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AnglicAn centre in romeNews

JANUARY 2021

“The Anglican

Centre provides a permanent base for the Anglican Communion in

Rome”.revd Dr Will Adam

www.anglicancentreinrome.org

In This IssueA REFLECTION ON VADE MECUM

BRINgINg VOICEs TOgEThERWeek of Prayer for Christian Unity

sEMINARIANs IN ROME

hOspITALITy & ENCOUNTERs

wEBINAR ON NEwMANA bridge between two traditions

sT ThOMAs BECkET 800Th ANNIVERsARy

CEN

TR

O

22 REFLECTIONS

I f anyone thought that ecumenism was something Catholic bishops might focus on once a year during

unity week and then forget about, a new document endorsed by Pope Francis will put them straight.

Just before Christmas, The Bishop and Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Vade Mecum was published by the Pontifical Council for the Promoting of Christian Unity to remind Roman Catholic bishops that ecumenical work is not an option but an obligatory part of episcopal ministry.

A Vade Mecum is effectively a way of describing a document as a guidebook and this guide, given Pope Francis’ blessing, provides bishops with a series of practical recommendations to improve ecumenical relations in

their own dioceses, and a ‘crib sheet’ of the ecumenical thinking of the Church, from the Second Vatican Council to the present day. It leaves them in no doubt as to how much of a priority ecumenical mission is.

“The bishop cannot consider the promotion of the ecumenical cause as one more task in his varied ministry, one that could and should be deferred in view of other, apparently more important priorities,” it says.

And if any bishop or anyone else still needed further evidence of how seriously Rome takes ecumenism, the line-up at the presentation of the document made it clear, with not one but four of the Vatican’s most senior officials: Cardinals Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting

VadE mECum ThiNkiNg ON ECumENism

What a new guide for bishops tell us

The Director writes:

As we put together this second issue of the Centro ACR News, I am reminding myself of the sanctifying, unifying and liberating presence of Christ as we navigate the waves of our turbulent world. The following pages and images

exemplify it. The Anglican Centre, through the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit, lives its calling as it strives to reach out to others – even at a time when movement is restricted and we are unable to meet with each other. The contributions to the newsletter from people of different backgrounds inform us of a spiritual energy at work. We can see God’s power strengthening our commitment as fellow disciples of Christ to stand together, sharing the Good News.

It is true that with a spirit of goodwill and kindness, as shown by Jesus himself, we can discover the other as a companion of Christ. We can learn a lot from this experience which can be without any doubt a challenging one. Thus, may we always abide in Christ so that the fruits we bear can bring hope to our turbulent world.

From Lambeth Palace The Revd Dr Will Adam

Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ecumenical Adviser, Director for Unity, Faith and Order in the Anglican Communion

T he Anglican Centre provides a permanent base for the Anglican Communion in Rome. Over more than 50 years the Centre and its successive directors have played a major role in the development of the relationship between Anglicans and Catholics around the world, establishing and maintaining contacts between these two Communions with global

presence. The Director of the Centre, as the ‘ambassador’ of Anglicanism to the Holy See, plays a crucial day to day role in this.

Over the years the Centre has been a base for Anglicans visiting Rome and the location of an educational programme through its various courses. In this time of pandemic, where travel has become nigh on impossible, the Centre has adapted and, moving online, has seen its reach grow both in numbers and in geography.

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Christian Unity; Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; Luis Antonio Tagle, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; and Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

According to Cardinal Tagle, divisions between Christians should not be taken into missionary lands, for they deter people who might otherwise be looking for salvation.

“The non-Christians are scandalized, really scandalized, when we Christians claim to be followers of Christ and then they see how we are fighting one another,” he said.

For those particularly committed to ecumenism in other denominations, this new document is not just a welcome endorsement of the search for unity but also gives a sense of Roman Catholic thinking on the issue. It points out that ecumenism is not about looking for a truce – although some people might argue that a truce would once have been mightily helpful when divisions were so much more evident – because no compromise should be made at the expense of truth. Catholic doctrine sets great store by a hierarchy of truths with the mysteries of the Trinity and salvation in Christ the source of all doctrine.

“By weighing truths rather than simply enumerating them, Catholics gain a more accurate understanding of the unity that exists among Christians,” the document says.

That unity is evident in many ways, from a common baptism to common prayer and joint action to alleviate suffering and promote justice.

In recent times efforts to engage in theological dialogue and a willingness to recognize how God has worked in another community and to learn from it – what is known as receptive ecumenism – have also reflected Christians’ desire to find ways to come together. Strong friendships have formed and the hostility and suspicion of the past now seem some way off. But the document nevertheless urges Catholics “to lay aside the polemical language and prejudices of the past” and points out that Roman Catholic canon law decrees that it is a bishop’s responsibility to foster ecumenism.

For those, though, who long above all else for the day when Anglicans and Catholics might share Holy Communion together, there is no major breakthrough in the document. Instead it says that this remains an area of “significant tension”. It does point out, though, that the bishop can decide when access to the sacraments

of Communion, reconciliation and anointing can be open to other Christians who share a common baptism, although Vatican officials have recently cautioned German bishops for inviting Lutherans married to Catholics to receive Communion.

Catholics cannot share the Eucharist with other Christians just to be “polite,” but there are pastoral situations in which individual bishops may decide when “exceptional sacramental sharing is appropriate,” the document says.

When considering sharing the sacraments, it says, bishops must keep two principles in mind at all times, even when those principles create tension: a sacrament, especially the Eucharist, is a “witness to the unity of the church, ”and a sacrament is a “sharing of the means of grace”.

While the issue of shared Communion has caused personal distress to many people, and seems to many to be a block to further ecumenical progress, it is not perceived in this way in Rome, according to Cardinal Koch, speaking at the document’s press conference.

The Catholic Church, he said, does not see the sharing of the sacraments as “a step on the way,” as some Christian communities do. However, he did offer

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hope to those individuals who seek the Eucharist at a Catholic Mass in all good faith.

“For one person, a single person, there can be an opportunity for sharing this grace in different cases” he said, as long as the person meets the requirement of canon law, which says a non-Catholic must request the Eucharist of his or her own accord, “manifest Catholic faith” in the sacrament and be “properly disposed.”

There is more encouragement in the Vade Mecum for those in what are sometimes called mixed marriages but the document calls “interchurch marriages”.

“Interchurch marriages should not be regarded as problems for they are often a privileged place where the unity of Christians is built,” says the document.

