Centro

News from the Anglican Centre in Rome

July 2009 Volume 15 No 2

Welcome to the Prime Minister of Australia
Dean David Richardson welcomed Mr Kevin Rudd, the first head of government to visit the Anglican Centre. Mr Rudd, said David, had shown vision in recognising the strategic importance of relations with the Holy See. This importance was something the Anglican Centre also recognised. “It is a hopeful corner of our interdependent, pluralistic and fast-changing world. The work of the Centre will only become more important as people increasingly recognise that this century will demand more and more institutional coordination, whether that be across the religions, the financial systems or the political orders.”

Brisbane Covenant
The Roman Catholic and Anglican Archbishops of Brisbane recently committed themselves and their dioceses to a new era of cooperation. Archbishop John Bathersby commented, “We live in a secular culture and the more Christians from different Communions bind together to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ so much the better.”

End of the Year of Paul
Preaching at an ecumenical service before the Feast of St Peter and Paul, David Richardson spoke of Paul the arch-traditionalist who realised that in Christ all barriers were cancelled, and who held a vision of a single humanity united in the adoration of God.

The goal: the unity for which Christ prayed
Speaking at a lecture in New York, David Richardson reaffirmed the search for the unity of the Church, dependent on the unity of God working through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. “So long as we are clear about the Church’s sacramental nature we have a goal of unity.”

Caritas in veritate: Pope Benedict XVI’s Encyclical is published
"Globalisation makes us neighbours but does not make us brothers.”
An Encyclical to mark the 40th Anniversary of Populorum Progressio’s publication in March 1967 was expected two years ago. The intervening time has been one of enormous upheaval, and the whole world is reeling from the system-shattering effects of globalisation, addressed in this letter which calls for holistic understanding and a new humanistic synthesis rooted in God's love which “calls us to move beyond the limited and the ephemeral [and] gives us the courage to continue seeking and working for the benefit of all.”

Christmas Cards
Filippi Lippi’s “Annunciation” is the Christmas Card available in two sizes, sold in aid of the Anglican Centre.

Mission Statement
At their meeting in Cincinnati, the Centre’s Governors agreed a mission statement highlighting the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See in the purposes of the Centre.