THE P
RTAL
Ecumenical events in the CofE
July 2017 Page 11 Anglican News
An interesting report from The Revd Paul Benfield
The National Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham on the last Spring Bank
Holiday at the end of May had an ecumenical flavour this year . It was one of the ‘ Beacon ’ events as part of the Thy Kingdom Come Prayer Initiative - ten days of prayer from Ascension Day to Pentecost encouraged by the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster and other Church leaders to pray for the Mission of the Church to our nation . The principal celebrant at the Mass was the Rt Revd Dr Martin Warner , Bishop of Chichester , with other bishops and priests concelebrating .
After the lunch break there followed the sermon and procession . Jointly presided over by the Bishop of Norwich and the Bishop of East Anglia , the preacher was Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap , the internationally renowned preacher and author . Since 1980 , he has served Pope St John Paul II , Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis as Preacher to the Papal Household . In 2015 , he was invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury to preach at the opening Eucharist of General Synod at Westminster Abbey in the presence of HM the Queen .
After the sermon , the usual rosary procession round the village took place and the Bishops of Norwich and East Anglia then led the congregation in an act of thanksgiving and commitment to the mission of the Church . As a sign of commitment to work and pray together , two icons had been commissioned for the Anglican Shrine and the Roman Catholic National Shrine and these were blessed , sprinkled with holy water and censed . Depicting the vision of Richeldis , they will be a visible reminder of the proclamation we make together in Walsingham and the rich heritage that together we share .
A few days later , a seminar was held in Rome attended by the Bishops of Ebbsfleet , Fulham and Richborough , Fr Ian McCormack and Dr Colin Podmore , Director of Forward in Faith . The seminar was held at the Anglican Centre in Rome by kind permission of its Director , Archbishop David Moxon , who participated in the seminar with the Associate Director and the Director-designate , Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi . The British Ambassador to the Holy See was also present . The Roman Catholic participants included staff members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and other dicasteries of the Holy See ,
together with a number of Roman Catholics prominent in Anglican - Roman Catholic relations . It was held with the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of Westminster was aware of , and happy with , the initiative . It was significant that the party from England stayed in the Domus Sanctae Marthae , which is available only to those who have official business with the Holy See .
Its purpose was to present and explain to an invited audience both the official provisions put in place to enable Anglican Catholics and Conservative Evangelicals to flourish within the Church of England following the ordination of women as bishops ( notably in the House of Bishops ’ Declaration ) and The Society as the Anglo-Catholic structure which builds on those provisions .
In addition to presentations by the members of the group and responses by Roman Catholic participants , the seminar also included a presentation by the Revd Alexander McGregor , Deputy Legal Adviser to the General Synod , on the legislation and the House of Bishops ’ Declaration .
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet , the Rt Revd Jonathan Goodall , said , ‘ The seminar has been a very positive experience , and warmly received . It has given us a valuable opportunity to set out for our friends and colleagues in Rome how The Society is responding , in an anomalous situation , to the challenges , on the one hand , of obedience to an ancient common ecclesiology we share with Roman Catholics , and on the other of confidence in those aspects of mutual recognition and witness we have with our fellow Anglicans . We are very grateful to the Anglican Centre for making it possible .’