“However, pastors cannot be indifferent to the pain of Christian division which is experienced in the context of these families, perhaps more sharply than in any other context. The pastoral care of interchurch families, from the initial preparation of the couple for marriage to pastoral accompaniment as the couple have children and the children themselves prepare for sacraments, should be a concern at both the diocesan and regional level. A special effort should be made to engage these families in the ecumenical activities of parish and diocese”, it goes on.

The Vade Mecum also highlights the importance of the bishop’s role in promoting unity in his diocese and directing and guiding ecumenical initiatives. The Ecumenical Directory, first published in 1993, encouraged bishops to appoint a diocesan ecumenical officer and this new document reminds bishops of this responsibility, together with the appointment of an ecumenical commission to encourage better relationships with other denominations. There is an emphasis on hospitality too, with the recommendation that ecumenical guests should be invited to attend major moments in the church calendar.

This hospitality also needs to be expressed in the way Catholics

engage with other Christians, says the Vade Mecum: “The virtue of charity demands that Catholics avoid polemical presentations of Christian history and theology and, in particular, that they avoid misrepresenting the positions of other Christians. Rather, formators informed by an attitude of charity will always seek to emphasise the Christian faith that we share with others and to present the theological

differences that divide us with balance and accuracy. In this way the work of formation helps to remove obstacles to dialogue”. It also urges “an appropriately humble attitude” among Catholics to appreciate what God is bringing about in other Churches.

There are three other issues that the document deals with that are of particular interest to the Anglican Centre and those who support its work.

The first is the particular importance given to ecumenical formation of seminarians training for the Catholic priesthood, who should study a course specifically on ecumenism. The Centre has for many years now helped bring Catholic seminarians together with Anglican ordinands to learn from one another during their formation about their theology and ecclesiology (see Anglican seminarians in Rome, page 11).

Then there is the encouragement given to ecumenism being expressed in many ways, not least through joint prayer services, being involved in

significant liturgical celebrations, and participating in ecumenical organisations’ events. As you know, the Anglican Centre has long striven (in pre-lockdown times) to encourage people to come together in its chapel for joint services and now continues to do so online.

Finally, the document urges practical ecumenism -

Christians working together to alleviate suffering and to bear witness to Christ – ventures which the Centre has long supported.

“The experience of bishops in many parts of the world is that

co-operation between Christian communities in service of the poor is a driving force in promoting the desire for Christian unity”, it says.

“As disciples of Christ, schooled by the Scriptures and Christian

tradition, we are compelled to act to uphold the dignity of the human

person and the sacredness of creation, in the sure hope that God is bringing the whole of creation into the fullness of his Kingdom.

Our common service manifests before the world, therefore, our shared faith, and our witness is more powerful for being united”.

So, for those committed to the ecumenical journey of Catholics and Anglicans together, and those of other denominations, this Vade Mecum, or guidebook, offers notable encouragement. We are at a moment on the journey when we have not yet reached a green light, but nor is this journey halted by a red one. Rather, it is more on amber – with green not far over the horizon.

The Bishop and Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Vademecum can be read in full at:

• http://www.christianunity.va/content/dam/unitacristiani/Documentazione%20generale/2020Va-demecum/Vademecum-EN.pdf

CAthEriNE PEPiNstErUK DEVElOPmENt OFFiCEr, ANgliCAN CENtrE iN rOmE

REFLECTIONS4

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people’s history. His parents find him in the very heart of Jewish religious life and worship, “Among the things of my Father”. It is as if Mary and Joseph had forgotten all that they had been told. They too had to mature in their understanding. And Mary matures, grows in her understanding by treasuring all these things in her heart. There is the interiority, the spiritual growth and maturing without which there can be no fruit.

In these years we are marking the 500th anniversary of the events that gave rise to the Reformation. After centuries of conflict we are moving

I am grateful for your kind invitation to speak at the Anglican Centre on this second day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme proposed

for this second day of the week is “Maturing internally” as the fruit of Christ’s indwelling in us as we abide in him (Jn 15:4).

The ecumenical task is a core demand of our faith, not because it is a nice thing to do, but because we and our churches stand convicted before God of sinful division. Today we are witnesses of what the Spirit has wrought, in spite of our deafness and hesitation. Therefore our hearts should be filled with confidence and thankfulness. It is in this spirit that we are gathered today to pray together for Christian unity.

“By grace alone, ... we are accepted by god.”

“By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s

saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by god.

π

π

The pandemic has shown up our limits and limits of the social, economic, political structures; that societies use to serve their own interests, very often at a terrible human price for other peoples, and poorer countries. But it is not the Christian way to merely decry what is wrong, to lament that there is darkness. The Christian way is to find a way out of our weakness and sinfulness. The pandemic should teach us to return to what is essential. We church people, ecumenists, spend so much time (and rightly so) on spiritual, theological, and ecclesial concerns, but this engagement, honest and committed as it is, is not yet “the heart of the matter”. What is the heart of the matter? Today’s readings come to our aid:

Lk 2: The finding of Jesus in the Temple

The Temple was the place of Jesus ancestors, of David, and the Prophets. It was the scene of the people’s struggles and a sign of their ongoing oppression. The narrative marks the beginning of Jesus’ dialogue with his

towards communion around the core belief that Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists and Reformed profess in common:

“Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works”.

This is the extraordinary message that Christians have for the world. But first we must grasp it and live it ourselves. We must interiorize it, which means we must treasure it in our hearts and mature in this faith.

I dream that all of us (Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed) will assemble around this fundamental truth, preach it loudly to the world, and show - with our lives - “the power of the Gospel to save”. Herein lies the proximate future of our ecumenical efforts, indeed the future of our churches. May the Spirit bring to completion what he has begun in our churches.

the most reverend Brian Farrell, lC. secretary of the PCPCU in his homily at the ACr Chapel on January 19, 2021, affirms:

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T he occasion of the annual celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,

gives me a chance to reflect on my relationship with the Directors of the Anglican Centre in Rome. I have had the unusual and special privilege of knowing all of the Directors since the beginning of the Centre’s activity in Rome. It is with pride that I can say that the Centro Pro Unione has had a wonderful relationship with the Anglican Centre because of my personal contacts with these wonderful men but also because of our staffs’ collaboration.

It would be rather tedious to go down the list starting from Canon John Findlow and his lovely wife Irene right through to the Centre’s current Director, Archbishop Ian Ernest. Rather I prefer to share some memories of experiences which illustrate that we have been “bringing voices together” for some time.

