YEARS after Vatican II Council and an apparent ‘cooling’ of ecumenical relations, it was refreshing to see Pope Francis making advances with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
They both declared that they would work together to help the poor and protect the environment despite their differences over women priests and gay marriage. They made this commitment in Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of the start of theological dialogue between the two churches in 1966.
“While, like our predecessors, we ourselves do not as yet see solutions to the obstacles before us, we are undeterred,” the joint statement said, specifically mentioning the ordination of women and “more recent questions regarding human sexuality.”
Last January the Anglican Church did apply sanctions on its liberal branch in the United States for supporting same-sex marriage, a move that seems to averted a schism in the world’s third largest Christian group but the deep divisions are unresolved.
“We can, and we must, work together to protect and preserve our common home: Living, teaching and acting in ways that favour a speedy end to the environmental destruction that offends the Creator and degrades his creatures,” the statement said.
They vowed to fight a “culture of waste” where the most vulnerable of people in society are marginalised and discarded and to work together for peace and to bring education, healthcare, food, clean water and shelter to the poor. Ecumenism is alive bit less so on the theological front than we might want.