Catholic-Anglican dialogue reflects on new global leaders

Catholic and Anglican representatives gathered in Christchurch this week to discuss their shared mission, joint areas of focus and the recent changes of leadership in each tradition.

Bishop Michael Gielen, co-chair of the Anglican Roman Catholic Commission of Aotearoa New Zealand, celebrated Mass for the Commission and staff of the Christchurch Diocese on October 22.

He noted it was coincidentally the feast day of St John Paul II, who in 1986 had led an ecumenical service at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, which stood on the same land as the diocesan offices.

Bishop Gielen quoted from the saint’s comments during his homily, including Pope John Paul II’s call to work for unity “by the process of honest dialogue sustained by prayer, without compromising the truth”.

Bishop Gielen said one of the topics of discussion during the two days of meetings was the selection of Pope Leo XIV and Archbishop Sarah Mullaly as the leaders of the Catholic and Anglican communities.

“What we have been reflecting on is the transition of leadership from Francis to Leo and from Justin Welby to Sarah Mullaly, and what that has meant, what that process has been like for us – what has unified us, what different challenges we’ve experienced,” he said.

Cardinal John Dew, who participated in the conclave that elected Pope Leo, joined the meeting to share his personal insights into the experience of taking part in the ancient ritual of choosing a new pope.

Auckland Bishop Ross Bay, the Anglican co-chair of ARCCANZ, said he is seeing a shift in the way Anglicans and Catholics collaborate.

“I think one of the ways in which the work of dialogue has progressed has been that it started really about talking a lot together, about the things that divide us, the things that we've been working on to find common ground, but we've been finding ourselves drawn more towards how we walk together,” Bishop Bay said.

“What are the things we can do together and walk together towards that, through a common purpose and mission, draw us closer together in our common call to live out a baptismal life?”

One area in which that common call was explored was in practical efforts to combat modern slavery and human trafficking.

“That is one of the things we've gathered a lot of our korero around – what can we do together in that space, both to achieve something that makes a difference in our society, but also expresses that sense of a call to have common mission together?”

ARCCANZ is comprised of four Catholic and four Anglican members, along with the bishop co-chairs. The group meets twice a year.