Let me begin by helping to complete Wikipedia’s entry on the Anglican Centre, since the list of directors is missing three of them: the founding and first Director, Canon John Findlow (1968-1970); Revd

Douglas Brown, Society of Sacred Mission (1991-1995) and interim Director Dr. John Shepherd (2019).

Canon Bruce Ruddock and wife Vivian made the move from the original site of the Centre to its current one. The Centre’s library was reorganized and many activities and joint programmes were carried out in conjunction with the Centro Pro Unione. With Canon Ruddock’s successor named, the directors assumed a more official title as representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Holy See and its more recent Directors have been bishops. To a certain extent this complicated the role for the Director who now had more pastoral responsibilities with regards to the Anglican presence in Italy and was thereby less available for more academic and institutional participation.

As we move forward, the voices that were brought together in difficult times give witness to the commitment from both of our organizations to surmount problems and to support each other – in spite of sometimes internal difficulties. And we always keep our eyes fixed on that ultimate goal of full visible communion and

the command of Jesus’ prayer that all maybe one, as a beautiful reflection of the perfect unity found in the life of the Trinity that we each share.

May the prayer for unity not just end on 25 January but may it continue throughout the year in response to Jesus’ prayer that “they all may be one...so that the world may believe”.

Fr JAmEs F. PUglisi, sA DirECtOr, CENtrO PrO UNiONE, rOmE

Bringing Voices Togethera historical reflection

ECumENISm 7

I n a first-ever collaboration, the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, the Centro Pro Unione, and

the Anglican Centre in Rome hosted an online prayer vigil for unity on Sunday, 17 January 2021, the eve of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme for this year’s week - “abide in my love and you will bear much fruit” from John 15 - was developed by the community of Grandchamp who rooted the theme and its related materials in the centrality of a communal life of prayer. Drawing upon the importance of praying together, the directors of the partnering institutions - the Revd Matthew A. Laferty from the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome, Fr James F. Puglisi from Centro Pro Unione, and Archbishop Ian Ernest, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, wanted to start their observances of this special week in the simple but powerful act of prayer, inviting friends in Rome and around the world to pray with them.

In their meditations during the prayer vigil, the directors noted that creation still yearns for the unity it once knew in creation, that we are no longer the same when the Holy Spirit links us and our stories together through prayer, that the Holy Spirit works through prayer to shape our desires towards God and the unity of the Church, and that in prayer we become friends of Jesus who walk and

work together to share God’s grace with the world.

While COVID-19 prevented participants from physically attending the prayer vigil held at the Anglican Centre’s Chapel of St. Augustine of Canterbury, friends were able to stream the service through Facebook and YouTube; it remains available online for later viewing. In addition to the staff at the Anglican Centre, the staff at the Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome and Centro Pro Unione supported the event’s organizing.

The Methodist Ecumenical Office Rome is the official ecumenical centre of the World Methodist Council in Rome, representing nearly 80 million Christians worldwide in the Methodist/Wesleyan tradition. Centro Pro Unione whose roots began in 1948 was established as a centre of ecumenical dialogue by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, the same religious order that initiated the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in 1908.

May we abide in God’s love as we pray and work for the unity of church.

rEVD mAtthEw lAFErty DirECtOr OF thE mEthODist ECUmENiCAl OFFiCE rOmE rEPrEsENtAtiVE OF thE wOrlD mEthODist COUNCil tO thE hOly sEE

Praying Together

the vigil of prayer is now available on youtube https://youtu.be/oVwz7-pig18

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W e would like to express our heartfelt thanks to His Grace Archbishop Ian Ernest, Mrs Kamla Ernest and the staff of the Anglican Centre in Rome for their warm welcome to the students of the Ut

Unum Sint Diploma on January 23, 2021. All agreed that our meeting was momentous!

The meeting was a profound example of the “culture of encounter” of which Pope Francis has spoken and by which our commitment to full visible unity is renewed. By such meetings, particularly in the context of prayer which was provided by the Archbishop, we rediscover sisters and brothers in Christ.

It is our hope that the relationship between the Anglican Centre and the Institute for Ecumenical Studies will grow stronger, finding new ways for joint collaboration for promoting Christian Unity.

PrOF. hyACiNthE DEstiVEllE PrOF. JUAN UsmA gOmEZ PONtiFiCAl COUNCil FOr PrOmOtiNg ChristiAN UNity OFFiCiAls

new lamps lit, new tasks begun

An Ecumenism of Actionhis grace, the most reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

One of the great gifts of the Ecumenical Movement is that it has allowed Christians from different denominations to get to know one another. There were times before the 1960’s when people of one denomination might never have entered the church building of another. Then something changed. Christians found common cause in all sorts of forums. political life, spirituality and prayer, community services, education. Important examples of this cross-denominational work are the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. New religious communities

sprang up with an ecumenical charism such as Taizé or Focolare.”

(addressing the world Council of Churches)

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S ince 1968 the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity has collaborated with the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches

to produce the materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Usually the process begins more than two years in advance of the actual week. And so it was in 2018 that the WCC invited the sisters of the community of Grandchamp, Neuchatel in Switzerland, to prepare the materials for 2021. Grandchamp is an ecumenical community established by Reformed Swiss women in the first half of the twentieth-century. They had strong links with the French Catholic priest, Fr Paul Couturier, who was a pioneer of the Week of Prayer, and with the founders of the Taizé community.

The theme the sisters chose was that of the vine, and Jesus’ invitation to “abide in my love” (Jn 15: 9) drawing life from him as a branch draws life from the vine. What does it mean to abide in Jesus? And how will it change us? The sisters of Grandchamp suggest that if we abide in Jesus we will become whole and united in three distinct ways.

Abiding in Jesus is, first and foremost, an interior journey. The world we live in is filled with a cacophony of noise and distractions, which tempt us to live in a superficial way. The spiritual wisdom which the founders of the Grandchamp discovered and to which the sisters of the community hold fast, is the need to follow the example of Jesus who came away to a lonely place to pray. This personal prayer, being alone with Jesus, is the essence of abiding with him. Meeting him in that space of personal prayer we can tell Jesus the things that are on our hearts, our fears and our hopes, our hurt and our joy. Staying centred with Jesus in prayer we will experience his love for us. This is what it means to draw life from him like a branch drawing life from the sap of the vine. When we receive the love of Jesus we are given the strength to grow and to face the challenges of life, and to produce fruits of goodness and love.

