CHURCH REUNION

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 84, 19 January 1928, Page 5

CHURCH REUNION

MALINES CONVERSATIONS. 1 OFFICIAL REPORTS ISSUED. PAPAL SUPREMACY QUESTION. <Per Press Association— Copyright.) (Revived This Day, 12 noon.) V LONDOiN, January 18. When prominent members of the Anglican and Catholic Churches met at Alalines at various times between lOi md 1925 to discuss the possibility oi reunion they were able to agree (ac£S"’to the official record just msuedl in the Eucharist the body and blood of. Christ are Sthfuf Retaken and received by the faithful, sec ondly, by consecration,, bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. They were also in agreementupon the confession and absolution Even upon the larger question of the recognition •«f the Pope’s authority there was some measure of It is pointed out that the talks were unofficial, bnt it is recalled that tie lake Cardinal Mercier presided. Among the five English churchmen present were Viscount Halifax, Dr- Coro (formerly Bishop of Oxford), Dr. Armitage Robmson (Dean of Wells) and Dean

report has been presented to the Archbishop of . together with a memorandum from the Catholics. One striking statement of an , Anglican, made with the full approval of his colleagues, reads: “We wish -for unity, and. it the necessary preliminary conditions have fSFmet we should not shrink from *e idea. of the Papacy acting as the centre 3 unity—not the Papacy existing today in theory and practice nmongCa - olios but the conception of a unity such* as may emerge at future eonferAnglicans, at the close of the fourth meeting, issued a document SS* reads Church is a living body under the authority of && bishops, as successors of the Apostles from tiie beginning of_ the Cbimh. Th Primacy and leadership among al St’faT. been re-xynjsed as belonging to the Bishop of Rome. The document added: ‘ Nor can we Anglicans imagine that any reunion oi Chratendom will be effected' y recognition of the Primacy of the r< T in the Catholics’ report reads of ancienttim^ieft -some bitterness of heart. It is better refer to the past but to try to forecast the form which d'apaluctmty jmight take ;i» the future. There .is .divergence of views centrum g the doctrine of the Papacyinevitable '.among members of . the (inference, bnt is not so .radical m nature as to prevent the question, being dis > cussed afresh with great prospects or further advance and' agreement ol heart and spirit.” . The Anglicans wrote.: ‘The net gam from the conversations was the elimination of several subjects which have ceased to be a cause of difference and the elucidation of others still re“ACatholic wrote: “The conversations impressed the participants with the conviction that proportionately as mutual .understanding and doctrinal agreement advance, it will become possib e to arrange a satisfactory adjustment of disciplinary rules, however delicate the matter may seem at present, llie Anglicans are ready to make sacrifices for the cause of union.” The Catholics’ statement continues: “We desire to deal considerately wit.ii any approach by them regarding the methods of government to .which they are accustomed in -all matters not .en~ dangering unity, whereof they .learned in accordance with the Gospel, . also : four centuries of painful separation.