Friday, August 08, 2008

Praying for a faith communion

The Anglican Communion needs to find a way to affirm the dignity of all people and encourage the active role of women in the Church while remaining faithful to the Christian tradition and Scriptures, Cardinal Walter Kasper said.

The cardinal, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, spoke on July 30 at a session for bishops attending the Anglican Communion's Lambeth Conference, which is held once every 10 years, in England.

Offering "Roman Catholic Reflections on the Anglican Communion", the cardinal told the bishops he spoke "as a friend" representing a Church committed to dialogue with Anglicans and praying that the Anglican Communion does not split as a result of differences over ordaining women and over homosexuality.

The ordination of women bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of an openly gay bishop in some Anglican provinces are seen as practices that will make Roman Catholic-Anglican unity impossible, in addition to straining relations among Anglicans.

The text of his presentation was published in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

In his address, the cardinal said, "We hope that we will not be drawn apart, and that we will be able to remain in serious dialogue in search of full unity so that the world may believe."

Cardinal Kasper said even as the Roman Catholic Church prayed that Anglicans would find ways to strengthen their communion the bishops must remember that what was at stake "is nothing other than our faithfulness to Christ himself".

The Catholic Church was convinced that its teaching that homosexual activity was sinful "is well-founded in the Old and in the New Testament" as well as in the tradition of Christianity, he said.

And, Cardinal Kasper said, the popes had made it clear to Anglican leaders that the Roman Catholic Church was convinced that because Jesus chose only men to be his apostles the Church had no authority to ordain women.

The Lambeth Conference was held from mid-July to August 3.
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