Jesus says that the vinedresser prunes the vine to make it grow more. When we spend time with Jesus in prayer this is what happens to us: we are pruned. As we spend more time in prayer we become more centred and we learn to let go of the superficial things and the distractions in our life. The first unity which comes from abiding in the love of Jesus is personal wholeness that is the work of God’s grace. We become more integrated human beings, at peace with ourselves, because we know we are loved by God.

The second unity is unity with other Christians. The sisters of Grandchamp draw on the writing of a sixth century Church father, Dorotheus of Gaza. Dorotheus invites us to imagine God as the centre of a circle and Christians from different traditions drawing towards this centre: “to the extent that they penetrate its interior, they draw closer to each other; and the closer they draw to each other, the closer they come to God”. Many Christians from different Christian traditions are

A meditation on the Theme “Abide in my love …”drawing close to God by reading the scriptures and receiving the sacraments, and particularly by abiding in the love of Jesus, spending time with him in personal prayer. They, too, draw life from the one vine. If we are also abiding in his love, and are faithful to prayer then we are not only drawing close to God, but we are drawing into a closer communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Indeed we cannot come closer to God without simultaneously coming closer to his many sons and daughters: if our prayer life is genuine we will grow in love for all those who are faithfully trying to follow Jesus, no matter what Christian communion they belong to. So the second unity, Christian unity, is the necessary consequence of personal spiritual growth because we cannot deepen our relationship with Christ without deepening our communion with other baptised Christians.

The third unity is unity with God’s creation and all peoples. When we abide in the love of Jesus his love teaches us and forms us. We learn to love the things which Jesus loves, and to love as Jesus loves: “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 15: 12). Abiding in the love of Jesus teaches us to love the Father, to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, to love all people and to love the whole of God’s creation. In the past, loving God’s creation often meant simply recognising the beauty and the wonder of the world that God has made. Today we have learnt that our love for the world needs to be more committed and active. It means refusing to exploit the world and its resources for selfish gain. It means making choices in the way that we live, the things that we consume, how much we travel and by what means. An active love of all God’s people means recognising how much we share with others, that we want the same things for ourselves and our families and that we have the same fears and the same dreams. Selfishness, the rejection of others in need, building walls of division, is always a failure of imagination, a failure to imagine how it is to be in the other person’s shoes. But abiding in God’s love brings us to a new recognition of our communion and unity with all God’s people and the whole of God’s creation.

The sisters of Grandchamp chose the theme for this Week of Prayer long before the COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives. But providentially the materials they have provided are perfectly suited to our current situation. We may feel that with the restrictions of lockdown we cannot do much to grow closer to our brothers and sisters. The sisters of Grandchamp have shown us that the path to Christian unity begins in drawing closer to Jesus in personal prayer. This is something we can begin now even in our own homes. And we can know that by abiding in the love of Jesus we are entering into deeper communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ who also abide in his love and who draw life from the same vine.

rEVD ANthONy CUrrEr rEsPONsiblE FOr thE VAtiCAN’s rElAtiONs with thE wOrlDwiDE ANgliCAN AND mEthODist COmmUNiONs At thE PCPCU

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M any say this was a different Christmas because of the pandemic. We couldn’t

have big family tables but in the Community of Sant’Egidio we didn’t give up the idea of celebrating it with everyone in need. The Christmas celebration was transformed with creativity. We could not have the usual banquet for the poor in the churches but it was a Christmas of meeting and visiting, looking for poor or marginalised people in the most distant and hidden places.

A Christmas for everyone is when the celebration, the friendship, reaches those who are not reached by anyone, going out on the street, meeting those in need.

On December 22 and 31, 2020 special Christmas and New Year’s Eve distributions took place in many poor areas of Rome. All over Rome parcels were distributed and, with the collaboration of The Anglican Centre, 500 were delivered in Torrenova, one of the large housing estates of the peripheral eastern part of the capital, to families in need and homeless people, Italians, Roma people and migrants. They contained dry food, traditional panettone cake and personalized presents with their names on the labels.

We stopped to talk with the poor, some told us their stories, their difficulties, they thanked us. An elderly

foreign woman said: “I spent the night praying and blessing those who came to visit me. How

valuable is the visit when you have no contact

with anyone!”Jesus is born

outside the city: he has no place in the houses of Bethlehem. Christmas is truly a sign of contradict ion

because there is no place for many even today in our cities and in the world. Some may think: what can I do? It does not

concern me. I already have so many worries. We distance ourselves, human distances far more serious than the social distancing we are forced to by the pandemic…

The Gospel of Christmas brings us back to reality. It makes us look at the sufferings that many do not want to see and that they consider nothing to do with their lives. In Rome alone, there are more than 8,000 homeless people; and at least 3,000 have nowhere to sleep in the winter. The pandemic has led many people who previously depended on work for their livelihood into poverty.

With the message of Christmas being contrary to society’s normal rules – it puts the poor at the centre, the humble in first place – many new

volunteers joined the Community of Sant’Egidio’s efforts. They were tired of a meaningless Christmas. Instead they discovered a Rome they did not know: a hidden Rome. Some cooked meals for the homeless. Others went to visit them in shanty towns, railway stations, prisons, right under the bridges of the Tiber River.

The meaning of Bethlehem is the “city of bread”. Together with the Anglican Centre, we at Sant’Egidio can revive Bethlehem, the city, where bread is distributed to everyone.

mONiCA AttiAs COmmUNity OF sANt’EgiDiO: ExPErt iN ANti-trAFFiCKiNg AND ECUmENism

Working together to put the last first

Abp ian on behalf of the ACr offering a gift to Dr monica Attias for families in need & homeless

ANGLICAN SEMINARIANS IN ROME 11

D uring October 2020, I was grateful to be given the opportunity to spend

six weeks with my colleague Phil Macaulay in Rome, residing at the Beda Pontifical College in a placement facilitated by Canon Philip Gillespie (Rector), Keith Beech-Gruneberg (Initial Ministerial Education Pathways Adviser, Church House) and Revd Dr Paul Regan (Cramner Hall). The focus of our time was to engage in ecumenical dialogue with Catholic brethren who are attending the Beda seminary. It gave us a chance to discuss a range of topics, challenges and points of similarity that exist across our two families.

It was my privilege during this time to receive a warm invitation from Archbishop Ian Ernest to the Anglican Centre in Rome. Our time spent included: gathering for communion and prayer together;

enjoying a presentation about the missional focus of the Church; sharing fellowship and discussing various hopes and dreams for the Church of England, specifically the way that we can garner ever fruitful ecumenical relations with our brothers and sisters from differing traditions and with those of other faith traditions, and exploring how to be ever more intentional at encouraging those from within the Anglican Communion.

