The Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury together sent 19 pairs of Catholic and Anglican bishops back to their home dioceses last week to promote joint prayer, joint proclamation of the Gospel and, especially, joint works of charity and justice.
“Today we rejoice to commission them and send them forth in pairs as the Lord sent out the 72 disciples,” Pope Francis and the archbishop said in a common declaration signed at the end of an evening prayer service.
The 38 bishops, who are part of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission, included Bishop Mark O’Toole of Plymouth and the Anglican Bishop of Truro, the Rt Reverend Tim Thornton.
“Let the message go out from this holy place, as the Good News was sent out so many centuries ago, that Catholics and Anglicans will work together to give voice to our common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to bring relief to the suffering, to bring peace where there is conflict, to bring dignity where it is denied and trampled upon,” the Pope and archbishop said.
The Vespers service, in Latin and English, was celebrated at Rome’s Church of St Gregory on the Caelian Hill, the church from which St Gregory the Great sent St Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow monks to evangelise England in 597.
In his homily, Francis said that God wanted the unity of his people “and desires, especially, that pastors devote themselves to this”. Unfortunately, he said, over the course of history, “we have lost sight of the brother who was alongside us, we have become incapable of recognising him and of rejoicing over the gifts and grace we each have received.”
Pope Francis said that all Christians, especially the 38 bishops, are called “to work as instruments of communion always and everywhere”.
“When, as disciples of Jesus, we offer our service in a joint way, one alongside the other, when we promote openness and encounter, vanquishing the temptation of closures and isolation, we work at the same time for both the unity of Christians and that of the human family,” he said.
Pope Francis urged Catholic and Anglican bishops and parish priests around the world, “before undertaking any activity”, to ask: “Why can’t we do this with our Anglican brothers and sisters? Can we witness to Jesus working together with our Catholic brothers and sisters?
“May God grant us to be promoters of a bold and real ecumenism, always seeking to open new paths,” the Pope said.
At the end of the service, Pope Francis gave Archbishop Welby a replica of St Gregory’s crozier. Archbishop Welby took a pectoral cross from around his neck and gave it, as a gift, to Pope Francis, who kissed it and put it on.
At the prayer service, Archbishop Welby said: “When we fight among ourselves as Christians, when we lose the obligation of sharing mercy and forgiveness, we not only disobey the explicit prayer and command of our Lord, but also we become shepherds who devour the sheep, the Church becomes a circus for gladiatorial combat in which the losers are shown no mercy.”
Archbishop Welby will preach at Vespers at Westminster Cathedral marking the end of the Year of Mercy.
Liverpool cathedral ransacked
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral was ransacked during a robbery last week.
Thieves were reported to have broken in through a flat roof near the front entrance, stealing cash and smashing glass images.
Canon Anthony O’Brien, cathedral dean, said: “Two images in glass, specially made for the cathedral, have been smashed beyond repair and may be impossible to replace.” He said Catholics were “deeply saddened” by the vandalism.
Resist gender ideology, says bishop
Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury has warned Catholic schools of the dangers of the “ideology of gender” that is spreading throughout the Western world.
In a letter “On the Truth of the Human Person” sent to headteachers, chairs of governors and heads of religious education in the diocese, the bishop noted that there were now “many questions” facing schools arising from the ideology of gender, the theory that personal choice is sufficient to determine a person’s gender rather than his or her biology.
Bishop Davies said Catholics had a duty to welcome people who may “experience difficulty identifying with their biological sex”. But he warned schools against the promotion and acceptance of the new ideology of gender, “which is beginning to permeate social consciousness with far-reaching consequences”.
In his letter Bishop Davies offered educationalists a summary of papal and magisterial teachings on the truth about the human body and sexuality, quoting from Pope St John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Pope Francis and the catechism.
“We must always show genuine love and understanding to those who are swayed or fall victim to the errors of our times,” the bishop said. “However, we can never compromise the truth of our faith nor allow the truth about the human person to be obscured, for that would be a false charity.
“Today, the Church is being called to defend this very truth of the human person.”
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