RCs, Anglicans Make Progress in ARCIC (Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission) Talks: Churches Reach Preliminary Agreement on Authority Issue

Larmondin, Leanne, Anglican Journal

The Anglican and Roman Catholic churches have come to a basic agreement on the difficult issue of authority in the church, according to Anglican representative, Bishop John Baycroft.

Bishop Baycroft, who cochaired the recent meeting of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II) in Belgium, said the decision means the Anglican Communion might eventually accept the universal primacy of the Bishop of Rome - the pope.

"Our feeling following the meeting in Belgium is we have made sufficient steps forward in our understanding and our way of talking about the universal primacy," said Bishop Baycroft, bishop of the Diocese of Ottawa.

Contrary to the beliefs of many in both churches, infallibility of the church-and therefore, the pope-is not the major stumbling block to union with Rome, he said.

"Some people feel that infallibility means that you can never make mistakes about anything," said Bishop Baycroft. "They think, for instance, that the pope can have a sleepless night, wake up in the morning and proclaim a new truth. That's nonsense."

The major problem facing the two churches, he said, is the authority of the church-namely, the insistence of Anglicans that the church has the authority to ordain …

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Publication information: Article title: RCs, Anglicans Make Progress in ARCIC (Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission) Talks: Churches Reach Preliminary Agreement on Authority Issue. Contributors: Larmondin, Leanne - Author. Magazine title: Anglican Journal. Volume: 122. Issue: 10 Publication date: December 1996. Page number: Not available. © Anglican Church of Canada Feb 2009. COPYRIGHT 1996 Gale Group.

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