From the brief time spent with Archbishop Ian and his wife Kamla, I was struck by the hospitality and sense of sanctuary that was offered at the Anglican Centre. The community there offered a safe space in the heart of the hustle and bustle of the city to purposefully explore the nature and heart of Christ. The experience of Rome was full and somewhat unusual (with the absence of the famed mass

of tourists due to COVID-19), yet this small corner seemed in a quiet way to be full of life, hope and vitality: a sacred space. A space to be. A space to feel known. A place to share and dream openly.

I am personally thankful to Archbishop Ian and Kamla for extending a warm welcome to me. The kindness and openness even amidst the current challenges that we are all facing was a highlight of 2020 for me. The experience will remain with me as I enter full time ordained ministry in the Church of England – God willing, this coming summer. I feel privileged to now be numbered amongst those that are called friends of The Anglican Centre in Rome. It has been my on-going privilege to join virtually for Tuesday communion and my intention is to return as soon as restrictions permit and to pick up

where we left off.

DANiEl hArris (left)

T he Beda College, named after the Venerable Bede

who now rests in Durham Cathedral, was formed to provide a seminary for English-speaking men coming to priesthood later in life. I went with the aspiration to learn, to try to see behind the scenes a little as to what the Roman Catholic church is like today, especially after learning so much from Church history. I also hoped that the Lord would enable Daniel and me to be good representatives of the Church of England, so that we and our Catholic fellows would be well-equipped for ecumenical friendships and co-operation in the future. Of course, it was wonderful to spend October in the city of Rome, and while the opportunities for exploring and worship were a little covid-limited, they were still glorious.

We were welcomed with amazing generosity, respect, and interest by the Beda community which was full of warmth, affirmation and love. Some students were confused about the Church of England’s position on theology of priesthood, its canonical law expectations, and of course monarchical headship. Yet there was

mostly a mutually warm acceptance of our belonging and authenticity of faith, even if there was cheeky encouragement from students for us to jump the fence to their side! On my part, I found studies of the Second Vatican Council fascinating in learning about the diversity within Catholicism, and was impressed by the strong emphasis on spiritual formation and human development in the curriculum. While we could not receive Holy Communion at mass, we were welcomed fully around the dining tables. In the informality of life there I found my own Christian identity and priestly vocation recognised, even if denominational rules prevented us sharing the Lord’s meal together.

As a part of this experience I have picked up a little of the hard work that has been going on in big-picture Anglican and Roman Catholic relations, specifically the ARCIC projects. It is wonderful to live and worship in churches that have already come so

far in bringing doctrine and liturgy together. One of my own immediate impressions of Catholic Mass was its similarity in form and words to the Holy Communion services of the Church of England. This liturgical alignment provides the

skeleton of a framework that the flesh of personal relationships can be built upon.

Visiting the Anglican Centre in Rome enables Anglican interns like myself to find some encouragement and more generous hospitality during our experience in Rome. It also showed us the seriousness with which the Anglican Communion considers its fellowship with Rome. The Centre is also home for Archbishop Ian and Kamla, and this is key in giving it a domestic feel in comfort, safety and welcome. They are the right people in the right place to enable friendships to form and unity to be blessed. As the world looks to recover from Covid 19, I pray for the Centre to play its role in helping God’s church to love itself across denominations, inspiring all humanity.

Phil mACAUlAy (right)

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December 2020 ACr Director visiting Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot mCCJ, President of the Pontifical Council for interreligious Dialogue

HOSPITALITY & ENCOUNTERS

with Abbot Primate Gregory Polan Osb, Abbey of sant’Anselmo

Ecumenical Choir singing carols at the ACr

Visiting Cardinal Marc Ouellet Pss, Prefect of the Congregation for bishops

welcoming E. Catherine, daughter of rev Dr Daniel & mrs grace morris-Chapman

13 HOSPITALITY & ENCOUNTERS

JANUARY 2021 • WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY welcoming our guest Preacher, Bishop Brian Farrell, lC. secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity

with Fr Stefano Del Bove, sJ. & some staff members of the gregoriana University

Giorgio Biondi, Assitecno it Consultant connecting the ACr to

fibre broadband

December 2020 safeguarding training for ACr staff by Mrs Caireen

Stuart, ACr Officer for safeguarding

Anglican clergy & spouses attending Vespers, basilica of st Paul Outside the walls, rome

meeting Cardinal Walter Kasper, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity & Padre S. Lombardi

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Saint John henry newman: a bridge between CatholiCS and angliCanS

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O n October 13, 2019, thousands of people gathered at St Peter’s, in Rome, for the

canonization of John Henry Newman, the poet, theologian and philosopher who once scandalized Victorian Britain by leaving the Church of England for Roman Catholicism. How different the day he became a saint! Among those who attended the canonization Mass, celebrated by Pope Francis, were not only senior Roman Catholic churchmen and many pilgrims from around the globe, but also six bishops of the Church of England and the Director of the Anglican Centre, as well as the Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne, and due to be the next Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Newman, the man who was once out in the cold as far as Anglicans were concerned, had now brought together the two churches that he had loved at different times. He had bridged the divide.

So was Newman just for that moment a means to reconciliation, or does he offer more to those committed to ecumenism? That was the topic explored in the Anglican Centre’s Zoom webinar, St John Henry Newman: a bridge between two traditions, held on December 7, 2020. Unity between Anglicans and Roman Catholics may well be more complicated that Newman might have considered it to be, as the webinar’s moderator, the Revd Dr Jamie Hawkey, pointed out, given that the apostolic constitution of Pope Benedict XVI, Anglicanorum Coetibus erected personal ordinariates for groups of Anglican Christians in 2009 and this overtook for some the issue of wider

corporate reunion between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, as Dr Hawkey commented: “Theological dialogue between our Communions continues with confidence and humility”. Newman, he said, has a great deal to teach us through his insights and methods of study.

A note of realism was also brought into the discussion by the Rt Revd Canon Dr Jeremy Morris, Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and a noted church historian, who issued a health warning, “particularly in the rosy afterglow of the canonization”. We can pretend, said Dr Morris, but there is no “inner Anglican Newman who can be turned to Anglican ends”.

“This simply isn’t the case. When rumours were circulating in 1862 about his possible return to the Church of England he published a strongly worded denial: ‘Protestantism is the dreariest of religions. The thought of the Anglican service makes me shiver and the thought of the 39 articles makes me shudder. A return to the Church of England? No: the net is broken and we are delivered’.”

