Archbishop Sir David Moxon says that many people are unaware of the progress that has been achieved in terms of agreement between Catholics and Anglicans on core doctrines regarding authority, the Eucharist, marriage, ordination and the Church as communion.
In his view there is broad agreement on 80% of core doctrine, while the remaining 20% presents significant challenge.
Moxon was formerly the Anglican Bishop of Waikato.
He is currently the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome.
Moxon said agreement has not yet been reached on the Gift of Authority document published in 1999 and the ‘Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ’ statement published in 2005.
He was speaking after the the fifth session of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission concluded last week.
The group, known as ARCIC III, met from April 28th to May 4th to discuss relations between local, regional and Universal Churches and how moral or ethical decisions are made within each tradition.
During an audience with the group on Thursday, Pope Francis said these discussions remind us that ecumenism is not a secondary element in the life of the Church and that the differences which divide us must never be seen as inevitable.
Following that audience, Philippa Hitchen interviewed the co-presidents of ARCIC III, Moxon and the Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham in the UK, Bernard Longley. Listen to interview
Commenting on Pope Francis’ words about the ecumenism of the martyrs, Moxon said that in off-the-cuff remarks the Pope spoke of the Anglican and Catholic martyrs of Uganda who were murdered together in the 1880s.
Moxon also mentioned the martyrs of Papua New Guinea from different churches who were killed during the 2nd World War and where ecumenical solidarity is now extremely strong.
Source
- Vatican Radio
Image: Vatican Radio