ecumenism" "
“Mary: grace and hope in Christ”: that’s the title of a document drawn by ARCIC (International Commission for dialogue between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church) and presented at the end of a meeting held at Seattle (USA) from 28 January to 3 February under the co-chairmanship of Archbishop Alexander J. Brunett of Seattle and the Rev. Peter Carnley, archbishop of Perth and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia. The joint work of the two Churches on Mary was completed at Seattle, says a communiqué issued by the Anglican Communion. The document will now be submitted to the scrutiny of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity and of the Advisory Anglican Council under the Archbishop of Canterbury. “The Commission says the communiqué hopes that the two bodies may proceed without further ado to its publication”. ARCIC, the joint Anglican/Catholic Commission of dialogue, was established in 1982 on the mandate of John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie. Over the last twenty years, it has published four documents: on salvation (1987), on the Church as communion (1991), on the “Life in Christ” (1994) and on “The gift of authority” (1999). In 1999, the Commission began work on the role of Mary in the life and doctrine of the Church. “The Church’s understanding of Mary explains the ARCIC communiqué has been subject to a deep controversy between Anglicans and Catholics”, especially due to the Catholic dogmas on the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary. “The Commission says the statement has tried to go beyond the positions and formulate a common approach to the question under discussion”.