And yet it was obvious as Dr Morris and the two other speakers at the seminar – Dr Daniel Pratt-Morris

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“Newman’s enthusiasm for the

ancient church points to ways to refind our

precious unity. ”

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Chapman and Professor Roderick Strange – presented their views on Newman that he offers a great deal to ecumenists. And given Newman’s long life and how prolific a writer he was, there was much evidence to sift and much to discuss.

Born in 1801, Newman became an evangelical Christian in his last years at Great Ealing School, under the tutelage of Walter Mayers. Dr Pratt Morris-Chapman, until recently the Director of the Methodist Office in Rome, whose doctorate focused on Newman, pointed out that Mayers introduced Newman to writers in the Calvinist tradition and to the works of the Anglican Thomas Scott, founder of the Church Missionary Society, whose emphasis was on pursuing truth wherever it may be found. “This stuck in Newman’s mind so much that he writes about it in his Apologia”, noted Dr Pratt-Morris Chapman. “Wherever it led, whatever it cost, Newman pursued the truth. He pursued the truth if it involved personal shame, if it involved demotion or if it involved extreme personal cost… I put it to you this is the reason he is now a saint.”

From Great Ealing School, Newman went up to Trinity College, Oxford, where he read widely and expanded his theological horizons. Despite a breakdown that led to him doing badly in his exams, he was later offered a fellowship at Oriel, then the most prestigious college. By 1825 he had been ordained an Anglican priest, and his life in Oxford brought him into contact with the leading church intellectuals of the day including Edward Pusey, Richard Hurrell Froude and John Keble. With Newman, they

wrote and published tracts on the future of the Church of England, that led them to be known as the Tractarians, and increasingly gathered more people to support what became known as the Oxford Movement, though others found Newman’s thinking highly controversial.

It was during this time that Newman became increasingly convinced that Christians’ reading of the Bible needed context within an historical and apostolic context. He wanted, said Dr Pratt Morris-Chapman, to re-establish the Church of England “on the rock of undivided church of antiquity”.

“Newman put all his energies into filling the Church of England with the new wine - the wine of antiquity which over the years had matured to a beautiful taste”, he said. “He tried to saturate the Church of England with the wine of the canonical decisions of antiquity to bursting point”.

But this proved difficult for a church that was so connected to the Establishment. Yet as Dr Pratt-Morris Chapman, pointed out, Newman’s enthusiasm for the ancient church points to ways in which the denominations can be more united, if they were all to reaffirm the undivided canonical decisions of the first 10 centuries of Christianity. “It would be a way to refind our precious organic unity”.

While Newman today is honoured by Anglicans – something highlighted by guests from the Church of England at his canonization and the participants at this Anglican Centre webinar – the situation was very different in Victorian England. By 1842 Newman had retreated to Littlemore, near

Oxford, with a band of followers, and from there he published a retaraction of all the harsh things he had once said about Catholicism.

It was two years later that he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. Professor Roderick Strange, former rector of the Beda seminary in Rome, now teaching at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, and editor of Newman’s letters, evocatively spoke of “that rainy windswept night on 8 October when the Italian Passionist Fr Dominic Barbieri arrived at Littlemore, hearing Newman’s confession, and continued the next day when he received him into the Roman communion”.

But this was not a case for Newman of happy ever after. He went to Rome in 1846 to be ordained a priest. It was certainly a difficult time to cross the Tiber. Anti-Catholic feeling was running high in England, especially after the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in 1850. The Prime Minister, John Russell, denounced the “attempt to impose a foreign yoke upon our minds and consciences”. Catholic priests were pelted in the streets and Catholic churches were attacked.

While Newman made efforts to put the case for Catholicism through public lectures, the small Catholic community in England did not know what to do with him, Professor Strange said. They sent him to Dublin to found a university, to oversee a new translation of the Bible, to edit a journal called The Rambler, and once Catholics were admitted to Oxford in 1860, he went there to found an Oratory. As Professor Strange pointed out, becoming a Catholic was a very

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in memoriam Rev monsignor mark LanghamMonsignor Mark Langham, who died on January 15, was an official of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPU) from 2008–13, responsible for relations with Anglicans and Methodists, and also for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Monsignor Langham was born in London and studied Classics at Cambridge (1979-83). During his five years in the office he was deeply involved in efforts to enable the establishment of the third phase of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), which he served as Co-Secretary (2011-13). As Co–Secretary to the Methodist–Roman

Catholic International Commission (2008-12) he worked on the production of its ninth report, Encountering Christ the Saviour: Church and Sacraments (2011).

A talented musician, artist, linguist and writer, Monsignor Langham shared his many gifts with colleagues at the Pontifical Council. During his time in Rome he completed a doctorate at the Gregorian University for which he was awarded the Bellarmino Prize and which was later published as The Caroline Divines and the Church of Rome: A Contribution to Current Ecumenical Dialogue (2019). After being appointed as chaplain

of Cambridge University in 2013 he continued to give his considerable learning and abilities to ecumenical work, and last year contributed to an Anglican Centre, Rome, webinar on the work of ARCIC III.

From the PCPCU NEws, 15.01.2021

difficult experience for Newman. After 18 years as a Catholic he wrote: ‘How forlorn and dreary has been my course since I have been a Catholic. As a Protestant I felt my religion dreary, not my life, but as a Catholic, my life dreary and not my religion’.

For Newman, though, said Professor Strange, becoming a Catholic was but one of several conversions for Newman. Three illnesses he endured in 1816, 1827 and 1833 were moments of conversion for him too, in which he discovered first, a conviction of God’s existence, then a desire to become a holy person and finally that there was work to do in the service of the Lord. All were part of the path to his final conversion to becoming a Catholic – what Newman called coming into port after a rough sea.

Continuing the maritime analogies, Dr Jeremy Morris reminded the audience that in his Apologia, Newman had indicated that the Church of England was a serviceable breakwater against doctrinal errors more fundamental than its own. But, said Dr Morris, “we can’t get round the uncomfortable fact that Newman’s view of Anglicanism was a bleak one. That does set certain limits to our understanding of what he signifies for Anglicans ecumenically”.

One of the most significant challenges to Anglican ideas of ecumenism is Newman’s growing conviction that catholicity was most evident in the Church most widely spread throughout the world and the one that had maintained consistency with early formulations of faith while developing them to a degree – the Roman Catholic Church. However, Newman was not slavishly devoted to the Catholic Church. As Dr Morris pointed out, Newman was critical of its over-centralized ultramontane ecclesial authority of his time. He was also keen to see the role of the laity recognized in the life of the Church and as a witness to revealed doctrine.

