expresses it
—

"doxa," marks the transcendence

of God as it is appearing and manifesting itself to this world. This

glory appears and manifests itself first of all in Christ, "As Thou

Father art in me and I in Thee," but then also in us "I in them"

(Jn. 17, 21) in so far as we remain united in Him. Therefore, it

is through that glory in unity that the world may know that Christ

has been sent by the Father and that the love of the Father is in

us. John the evangelist, who is called also the divine, is really the

troubadour of love and unity. His Gospel and his first Letter are

filled with this idea.

This unity is not only the inspired ideal of a troubadour. In

the first record of Church history, the Acts of the Apostles, the

primitive community of Jerusalem is described as gathered in the

upper room "with one accord devoted to prayer" (Acts 1, 14).

St. Paul, in his Letter to the Romans, expresses his desire that they

may "live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ

Jesus that together you may with one voice glorify the God and

Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15, 6). St. Paul's wishes

for the community in Rome are not merely a matter of local con-

cern. In various ways he directs them to all the Christian

Churches and communities. He tells the Corinthians, "Because

there is one bread, we who are many, are one body for we all

partake of the one bread" (1 Cor. 10, 17). To the Ephesians he

speaks of the strength of unity, the integrity, candour and courage

it brings to Christian witness. In his Letter to the Philipians, Paul

has preserved for us the old Christian hymn on the divinity of

Christ and the emptying of Our Lord in the humility of the cross.

This hymn, in which the primitive Christian community professed

its faith, is introduced by Paul with the plea to "complete my joy

by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full

accord and of one mind" (Phil. 2, 2).

Now we all are conscious of the fact, and we confess it with

repentance before God, that we have not preserved, in the obe-

dience of faith, that unity through which we may all partake of

the same bread, through which we should be in full accord and

of one mind. However, we may thank God that humility and

courage in the spirit of Christ have begun again to inspire the

relations among Christians, among their Churches and Communi-

ties. This new spirit has also been manifest in a particular way

in the relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the

33



Anglican Communion during these recent years, years so charged

with events of heavy import for Christianity.

For the Roman Catholic Church the Second Vatican Council

has been a great event for what it is contributing to theological

reflection, to the renewal of the mission of the Church to the

world of today, to the orientation it has given for relations with

our Christian brethren of other Churches and Communities. From

the very beginning, when he first announced the calling of an

Ecumenical Council, Pope John made it clear to the world that

the restoration of Christian unity was one of his great hopes.

Pope Paul, in his speech opening the second session, indicated

the restoration of Christian unity as one of the main objectives

of the Council.

In December 1960, after a pilgrimage to the Holy City of

Jerusalem, Archbishop Fisher of Canterbury paid a visit to the

Churches of Constantinople and Rome. For the first time since

the Reformation the Archbishop of Canterbury met the Pope.

This fraternal encounter in historical perspective so much more

than a mere gesture of courtesy, was a stroke of vision pointing

firmly towards the future. The Archbishops of Canterbury and

York responded to the spirit and the words of Pope John and,

already during the preparatory period of the Second Vatican

Council, sent a personal representative to Rome. The Archbishop

of Canterbury, as the head of the Anglican Communion, led the

way in accepting Pope John's invitation to send observers to the

Council. When the Vatican Council turned to formulate Catholic

principles on ecumenism and its practice, both Roman Catholics

and Anglicans rejoiced that the Decree on Ecumenism spoke of

the "special place" held by the Anglican Communion "among

those in which some Catholic traditions and institutions continue

to exist" (Decree on Ecumenism, N. 13).

