"A New Ecumenism"

ARCIC stands for the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission. This meeting of Anglican and Catholic hearts and minds was kicked off in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. An initial planning meeting in 1967 was followed by a first phase of theological discussions which lasted from 1971 to 1981. The second phase started in 1983 and continues to the present day. Over these forty years the Anglican and Catholic ecumenists produced statements consisting of careful ‘agreement’ on baptism, eucharist, authority and the role of the Mother of God. The ‘agreements’ were then dissected by both sides and the real results in theological terms were minimal. 

There were several problems with the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission. First was the choice of delegates. Naturally, both sides chose theologians who were sympathetic to the process and longed for agreement between the churches and finally some sort of visible unity. Unfortunately, these ecumenically minded theologians were not representative of the ordinary pew occupants in their two churches. Ordinary Catholics remained bemused and bewildered by Anglicans, and Anglicans of the liberal and Evangelical variety had no real desire to be united with Catholics. Consequently they dissected and destroyed the ‘agreements’ that issued from ARCIC.

Meanwhile, developments in Anglicanism were pulling in a different direction. As early as the 1940s there had been calls for women to be ordained to the Anglican ministry, and by the 1980s those calls had become demands. Homosexual activists became more vocal and strident, and radical liberal trends in theology became more mainstream. 

While these currents pulled Anglicans in a radically progressive direction, Evangelical Anglicanism, with its blend of Calvinist theology, individualistic spirituality and up to date styles of worship, pulled the Anglicans away from Catholicism in another direction. Furthermore, it was the Evangelicals (who have no love and less understanding) of Catholicism who were growing in numbers not only in Anglican’s heartland of England, but also in the developing world.

A hand picked group of gentle academics meeting in congenial surroundings for their discussions could hardly hope to come up with a solution that could navigate the turbulent waters of Anglicanism. For these mild mannered scholars to cope with the tumultuous world of the Anglican Communion would be akin to asking Miss Marple to ride a bucking bronco at the rodeo. To be fair, the scholars were not asked to come up with a permanent solution resulting in instant visible communion between the two churches. They had the more modest brief to begin communication over the theological issues that divided the two churches.

This they did, and although there does not seem to be much fruit from their forty years of labor, the real fruit can be seen in the establishment of the Anglican Ordinariate by Pope Benedict in 2009. The erection of the Ordinariate really is the most astounding development in ecumenism since the meeting of Pope John XXIII with Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher in 1960. It is astounding for several reasons. First, it might have been assumed that the gentle theologian Joseph Ratzinger would have been content for the world of ecumenism to continue in its diplomatic course with the usual round of regular theological conferences, scholarly papers and the occasional ‘agreement’. Like the old ‘detente’ between Russia and the United States, officials met. Pleasantries were exchanged, treaties were signed and then they all went home again.

Benedict XVI’s Anglican Ordinariate scheme was something sudden, solid and stupendous. It can be compared to Ronald Reagan’s decision that the Russian regime was about to fall, and his call “Mr Gobachev. Tear down this wall!” Reagan’s decision to stop talking and take action knocked over the first domino. Likewise, Benedict XVI’s erection of the Anglican Ordinariate may well be the first domino to fall in the eventual realignment within Christianity.

This is because the Anglican Church has always been a kind of bridge between Protestantism and Catholicism. Many Evangelical Protestant begin following Christ in Baptist churches or independent ‘house churches’. Once they begin to study the faith more they are often drawn to liturgical worship and the historic church. Typically they would migrate to more formal churches like the Methodist or Presbyterian and often they would continue to ‘come up higher’ by moving to the Lutheran or Anglican traditions.