The Anglican world community is looking for a way out of the threatening schism in uniform rules for biblical interpretation. That's what the 670 Anglican bishops gathered for the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury discussed Wednesday. Common hermeneutical principles now to help resolve elementary disputes such as homosexuality. The guest was also Cardinal Walter Kasper of the Curia, who sees ecumenism in danger.
New Zealand Archbishop David Moxon had earlier presented a draft to the bishops on the matter. So far, the 38 independent provinces of the Anglican Communion have no common principles on the interpretation of Scripture. Whether Moxon's proposal will find a majority is not yet certain. The archbishop proposed four common principles: Jesus Christ, revealed through the Bible, would form the foundation of the "house of biblical interpretation". The context of origin of the writings is to be understood as an entrance and the challenges of today as walls, he said. The protecting roof is the church, which guarantees continuity with its tradition. The results of the consultations are to be included in the final document of the Lambeth Conference.
Tougher action against deviants is being considered Anglican churches that continue to ordain homosexuals as bishops face tougher consequences from church community. A high-level church working group proposed Wednesday in Canterbury that "no penalties, but effective measures" be enacted in such a case.This could mean, for example, that the member church in question would forfeit its right to a say in international bodies, explained Presiding Bishop Clive Handford. "We want a structural solution that keeps the community as close together as it can be," Handford said.The working group had proposed earlier in the week that the most controversial practices of individual member churches be halted until further notice. In addition to episcopal ordination for gays, this also affects public blessing ceremonies for gay couples.In addition, churches would be prohibited from operating on the territory of other churches without permission. These moratoria had been called for before but had not prevailed. Even now, it's not clear whether the proposals will meet with the approval of the entire conference. Bishops from North America in particular are skeptical.The church's honorary leader had already called on all sides to be more willing to compromise on Tuesday. "Everyone is challenged," Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury said in a plenary address to bishops. The "mutual generosity" is the right way. Williams again advocated the creation of an additional international advisory body.
Vatican: women's episcopal ordination sets ecumenism back enormously Curia Cardinal Walter Kasper, who is responsible for ecumenism, was also a guest at the Lambeth Conference on Wednesday. In his speech, he lamented that the consecration of women bishops in the Anglican Communion represented a serious step backward in ecumenical dialogue for the Catholic Church. Although there has been quite a bit of progress between the two churches in recent years, "these episcopal ordinations substantially and definitively block a possible recognition of Anglican ordinations by the Catholic Church," Cardinal Walter Kasper said Wednesday at the Anglican Lambeth Conference in Canterbury. Although he hopes for a continuation of the Catholic-Anglican dialogue, recent developments have changed its level. Nevertheless, he hopes "that with the help of God you will still find a way out," Kasper stressed in the speech text published Wednesday evening in "Osservatore Romano". "It seems that full visible communion as the goal of our dialogue has taken a step backward, that our dialogue has lower goals, and that its character has changed," the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity said. For the Catholic Church, ordination to the priesthood is reserved exclusively for men; this tradition has also been preserved by the Eastern Churches. Kasper also criticized the Anglican Communion's stance on homosexuality. According to Catholic views, homosexual activity is morally disordered. He also pointed to a different understanding of the episcopate: while in the Anglican Communion the particular churches and their pastors are autonomous and independent, in the Catholic Church they are related to each other and form a unity. At the same time, the Curia cardinal praised the progress made in Catholic-Anglican dialogue over the past 40 years. In particular, he praised the work of international Anglican-Catholic commissions. This dialogue must continue, but it will take place against the background of the development on a different level. Anglicans' most important advisory body, which meets only once every ten years, is meeting in Canterbury until Sunday. This year's meeting comes amid divisions over controversial ies such as the ordination of homosexuals and women as bishops. Several bishops, mostly from African countries, are boycotting the conference in protest of what they see as too much liberalization in the Anglican Church.