Insight and a clear understanding of the many factors in-

volved led Archbishop Ramsey to await the end of the Council's

work before visiting Rome and the Pope. The Archbishop wanted

to avoid giving any impression of wishing to influence the devel-

opment of the discussions in the Council. Furthermore, he wished

to give a firm basis to his visit by setting it within the context of

the decisions already taken by the Vatican Council. The human

warmth, the spiritual elevation and the geniality of those days

34



caught the imagination of a world still sensing the movement of

the Spirit over the waters. Whatever difficulties or setbacks may

arise from history or emotions, the spirit and the fruit of the com-

mon prayer of the Pope and the Archbishop, as well as the con-

viction and the faith expressed in their common declaration, will

remain a source and guiding principle for the further develop-

ment of our relations and will lead us to that unity which is the

object of our prayers and desires and which is the promise and

gift of the Lord to His Church. The spiritual elevation and the

geniality of the visit, prolonged so to speak in the life of the

Anglican Center founded at that time in Rome, firmly established

the tone of the dialogue which Pope and Archbishop set in

motion then. It continues to shine through the earnest purpose of

the report which the Joint Preparatory Roman Catholic/Anglican

Commission made—a document full of hope, on which a letter
of the revered Cardinal Bea set the mark of Roman Catholic

approval, while the resolutions of the Lambeth Conference

showed how much it mirrored the aspirations of the Anglican

episcopate.

This very week the first fruits of these proposals are being

gathered: for six days a new commission has seriously dis-

cussed the great issues on which, in appearance or reality, we

remain divided. But be sure that it has also discussed what unites

us—our resolve, under God, to accept the great command of
unity given by Christ and echoed in all the writings of the New

Testament, to accept also the great challenge of Christian witness

in this new age—a challenge as broad and as deep as life itself.
Some speak of this Commission as a "permanent" commission. If

the title were to represent a forecast of the Commission's span of

life, its pessimistic outlook would frighten me, as I am sure it

would frighten the commission members and yourselves. But this

is not the case. The title reflects rather the happy irreversibility of

the ways we have taken together.

What is the true meaning of these ways of dialogue? Theo-

logical discussion is a necessary help to discover and to manifest

the unity in faith which we already enjoy and to restore that unity

where it has been lost. However, the heart of the matter, I am

sure, is what the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Directory calls

Communicatio in spiritualibus, i.e., a sharing of spiritual activity

and resources. The basis of this is our Christian brotherhood,

35



securely grounded in the baptism by which we are reborn in

Christ. Through this we turn confidently in prayer to the Source

of all that we hold good and true, drawing new things and old

out of a deep, rich treasure. This treasure holds many things deriv-

ing from our common inheritance, many reflecting our particular

genius and witnessing to the vitality of our particular history.

Within the framework of such a sharing we need have no fear of

candour and straight speech in theological discussions. We can

be sure of blessing and ripeness in Christian cooperation which

will increase and find many fields of practical application in local

circumstances. This will be due to the fact that a solid basis of

agreement in faith underlies such spiritual sharing and such

common labour, as it provides the spur for that intense effort of

prayer, of thought and imagination, that humble and courageous

stretching of minds, which will in God's time discover, manifest

and reintegrate unity in faith and give it its expression in Church

unity.

None can deny that this unity in faith is indispensable; it is

no less sure that diversity of theological approach and explanation

is legitimate and can be acknowledged within the unity of faith,

and within the Church. This important fact was expressed by

Pope John in his address at the beginning of the Council: "One

thing is the deposit of faith, that is the truths preserved in our

sacred doctrine, another thing is the way they are expressed while

retaining the same meaning and substance." This distinction has

been reaffirmed by the Council itself (De Ecumenismo, N. 6).

Another important idea introduced by the Vatican Council,

when it speaks of dialogue, was to acknowledge a "hierarchy of

truths": "When comparing doctrines, theologians should remem-

ber that in Catholic teaching there exists an order or "hierarchy"

of truths, since they vary in their relationship to the foundation

of the Christian faith." The importance of this idea has not

escaped the theological world, but what is meant by the phrase

is no less important. It does not mean that any part of Revelation

is less true than another, nor does it deny that we have to accept

with the same act of faith all revealed truths. However, besides

the formal aspect of revealed truths we have to consider also

their content. In this respect religious truth is more important in

proportion to its relationship to the foundation, or we may also

say, to the Center of Christian faith. In the explanation of this

36



phrase given by the responsible conciliar commission, it was

said: "Truths upon which all Christians agree as well as truths in

which they differ, should rather be weighed than counted"

(Potius ponderentur quam numerentur).