However, Dr Morris could see ways in which Newman could help bring Christians closer together: his enabling us to see a vision of a more complex, balanced and integrated view of authority as a model for the reunification of the great Christian traditions of the world and his ideas of church as an educative community involving growth and change, and a place where doctrines, creeds and treatises are learned, explored and cultivated. “This implies a dynamic catholicity in which all Christians must participate as part of the very texture of a life in faith lived towards the unity of all Christian people,” said Dr Morris.

But it was in Newman’s own personal relationships that perhaps the greatest encouragement for ecumenists is to be found. When he became a Catholic in 1845 he lost many friends, with the exception of Pusey, with whom he maintained contact. Then, when he wrote his Apologia, Anglicans noted his warm comments about them. Friendships, including with Keble, were restored.

“The friendships that were restored grew stronger and deeper”, recalled Professor Strange. “One of the key features for effective ecumenism when we are struggling with certain issues and are demoralized – the most important thing is to be strong in friendship and to build and strengthen the trust between us. In this way real ecumenical progress can be made. The way that Newman and his friendships were maintained can be a real inspiration for us”.

CAthEriNE PEPiNstErUK DEVElOPmENt OFFiCEr, ANgliCAN CENtrE iN rOmE

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O n the first anniversary of Archbishop Ian Ernest and his wife Kamla arriving in Rome, where he took up his appointment as Director of the Anglican Centre,

we visited them to bring greetings from the Ripon Support Group. We heard how they were carrying out their ministry through the virus pandemic. Together we arranged a Zoom video seminar for Archbishop Ian to address the theme of fraternity. It was to be a joint project with Anglican Centre friends, Franciscans and Christians Aware, a UK international educational charity.

The inspiration for the seminar was Pope Francis’ latest encyclical Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers and Sisters), in which the Pope takes up the theme of fraternity from St Francis of Assisi’s Admonitions.

Archbishop Ian, who comes from Mauritius, a multi-faith country, tells us that the message of Fratelli Tutti is for all, regardless of faith or cultural backgrounds. The encyclical embraces the theme of solidarity in building friendship and the importance of fraternity in developing working mutually across differences in world faiths and values.

The 28 Admonitions of St Francis, which the saint wrote throughout his ministry, advocate us embracing one another with the eyes of the Spirit and practising humility by listening to others. They urge us to expect no more from friends and neighbours than we offer ourselves and to be calm and patient when faced with discomfort and trial. For Pope Francis, it is experiences of community life that assist reflection and help deal with self-centredness.

Both practical action and the re-assessment of our values are discussed in the encyclical and highlighted by Archbishop Ian. We are reminded that Pope Francis visited the Grand Imam in Abu Dhabi where, in friendship together, they encouraged collaborative working across their faith traditions, opening doors for mutual assistance. This is the way forward for transcending barriers and building life together in friendship, cooperation and compassion.

The parable of the Good Samaritan illustrates for Pope Francis the service that has no limits while the visit of his namesake, St Francis of Assisi, to Sultan Malik-el-Kamil in the

Fifth Crusade, is recalled as an archetype of dialogue and social friendship, forged in listening and learning across different traditions, without hostility and division.

This Zoom seminar reminded colleagues of the Jewish scripture, “The lion shall lie down with the lamb and the child shall play on the hole of the asp” (Isaiah 11:6) and of how through periods of global crisis, fraternity can affect how we look ahead through the pain, retaining our humanity.

Like the Church Father, Athanasius, who argued “He became what we are that we might become what he is”, Pope Francis touches on how the New Creation is achieved, breaking through within our situation in today’s world.

Archbishop Ian, in highlighting the interfaith implications that can be drawn from Pope Francis third encyclical, gives full regard to the physical context, in Europe, the UK and in his own Mauritius. He invites us to recognise the divine nature, which is not just for ourselves, but one we may carry to others and others may carry to us.

• the seminar, held on 25 November, is now on youtube https://be/zypKvhmP7ro

• wwcontent/francesco/en/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

rEVD JOhN bENNEtt rEgiONAl rEPrEsENtAtiVE, riPON sUPPOrt grOUP FOr thE ANgliCAN CENtrE rOmE.

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some of the regional rep team in Knaresborough near ripon, yorkshire

Pope Francis signs his new encyclical, Fratelli tutti, on the altar before the tomb of st. Francis of Assisi on Ocober 3, 2020.

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A martyr of the middle ages …18 … and a saint for our time St Thomas Becket 800th Anniversary

B ecket’s martyrdom shocked all Christendom and just over two years after his death he

was canonised on 21 February 1173 by Pope Alexander III in St. Peter’s church in Segni. Becket’s shrine in the eastern crypt of the Cathedral became a focus of pilgrimage for thousands almost immediately. Then, 50 years after the martyrdom, a new shrine, containing the body of St. Thomas of Canterbury, was consecrated in the area above the crypt which had been completely rebuilt as a fitting chapel to hold the shrine and allow access to the burgeoning numbers of pilgrims. The ambulatory around the shrine was adorned with stained glass of the highest quality and shows pictures of miracles of healing experienced by local, national and international pilgrims at the shrine. A fire in 1174 had occasioned the rebuilding of much of the cathedral above Lanfranc’s crypt, which survived unharmed. The chapel of Our Lady Undercroft in the western crypt, where the terrified monks had carried the body of their archbishop,

was the site of the penitence of a remorseful King Henry, who caused himself to be ritually beaten by monks as he knelt there.

The consecration of the new shrine in 1220 was an occasion for the gathering of important figures of Church and State from all over Europe to be involved in a magnificent act of worship celebrating both the martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury and the blessings received by pilgrims making the journey to the shrine. Then, 2020 was to have been a year of ecumenical commemoration of those two events, the martyrdom 850 years ago and the consecration of the new shrine 800 years ago. We had planned many acts of worship, scholarly symposia, exhibitions of artefacts connected with St. Thomas and pilgrimages of groups from many different denominations across the world. One of the last visits made in that planning following meetings through the Anglican Centre in Rome, with representatives there helping to organise ecumenical events, was

“On Tuesday, 29th December 1170, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was murdered in his Cathedral church during Vespers by four armed knights who believed they were acting for King Henry II.

