The Pope, His Holiness John Paul II sent a message of greeting to the historic May 2000 gathering of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops in Mississauga, Toronto, Canada. On the eve of his 80th birthday, the Pope expressed his hope that the meeting would “bear lasting fruit” and hasten unity of the two churches.

“For more than 30 years the Anglican and the Catholic Church have been on a journey towards the restoration of unity,” said the Pope in a statement read by Cardinal Edward Cassidy to 2,000 worshippers in St Michael’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Toronto. “In some places there have been very positive developments … in other places we are not so far along the road [and] new and serious obstacles have slowed our progress. I pray that the spiritual bonds that have always lifted Catholics and Anglicans will be strengthened and deepened even further.”
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“Evangelization” was the major focus of a May 18-24 meeting of the 16-member Disciples of Christ-Roman Catholic International Dialogue Commission which gathered at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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GENEVA, 26 May 2000 (LWI) – The Rt. Rev Michael Bourke, Anglican Bishop of Wolverhampton, England, gave a lecture on “Meissen – Fragile Porcelain or Robust Relationship?” at the Annual General Meeting of the Anglican – Lutheran Society on 18 March 2000. He co-chairs the Committee, which oversees the 1991 “Meissen Agreement” between the Church of England and the Evangelical Churches in Germany. Below is a lightly edited version of relevant excerpts from his address, which appeared in the May 2000 edition of “The Window”, the newsletter of the Anglican – Lutheran Society.
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The “Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification,” signed by representatives of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Vatican on Oct. 31, 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, did more than declare that certain 16th century condemnations between Lutherans and Catholics no longer apply. The formula used to reach that conclusion will influence talks between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
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Together with Cardinal Cassidy and our colleagues at our ecumenical forum, I want to say how pleased we are to be here this evening and to share in this act of worship. As you will be aware, for the first time, Anglican and Roman Catholic Leaders from around the world are meeting together in order to discuss the problems and challenges that lie before us on the road to the full visible unity of our two Churches. Of course, our two Churches have travelled a long way together during the last forty or so years and we have much in common. This evening gives us an opportunity to celebrate that fact.

Nevertheless we know that some Protestant Christians object to this theological dialogue. They fear that Reformation principles are being abandoned and gospel faith is being traduced. I reply that the journey the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion have taken since the Second Vatican Council has not been a journey away from the Christian faith but a pilgrimage together into its heart. Polemics lead to hatred and division. Partnership leads to the promise of mutual service and eventual union.
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Roman Catholic and Anglican bishops, paired from thirteen regions around the world, have begun their meeting in Canada in which they are reviewing and evaluating the accomplishment of thirty years of ecumenical relationship between Anglicans and Catholics in their areas. The pairs of bishops come from New Zealand, Canada, England, United States, Ireland, India, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Southern Africa, Uganda, Australia, Brazil and the West Indies.

The bishops are gathered in private session at the Queen of Apostles Renewal Centre near Toronto, Ontario, under the joint chairmanship of Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey and Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Their first day has begun with a morning of prayer and scriptural reflection. The following days will begin and end with common prayer.
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While the vision of one, great Church may be unachievable, a different type of unity is possible among the world’s Christians, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

“I abandoned a long time ago a theology of unity that assumes it means uniformity and sameness,” the Most Rev. George Carey told the United Methodist General Conference during a May 10 ecumenical worship service. “Human nature cannot accept that.”

His sermon was a first for the denomination’s top legislative body, which had never before been addressed by an Archbishop of Canterbury. In his introduction, Bishop William Oden spoke of Carey’s love for Methodism and the Wesleyan tradition and noted that his visit came at a time when an international dialogue between the Anglican and Methodist communions had concluded and a dialogue between the United Methodists and Episcopal Church USA was to begin.
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