Without disparaging any truths, this principle gives a guide-

line for every ecumenical dialogue and is of great importance and

help for those who participate in theological dialogue. They carry

a serious responsibility in their search for the manifestation and

the restoration of unity. However, dialogue is not an end in itself,

by remaining such, it becomes sterile. Accompanying work such

as that done this past week at Windsor, there must be an enlarge-

ment, a process, an awakening of interest and aspiration, a shar-

ing of spiritual activity and resources which always looks out

towards the concerns of Christian mission and the challenge of

the present age. Theological dialogue remains an indispensable

service to arrive at this end. Dialogue on world level, inevitably

tempted to great abstractions, is balanced by national and

regional dialogue—in U.S.A., in South Africa, Australia, in this
country and elsewhere. For this balance to be realized we need

full exchange of information between all these enterprises, and

the authorities to whom their work is referred must face up to

the task not only of passing on its benefits by various degrees of

distribution and publication, but also of integrating its results and

aiding in their further developments.

If they work with this common mentality and are strength-

ened by God's grace, are obedient to our Lord's commands, and

are enlightened by the Holy Spirit, might not our theologians

then expect to see in the none too distant future, a vision of that

unity in truth given us in Christ? I would go so far as to hope that

a limited period, say five years, might allow them to give, con-

scientiously and loyally, this service they are qualified to give to

the Churches.

This would not mean that by that time we would have be-

fore us a full program and concrete outline for a schema of unity.

Dialogue, however, would have entered upon a new stage, study-

ing concrete ways and modalities of future unity. We would face
then the challenge, most difficult yet most bracing of all—to
explore what unity might mean in practice. We should not feel
tempted to imagine ourselves at the gates of the promised land

—

37



there is plenty of recent experience even of far advanced unity

negotiations to moderate our euphoria—but rather than tempt
us to superiority it would lead us to consolidation and to courage.

Would it be courage or rashness to offer some further perspec-

tive, some pattern for the future?

May I invite you to reflect on a notion which, it seems to me,

has received much fruitful attention from theologians recently?

It is that of the typos in its sense of general form or character,

and of a plurality of typoi within the communion of the one and

only Church of Christ.

When I speak here of a typos of the Church, I do not mean

to describe the local or the particular Church in the sense the

Vatican Council has given it. In the "Decree on the Bishops'

Pastoral Office in the Church" the Council describes the local

Church or the diocese as "that portion of God's people which is

entrusted to a bishop to be shepherded by him with the coopera-

tion of the presbytery. Adhering thus to its pastor and gathered

together by him in the Holy Spirit through the gospel and the

Eucharist, this portion constitutes a particular church in which the

one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ is truly present

and operative."

From this description it becomes clear that the local Church

is not merely a part of the whole but that the fullness of the whole

universal Church is present in the local Church, or if that fullness

is not present in it, the local Church is not perfect and complete.

Here we are not making a distinction between the essence of the

Church and its empirical manifestation. The New Testament

never makes this distinction when it speaks of Churches. We are
talking about the universal Church which is manifest in a particu-

lar place. It is this meaning of the local Church which the Vatican

Council has discovered again.

As distinct from this notion of the local Church, with all of

the theological meaning it contains, the notion which I submit

to your attention, that of a typos of a Church does not primarily

designate a diocese or a national Church (although in some cases

it may more or less coincide with a national Church). It is a notion

which has its own phenomenological aspects, with their particu-

lar theological meaning.

38



In the Decree on Ecumenism we read: 'Tor many centuries

the Churches of East and West went their own ways, though a

brotherly communion of faith and sacramental life bound them

together" (N. 14). The theological element which must always be

present and presupposed is the full "communion of faith and

sacramental life." But the words "went their own ways" point

in the direction of the notion which I would like to develop a

little more. What are these "own ways" and when can we speak

of a typos ? A bit further on the Decree on Ecumenism explains

"the heritage handed down by the apostles was received in

different forms and ways, so that from the very beginnings of

the Church it has had a varied development in various places,

thanks to a similar variety of natural gifts and conditions of life"

(N. 14).

