Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops “sent out” for united mission

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The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Pope Francis have commissioned 19 pairs of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from across the world to take part in united mission in their local areas. The bishops, selected by the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (Iarccum) were “sent out” for mission together by the Pope and Archbishop from the same church were Pope Gregory sent Saint Augustine to evangelise the English in the sixth Century.

“Fourteen centuries ago Pope Gregory sent the servant of God, Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, and his companions, from this holy place, to preach the joyful message of the Word of God,” Pope Francis told the bishops. “Today we send you, dear brothers, servants of God, with this same joyful message of his everlasting kingdom.”

Archbishop Justin Welby told them: “Our Saviour commissioned his disciples saying, ‘Peace be with you’. We too, send you out with his peace, a peace only he can give.

“May his peace bring freedom to those who are captive and oppressed, and may his peace bind into greater unity the people he has chosen as his own.”

The commissioning and sending out came in the setting of a Vespers service, led jointly by Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby, at the Church of Saint Gregory on the Caelian Hill in Rome.

The service was one of the highlights of an ecumenical summit organised by Iarccum to mark the 50th anniversary of the meeting between Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey in 1966 – the first such public meeting between a Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury since the Reformation. The summit, which began at the weekend in Canterbury and is continuing in the Vatican, will also mark the 50th anniversary of the Anglican Centre in Rome.

http://www.anglicannews.org/news/20...olic-bishops-sent-out-for-united-mission.aspx

 

The language used seems to indicate that communion with each other is no longer the goal.

 

Communion has never been possible I feel. You're either Anglican or Roman " and ne'er the twain shall meet "

 

My

My sentiment as well.

 

Well that is the problem with "Christian unity". Everyone wants it, and everyone means by it "everyone else will come and join my church". True Christian unity will come with an end to this silly business of arguing that a particular church is "invalid" or "not really a church". If the Vatican truly values Christian unity, they will recognise that the Anglican Church is indeed a valid church with valid orders.

 

I posted these two articles on another conversation, but they are relevant here too

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/march/do-it-yourself-church-unity.html

http://www.gospelway.com/church/unity-division.php - what do others think of this person's view?

 

I can't read the whole first article (requires subscription). the second one lost me at "Man made creeds" so I did not continue.

 

Shame you couldn't read the full first article - it wasn't long and was interesting. Subscribing to Chritianity Today is free and there are some interesting articles in it - from an Anglican viewpoint - from time to time.