It was an event witnessed by horrified monks and citizens of Canterbury and accounts of what happened were written down by eye witnesses later.

becket’s murder, Chapter house window

becket’s Evensong martyrdom, Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 2019

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19… and a saint for our time to Segni itself where there was warm enthusiasm from that community for the various celebrations ahead of us. So much of what was possible in the planning was only made possible by the hard work of Fr. Robert McCulloch and the Ambassador to the Holy See, Sally Axworthy, but especially the team of the Anglican Centre, Canterbury’s home in Rome. Special thanks are due particularly to Archbishop Ian, to Kamla and to the Centre’s administrator, Nicoletta Ramballi, for their constant help and support for Canterbury. Of course none of these events where people travelled and gathered together were to prove possible, due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.

While the most often asked question from the millions of visitors, school parties, and tourists coming to Canterbury is still “Where was Becket murdered?,” at the same time those who are pilgrims arrive at the site of the shrine and ask to be set off from there on one of the pilgrim routes across Europe – to Rome or to Santiago de Compostela, year by year. So the celebrations planned were not thought of as commemorations of past events but more events linked to continuing spiritual adventures being undertaken.

Although we were not able to welcome the many who would have travelled here in the last 12 months, we

were able to reach out in celebration virtually. Nevertheless, as soon as we are able, and hopefully that may be in the summer, autumn and winter of 202, we hope to accomplish some of what we had intended in 2020. The act of Christians suffering for their faith even to the giving up of their life is a present reality, and the encouragement given to our faith not only by St. Thomas of Canterbury but by martyrs in every part of the word and in every century are experiences which give perspective to our prayers for each other and for the unity of Christ’s church.

We have learnt many new lessons in 2020 but chief amongst them is how another person’s faith and courage can inspire and encourage us in ways for which we want to give thanks. We have begun this year to accomplish this virtually and break down barriers to give each other creative encouragement right across the world. We long for the time when we can celebrate together physically again and when the story of 2020 will be a memory that we look back on, but we shall do so with a sense of lessons learned and new ways embraced, which will have enriched our pilgrimage and strengthened our faith”.

thE VEry rEVD Dr rObErt willis DEAN OF CANtErbUry

becket’s Evensong martyrdom, Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 2019

29 December is the feast of St Thomas Becket and in 2020, the 850th anniversary of his martyrdom. I have been a pilgrim to Canterbury in these days for the past seven years to participate in the Anglican and Roman Catholic celebrations as the official representative from Rome.

The major relic of Becket’s blood stained vestment is kept in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome where developing connections between Canterbury and S. Maria Maggiore has enabled an ecumenical covenant to be entered into between these two great places of worship.

I have forwarded the Dean of Canterbury’s greetings to the mayors of Segni and Anagni and the Bishop of Anagni. Becket was canonized in Segni just over 800 years ago on July 7, 1220. The lord of Segni was the father of St Thomas Aquinas after whom he was named.

The relic of St Thomas Becket now in the chapel of the Anglican Centre used to be in the chapel at St Columban’s Essendon. In 2017, I arranged for it to be gifted to the Anglican Centre and to be replaced in Essendon by a relic of St Columban.

Fr rObErt mCCUllOCh PrOCUrAtOr gENErAl FOr st COlUmbANs missiON sOCiEty iN rOmE

relic of st thomas becket at the Anglican Centre in rome

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the AnglicAn centre in romePiazza del Collegio romano 2, 00186 rome t: +39 06 678 0302

T he circumstances of recent months have obliged the Centre, like many other organisations, to enhance and emphasise its online offering. This,

it has done with great commitment and good effect - witness the series of theological webinars offered in the course of 2020 and the level of participation. Nothing, of course, can rival an actual visit to the Centre and the experience of its hospitality ... but it may be a little time yet before we can re-focus on that side of our work.

Meanwhile, as a strategic development, the Governors have encouraged a move to online communications with our supporters and Friends internationally. It is hoped that there will be a regular quarterly newsletter, full of up to date information and varied articles, taking over the title Centro from the printed magazine which we used to produce up to this point. This is a moment to recognise the quality of that publication over the years and to thank in particular Catherine Pepinster who has been responsible for its production in recent times. We are very fortunate that she will continue to offer skilled editorial assistance in the production of our online material, and will also contribute a regular column in which we will continue to reap the harvest of her rich journalistic experience. Our online Centro will also owe much to the design skills of Mrs Kamla Ernest, skills gladly and generously offered, and of course our Director Archbishop Ian will have oversight of the content of these Rome-based accounts of our news and our projects. It is also envisaged that there will be some material in French, Italian (and possibly other languages), recognising their location of the Centre and the great variety of nationalities involved in supporting its work.

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We hope all our supporters and Friends will enjoy the style, content and regular appearance of those newsletters. We are trying at present, subject of course to data controls, to make sure as many as possible of the existing readers of Centro receive the new - style publication, and we are aware that for a number of people there may be difficulties with online access and we would not wish them to feel in any way left out. Therefore a limited number of copies will be printed off and posted via the Vatican post office for those who need to receive them by this means.

So please enjoy what we are now offering . . . thank you for your support and we would of course welcome your reactions, ideas and suggestions. Above all, we want the circulation of our new Centro to keep growing and growing. On behalf of all the Governors whether based in the UK, the US, South Africa, Australia, China or my own country of Ireland, we acknowledge your generous and prayerful interest in the work of the Anglican Centre in Rome and hope that as 2021 unfolds we may begin to see again a measure of travel in the direction of the Eternal City, a cheering vision of a post -pandemic world and some degree of return to what, for want of a better word, we term ‘normality’.

Of course, it is the ultimate business of the ACR to remind people that ‘normality’ can also be a very unfortunate and even insidious word. We tend to accept divisions in the Body of Christ as ‘normal’, we become content with letting our ecumenical zeal diminish, we cease to be shocked by the veritable scandal of unnecessary disunity. As I write just ahead of another Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, I give thanks for the courageous work of the ACR in capsizing popular views of what is ‘normal’, and for never allowing us to lose our vision of the true goal and purpose of being fully One in Christ. Recent months have been turbulent indeed in so many ways and we long for a less disrupted life, but our longing for stability should never diminish our zeal in praying ancient liturgical words - ‘Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions’.

And to these words we say ‘Amen’, and like Simeon and Anna at Candlemas ‘plod onward in faith’ with great confidence that our our longings and labours at ACR will surely one day be vindicated.

Happy Reading ; a Blessed 2021 to you allRt. Revd. Michael Burrowsbishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory Chair, ACr board of governors