Where there is a long coherent tradition, commanding men's

love and loyalty, creating and sustaining a harmonious and

organic whole of complementary elements, each of which sup-

ports and strengthens the other, you have the reality of a typos.

Such complementary elements are many. A characteristic

theological method and approach (historical perhaps in emphasis,

concrete and mistrustful of abstraction) is one of them. It is one

approach among others to the understanding of the single mys-

tery, the single faith, the single Christ.

A characteristic liturgical expression is another. It has its

own psychology; here a people's distinctive experience of the one

divine Mystery will be manifest—in sobriety or in splendor, inclin-
ing to tradition or eager for experiment, national or supranational

in flavor. The liturgical expression is perhaps a more decisive

element because "the liturgy is the summit toward which the

activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the foun-

tain from which her power flows" (Const, on the Liturgy, N. 10).

A spiritual and devotional tradition draws from many springs

—the bible, the fathers, the monastic heritage, its own more
recent classics. It meets new needs in its own way; its balance of

joy and contrition, of action and contemplation, will be deter-

mined by history and temperament.

A characteristic canonical discipline, the fruit also of experi-

ence and psychology, can be present. Through the combination

of all of these, a typos can be specified.

39



In the Constitution on the Church of the Second Vatican

Council we read: "By divine Providence it has come about that

various Churches, established in various places by the apostles

and their successors, have in the course of time coalesced into

several groups, organically united, which, preserving the unity

of faith and the unique divine constitution of the universal

Church, enjoy their own discipline, their own liturgical usage,

and their own theological and spiritual heritage" (N. 23). It is

through such deeply seated realities as these, and not because of

mere territorial or national boundaries, that we can find the

expression of a typology of Churches. Different typoi exist in

countries where eastern and western Churches live together. If

within one nation two typoi are so closely related, that in a situa-

tion of full communion between them, Providence draws them

into coalescence, the authentic and strong elements of each will

take their place in an enriched unity. Such a strengthening and

enrichment will manifest itself primarily where it finds its highest

motive—in a renewal of witness to Christ, a renewal of mission.
A reunion which would not be a new Pentecost, a fresh mani-

festation of the eternal mystery to a time with its own spiritual

needs, would be a nine days' wonder and little else.

It seems to me that Pope Gregory in his famous letter to

Augustine, Archbishop of the English nation, opened the way for

a new typos of the Church in western countries. He writes: "My

brother, you are familiar with the usage of the Roman Church, in

which you were brought up. But if you have found customs,

whether in the Roman, Gallican, or any other Churches that may

be more acceptable to God, I wish you to make a careful selec-

tion of them, and teach the Church of the English, which is still

young in the Faith, whatever you can profitably learn from the

various Churches. For things should not be loved for the sake of

places, but places for the sake of good things. Therefore select

from each of the Churches whatever things are devout, religious,

and right; and when you have arranged them into a unified rite,

let the minds of the English grow accustomed to it" (Bede, A

History of the English Church and People I, 27, 2).

Obviously the very existence of different typoi "added to exter-

nal causes and to mutual failures of understanding and charity"

can also "set the stage for separations" (Decree on Ecumenism,

N. 14). Through the grace of God, the ecumenical movement is

40



creating understanding and charity and restoring unity between

those who have grown asunder. The life of the Church needs a

variety of typoi which would manifest the full catholic and apo-

stolic character of the one and holy Church. If we are only going

to fossilize, common sense would seem to suggest that it is not

very important whether we do so together or separately. Unity

is vital only if it is a vital unity.

None of us, I fancy, underestimates what is needed of wis-

dom and discernment, of strength and patience, of loyalty and

flexibility, of forbearance, of willingness to teach and to learn, if

we are to make progress towards this goal. Nor, happily, is any

of us in doubt as to the sources whence we shall derive what we

need. The movement we aspire to make together is within the

one great dynamic, the aedificatio Christi. The tradition which is

shared and enriched in a true typology is a living tradition—some-
thing which looks to the past only as it has vital meaning for the

present and contributed dynamically to the future.

