THE Anglican Primates meeting in Rome this week were ministered to by Pope Francis in what was described by the Anglican Communion Office as a “historic” encounter.
It reported that, in an hour-long meeting in the Vatican on Thursday, the Pope “shared words of encouragement and affirmation, in conversation with the Primates, responding to questions from those gathered”.
It was the second time in less than a year that Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby have met in Rome to discuss Christian unity (News, 2 October 2023).
Pope Francis also gave an address to the Primates, in which he said: “Only a love that becomes gratuitous service, only the love that Jesus taught and embodies, will bring separated Christians closer to one another. Only that love, which does not appeal to the past in order to remain aloof or to point a finger, only that love which in God’s name puts our brothers and sisters before the ironclad defence of our own religious structures, only that love will unite us.”
It was clear that the Pope was talking about the divisions that separate Anglicans and Roman Catholics. But at a press conference on Thursday at the end of the Primates’ four-day meeting, the Archbishop of Canterbury was asked about different divisions, those within the Anglican Communion itself.
Archbishop Welby reported that, although 32 Provinces were represented at the meeting, nine were absent. For at least two of these, which sent letters in support, personal reasons were given; others declined because of conscience, which he described as “very, very grievous”.
“The presenting issue,” the Archbishop reported, “remains the decision of the Church of England to explore further the degree to which it will support the blessings of couples in same sex relationships where those relationships have already been formally established through a civil registration ceremony,” Archbishop Welby said. “We all have different views on that. . . So that’s why some people have stayed away.”
The tone of the final communiqué, issued on Thursday, was one of regret: “We could not help but feel keenly the absence of friends and colleagues who were unable to be with us, for a variety of reasons, at this Primates’ Meeting. We seek their contributions to our continuing discernments about the faith and order of the Communion.”
And it referred to Primates who straddle both camps: “Hopefully, those present at this meeting who will also attend the June gathering of the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches will convey our desire for conversation and mutual discernment of the way forward together.”
Also on the panel at the press conference was the Archbishop of Central Africa, the Most Revd Albert Chama, who had earlier described the absences of certain Primates as “quite sad”.
“We feel strongly that as a Church, we are family, and we need to carry one another. . . We hope to encourage our brothers, those who are absent for whatever reason, that next time they need to come to sit, talk as a family. . .
“That great commission is not only to certain type of people but all of us who profess the faith in Christ Jesus as our Lord.”
The image of family was a prominent theme of the Primates’ Meeting.
Beginning the press conference, one of the three Archbishops of Aotearoa, New Zealand, & Polynesia, the Most Revd Don Tamihere, said: “We are a global family. We represent so many different regions and nations. And because of that, we were able to speak about shared concerns, things that affect all of us globally.” This included conflict and climate change, he said (News, 29 April).
Archbishop Welby went on to say: “Having grown up with experience of good and bad family as a child — and later, as an adult, of good family — I have felt the sense of genuine family love. It’s a love that embraces our diversity, and that enables all to contribute and to share. . .
“It has been a week of family; some family members absent, which has been very, very grievous to us. But they are no less loved for their absence.”
Also on the panel was the former Bishop of Kensington, Dr Graham Tomlin, who is the director of the Centre for Cultural Witness at Lambeth Palace (News, 18 February 2022). He has been facilitating discussion between the Primates on a theological paper by the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity, Faith, and Order (IASCUFO) on structure and decision-making in the Anglican Communion (News, 24 November 2023).
One of the proposals of the paper, he told journalists, was to “revisit the question of how we understand ourselves as an Anglican Communion” — a definition which had not been changed since the Lambeth Conference of 1930. Yet much had developed in 90 years, including structure, demographics, and geography.
“In 1930, it felt a little bit like you had the Mother Church with small children around it,” Dr Tomlin said. “But now we have a different kind of family, with grown up children, and the mother is still there, but with a different position as the family grows up.”
One of the key questions, he said, was, therefore, what is the ongoing role for the Church of England within the Anglican Communion in a post-colonial world?
A second proposal brought by IASCUFO was to create an elected Primate who would “face” the meetings. This was rejected by the other Primates, however. (During their debate, Archbishop Welby absented himself.) “There was a real expression of the need for both wider support for the ministry of the Archbishop of Canterbury within the wider Communion and . . . in our structures.”
The communiqué published on Thursday evening summarised these proposals and the events and discussions of the week. In it, the Primates write: “We agree wholeheartedly with the call to reconciliation and deeper engagement one with another, and we believe there is great hope for progress in this regard. We look forward to interacting with a revised version of the [IASCUFO] paper, reflecting the conversations of this meeting, when it is published in the near future.”
Summarising, Archbishop Welby told journalists that the meeting had been an “emotional” one. Testimony from Primates describing situations in their own Provinces had “moved us to tears”, he said. “It’s been a week in which — although we are divided by so much. . . culture, language, background, history. . . one thing we have in common is a profound and deep love for Jesus Christ and that is shared by all of us, regardless of our views on other issues.”
THE Roman Catholic Church has been exploring the issue of synodality, and Wednesday evening, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Mario Grech, addressed the Primates on the topic, “and a rich conversation ensued”, the communiqué reports.
The topic was one of those raised by the Pope in his address on Thursday. In a social-media post on Thursday afternoon, Archbishop Welby described it as “a most beautiful address around the nature of unity and synodality and of the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church — which took our eyes away from ourselves and lifted them to the faithfulness of God in Jesus Christ and the gift of the Spirit.”
The Archbishop concluded: “This Primates’ Meeting has been wonderful, and has now become a moment in history where we have seen the closeness of our relationship with Rome at the pastoral, the missional, and the spiritual level, which demonstrates the progress made over the last half-century — from real antipathy to deep bonds of friendship all round the world.”
The Archbishop of Canada, the Most Revd Linda Nicholls, who was also on the press-conference panel, said: “It is clear that there’s a deep friendship between Pope Francis and Archbishop Welby in the warmth of his welcome. . . The Pope brought a strong message on the desire for Christian unity rooted in love.”