Vatican Signals Possible Dialogue with New Anglican Communion
The Vatican has hinted it may be ready to engage in ecumenical talks with the newly formed conservative Global Anglican Communion. This move could alter decades of Catholic-Anglican relations traditionally centered around the See of Canterbury, regarded as the English church’s historic “first among equals.”
A Shift in Ecumenical Relations
According to a report by the German Catholic publication Katholisch, a senior Vatican official recently raised concerns about the Catholic Church’s official dialogue counterpart after the Anglican Communion’s historic division.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, a Swiss cleric who heads the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, made these remarks during a symposium in his honor in Vallendar, Germany.
Key Concern Raised
Koch observed that the appointment of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury, and her progressive stance on sexual ethics, were major factors prompting the split between the conservative GAFCON movement and the more liberal Church of England.
“Who will we dialogue with in the future if the Anglican world community is so divided?”
This question marks the first time a high-ranking Vatican official has publicly acknowledged that the Global Anglican Communion (GAC), the new organization formed by GAFCON, is being seriously regarded as a possible ecumenical partner.
Author’s Summary
The Vatican’s openness to dialogue with the Global Anglican Communion signals a new phase in Catholic-Anglican relations following the Anglican split, highlighting shifting alliances within global Christianity.