If a typology of Churches, a diversity in unity and unity in

diversity, multiplies the possibilities of identifying and celebrat-

ing the presence of God in the world; if it brings nearer the hope

of providing an imaginative framework within which Christian

witness can transform human consciousness for today, then it

has all the justification it needs.

For us, especially during this week of prayer for unity, there

remains the call to perseverance, to a closer union of prayer in

our common enterprise. St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians

has something to say to us here: "So if there is any encourage-

ment in Christ, any incentive in love, any participation in the

Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of

the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of

one mind" (Phil. 2, 1-2).

41



Pope Paul VI

Remarks at Canonization

of Forty Martyrs

Pope Paul VI called for the eventual reunion of the

Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches in his address at

the canonization of the forty Roman Catholics in England

and Wales who were martyred in the sixteenth and

seventeenth centuries. The quotations from him are

as follows:

"While we are particularly pleased to note the presence of

the official representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the

Rev. Dr. Harry Smythe, we also extend our respectful and affec-

tionate greeting to all members of the Anglican Church who have

likewise come to take part in this ceremony. We indeed feel very

close to them. We would like them to read in our heart the

humility, gratitude and hope with which we welcome them. We
wish also to greet the authorities and those personages who have

come here to represent Great Britain, and together with them, all

the other representatives of other countries and other religions.

With all our heart we welcome them, as we celebrate the free-

dom and the fortitude of men who had, at the same time, spiritual

faith and loyal respect for the sovereignty of civil society. . . .

"May the blood of these martyrs be able to heal the great

wound inflicted upon God's Church by reason of the separation

of the Anglican Church from the Catholic Church. . . .

"Is it not one—these martyrs say to us—the Church founded
by Christ? Is not this their witness? Their devotion to their nation

gives us the assurance that on the day when—God willing—the
unity of the faith and of Christian life is restored, no offence will

be inflicted on the honor or the sovereignty of a great country

such as England. There will be no seeking to lessen the legitimate

prestige and the worthy patrimony of piety and usage proper to

the Anglican Church when the Roman Catholic Church—this
humble 'Servant of the servants of God'— is able to embrace her

42



ever beloved sister in the one authentic Communion of the family

of Christ: a communion of origin and of faith, a communion of

priesthood and of rule, a communion of the saints in the freedom

of love of the spirit of Jesus.

"Perhaps we shall have to go on, waiting and watching in

prayer, in order to deserve that blessed day. But already we are

strengthened in this hope by the heavenly friendship of the forty

martyrs of England and Wales who are canonized today."

Rome, Oct. 25, 1970

43



Archbishop Ramsey’s Response

From the text of a sermon given by the Archbishop

of Canterbury
,

Dr. Michael Ramsey
,

in Canterbury

Cathedral
,
during the week of Prayer for Christian Unity

,

1971.

So, be of good cheer. Be thankful. There is much for which

we shall thank God. . . .

As to the Church of Rome I have two things to say. First, I

believe that the new Papal Motu Proprio on mixed marriages

brings a good deal of help to a vexed problem, so long as it is

acted upon to the full. Second, I welcome gratefully the words

used by His Holiness the Pope on October 25. "There will be no

seeking to lessen the legitimate prestige and the worthy patrimony

of piety and usage proper to the Anglican Church when the

Roman Catholic Church ... is able to embrace her ever beloved

sister in the one authentic communion of the family of Christ . . ."

Responding to the warmth of these words I said in my Christmas

letter to the Pope: "I read with happiness the words which Your

Holiness spoke of warm and friendly feeling towards the Anglican

Communion . . . and you can be sure that your warmth of feeling

to us Anglicans is reciprocated in Anglican hearts and minds in the

hope that one day there will be between us a consummated unity

which conserves all that is true and good in our several tradi-

tions." The implications of the Pope's words can be rightly exam-

ined by Roman Catholics and Anglicans together, and this lies

within the ongoing task of the Anglican/Roman Catholic Inter-

national Commission.

