The Most Reverend George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, delivered a sermon at ecumenical vespers. This evening gives us an opportunity to celebrate that fact. Nevertheless we know that some Protestant Christians object to this theological dialogue. They fear that Reformation principles are being abandoned and gospel faith is being traduced. I reply that the journey the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion have taken since the Second Vatican Council has not been a journey away from the Christian faith but a pilgrimage together into its heart.
Polemics lead to hatred and division.
The crisis of Christian division is the sad legacy of the past and our continuing failure to heal it. Although we personally are not to blame for those historical circumstances which have lead to today's divided Church we are accountable to the degree that we are unwilling to work for resolution of the results of past conflicts. The Catholics take communion only in their services, the Anglicans only in theirs. And that, as much as anything, captures the reason for the meeting. Though interchurch families can be signs of unity and hope, one pressing concern has to do with addressing the need to provide joint pastoral care for them.