That affectionate gesture” “

It’s not the first time that an Anglican Primate has paid a courtesy call on the Pope. It may be said, indeed, that a kind of tradition of exchanges, of contacts, has developed, even for the pre-eminent figure of the archbishop of Canterbury. For although he is not the “Pope of the Anglicans”, since he has no primacy of jurisdiction, he does nonetheless play a more prominent ceremonial role than any other leader of the Christian confessions that arose in the sixteenth century. The previous meeting, which has remained firmly lodged in the memory of everyone, is the one that took place on the opening of the Holy Door of the basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls in Rome on the occasion of the Jubilee in 2000. That was not just an exchange of greetings, but the participation in an historical rite belonging to a long tradition of the Western Church. There still remains firmly lodged within the Anglican Communion a “Catholic” spirit, if only for those Roman rites that arouse attraction and nostalgia in many. This visit of the archbishop of Canterbury, elected in July this year, assumes a particular ecumenical significance in that it reaffirms at the highest level the will to continue the dialogue between the two Churches, in spite of the well-known difficulties bequeathed by the past, and also those that have intervened in the ethical and ecclesiastical field in our own time, such as women priests, the ordination of self-declared homosexual pastors, and the yielding to controversial practices linked to the spheres of bioethics and sexuality. Archbishop Williams is having to conduct a role of pastoral guidance, within the limits permitted to him, to prevent splits and threatened schism within the Anglican Communion, which is agitated by strong tensions and dissent on the above-mentioned questions. And these questions also pose serious difficulties in the ecumenical field, since – as Williams himself admitted in his address to the Pope – “they are not just of a disciplinary nature, but also extend to essential matters of faith and morality”. In the light of all this, affirmed the archbishop, “we must reaffirm our obligation to listen attentively and honestly to the voice of Christ, as it reaches us through the Gospel and the apostolic tradition of the Church”. These simple and clear words reaffirm the pastoral and ecumenical commitment in its original source, its founding inspiration. John Paul II reviewed, with a slight accent of regret, the promising history of the stages of meetings and dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans, which were among the first to be held after Vatican Council II. He recalled the start of the theological dialogue promoted by Paul VI and Archbishop Ramsey, who – said the Pope – “could not have known the exact course or duration of the process towards full communion, but knew that patience and perseverance would be needed and that it would only be achieved as the gift of the Holy Spirit”. It is in the common commitment to continue this process “with patience and perseverance”, and with the insistent prayer to the Holy Spirit, that the profound spiritual and theological significance of this visit consists; a visit sealed by the affectionate gesture of the brotherly kiss that the two men of God sincerely exchanged.