Canterbury, Jan. 24, 1971

44



Anglican/ Roman Catholic

International Commission

WINDSOR STATEMENT

The Windsor Statement
,
represents the agreement of the

members of the International Anglican—Roman Catholic
Commission and is published on their responsibility.

Although the publication is done with their knowledge and

consent
,
neither on the Roman Catholic nor on the Anglican

side have the authorities accorded the document official

status. It is still under consideration.

The members of the International Anglican—Roman Cath-
olic Commission have reached substantial and unanimous

agreement on the doctrine of the Eucharist and are con-

scious of the importance of this fact. However
,
they realize

that there is room for further clarification in order to com-

plete what they have begun. Therefore they are anxious

to receive reactions and observations especially from those

places where Roman Catholics and Anglicans are together

in greater numbers and where there may be joint meetings

for ecumenical dialogue.

The question of the minister of the Eucharist is not touched

on in this Agreed Statement. This is solely because the state-

ment deals with the first stage of the Commission's pro-

gram. The second stage is at present in progress and deals

with ministry in the Church.

45





Anglican/ Roman Catholic

International Commission

THIRD MEETING, WINDSOR, 7TH SEPTEMBER 1971

Agreed Statement on Eucharistic

Doctrine

1. In the course of the Church's history several traditions

have developed in expressing Christian understanding of the

eucharist. (For example, various names have become customary

as descriptions of the eucharist: lord's supper, liturgy, holy mys-

teries, synaxis, mass, holy communion. The eucharist has become

the most universally accepted term.) An important stage in prog-

ress towards organic unity is a substantial consensus on the pur-

pose and meaning of the eucharist. Our intention has been to

seek a deeper understanding of the reality of the eucharist which

is consonant with biblical teaching and with the tradition of our

common inheritance, and to express in this document the con-

sensus we have reached.

2. Through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

God has reconciled men to himself, and in Christ he offers unity

to all mankind. By his word God calls us into a new relationship

with himself as our Father and with one another as his children

—

a relationship inaugurated by baptism into Christ through the Holy

Spirit, nurtured and deepened through the eucharist, and ex-

pressed in a confession of one faith and a common life of loving

service.

I THE MYSTERY OF THE EUCHARIST

3.

When his people are gathered at the eucharist to com-

memorate his saving acts for our redemption, Christ makes effec-

tive among us the eternal benefits of his victory and elicits and

renews our response of faith, thanksgiving and self-surrender.

47



Christ through the Holy Spirit in the eucharist builds up the life

of the church, strengthens its fellowship and furthers its mission.

The identity of the church as the body of Christ is both expressed

and effectively proclaimed by its being centered in, and partaking

of, his body and blood. In the whole action of the eucharist, and

in and by his sacramental presence given through bread and wine,

the crucified and risen Lord, according to his promise, offers him-

self to his people.

4. In the eucharist we proclaim the Lord's death until he

comes. Receiving a foretaste of the kingdom to come, we look

back with thanksgiving to what Christ has done for us, we greet

him present among us, we look forward to his final appearing in

the fullness of his kingdom when "The Son also himself [shall]

be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may

be all in all" (1 Cor. 15:28). When we gather around the same

table in this communal meal at the invitation of the same Lord

and when we "partake of the one loaf," we are one in commit-

ment not only to Christ and to one another, but also to the mis-

sion of the church in the world.

II THE EUCHARIST AND THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST

5. Christ's redeeming death and resurrection took place

once and for all in history. Christ's death on the cross, the culmi-

nation of his whole life of obedience, was the one, perfect and

sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the world. There can be no

repetition of or addition to what was then accomplished once

for all by Christ. Any attempt to express a nexus between the

sacrifice of Christ and the eucharist must not obscure this funda-

mental fact of the Christian faith.* Yet God has given the eucharist

to his church as a means through which the atoning work of Christ

on the cross is proclaimed and made effective in the life of the

church. The notion of memorial as understood in the passover

celebration at the time of Christ—i.e., the making effective in the
present of an event in the past—has opened the way to a clearer
understanding of the relationship between Christ's sacrifice and

* The early church in expressing the meaning of Christ's death and resur-

rection often used the language of sacrifice. For the Hebrew sacrifice was a

traditional means of communication with God. The passover, for example, was

a communal meal; the day of Atonement was essentially expiatory; and the

covenant established communion between God and man.

48



the eucharist. The eucharistic memorial is no mere calling to mind

of a past event or of its significance, but the church's effectual

proclamation of God's mighty acts. Christ instituted the eucharist

as a memorial (anamnesis ) of the totality of God's reconciling

action in him. In the eucharistic prayer the church continues to

make a perpetual memorial of Christ's death, and his members,

united with God and one another, give thanks for all his mercies,

entreat the benefits of his passion on behalf of the whole church,

participate in these benefits and enter into the movement of his

self-offering.

Ill THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST

6. Communion with Christ in the eucharist presupposes his

true presence, effectually signified by the bread and wine which,

in this mystery, become his body and blood.* The real presence

of his body and blood can, however, only be understood within

the context of the redemptive activity whereby he gives himself,

and in himself reconciliation, peace and life, to his own. On the

one hand, the eucharistic gift springs out of the paschal mystery

of Christ's death and resurrection, in which God's saving purpose

has already been definitively realized. On the other hand, its pur-

pose is to transmit the life of the crucified and risen Christ to his

body, the church, so that its members may be more fully united

with Christ and with one another.

7. Christ is present and active, in various ways, in the entire

eucharistic celebration. It is the same Lord who through the pro-

claimed word invites his people to his table, who through his

minister presides at that table, and who gives himself sacramen-

tally in the body and blood of his paschal sacrifice. It is the Lord

present at the right hand of the Father, and therefore transcending

the sacramental order, who thus offers to his church, in the

eucharistic signs the special gift of himself.

8. The sacramental body and blood of the Saviour are pres-

ent as an offering to the believer awaiting his welcome. When this

* The word transubstantiation is commonly used in the Roman Catholic

Church to indicate that God acting in the eucharist effects a change in the inner

reality of the elements. The term should be seen as affirming the fact of Christ's

presence and of the mysterious and radical change which takes place. In con-

temporary Roman Catholic theology it is not understood as explaining how the

change takes place.

49



offering is met by faith, a lifegiving encounter results. Through

faith Christ's presence—which does not depend on the individ-
ual's faith in order to be the Lord's real gift of himself to his

church—becomes no longer just a presence for the believer, but
also a presence with him. Thus, in considering the mystery of the

eucharistic presence, we must recognize both the sacramental

sign of Christ's presence and the personal relationship between

Christ and the faithful which arises from that presence.

9. The Lord's words at the last supper, "Take and eat; this is

my body," do not allow us to dissociate the gift of the presence

and the act of sacramental eating. The elements are not mere

signs; Christ's body and blood become really present and are

really given. But they are really present and given in order that,

receiving them, believers may be united in communion with

Christ the Lord.

10. According to the traditional order of the liturgy the con-

secratory prayer (anaphora ) leads to the communion of the faith-

ful. Through this prayer of thanksgiving, a word of faith addressed

to the Father, the bread and wine become the body and blood of

Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit, so that in communion we

eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood.

11. The Lord who thus comes to his people in the power of

the Holy Spirit is the Lord of glory. In the eucharistic celebration

we anticipate the joys of the age to come. By the transforming

action of the Spirit of God, earthly bread and wine become the

heavenly manna and the new wine, the eschatological banquet

for the new man: elements of the first creation become pledges

and first fruits of the new heaven and the new earth.

* * *

12. We believe that we have reached substantial agreement

on the doctrine of the eucharist. Although we are all conditioned

by the traditional ways in which we have expressed and practiced

our eucharistic faith, we are convinced that if there are any re-

maining points of disagreement they can be resolved on the prin-

ciples here established. We acknowledge a variety of theological

approaches within both our communions. But we have seen it

as our task to find a way of advancing together beyond the doctri-

nal disagreements of the past. It is our hope that in view of the

agreement which we have reached on eucharistic faith, this doc-

trine will no longer constitute an obstacle to the unity we seek.

50