Pope may be a ‘universal primate’ — Dr Runcie

Press, 20 March 1982, Page 9

Pope may be a ‘universal primate’ — Dr Runcie

NZPA staff correspondent London Anglicans should be prepared to look at the acceptance of the Pope as a “universal primate,” said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, yesterday. He said, “I would have thought, in terms of history, of loyalty to the Bible and the early centuries of the church, the acceptance of a figure who was a focus of unity in terms .of that history and in terms of affection, and' recognising how there are global problems which bind us all together, Anglicans should be ready to explore that sort of primacy." Dr Runcie was speaking informally to journalists at Lambeth Palace, his residence, as Britain and the Vatican resumed full diplomatic relations after a break of more than four centuries. Pope John Paul’s London representative, Swiss-born Archbishop Bruno Heim,

aged 70, became Papal Pronuncio, the-equivalent of an ambassador, by presenting his credentials to the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Sir Mark Heath became Britain’s Ambassador to the Vatican. The Vatican and the British Government agreed in January to establish full diplomatic relations. Pope John Paul will set the seal on the gradual healing of the historic breach in relations when he visits Britain in May.

Relations between . the Vatican and Britain were ruptured in 1534, when Britain’s King Henry VIII broke ties with Rome because it refused to sanction his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Relations were briefly resumed during the brief reign of Henry’s and Catherine's Roman Catholic daughter, Queen Mary, but the growing strength of Protestantism helped to sustain the breach. Dr Runcie said that the

long-awaited report of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission, dealing with relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, would be published on March 31. The report of the commission, which comprised 11 Roman Catholic theologians and 11 Anglican theologians, speaks of the Pope as being the “Bishop of Rome” acting as “universal primate.” Dr Runcie said that this sort of primacy was very like the primacy the Archbishop of Canterbury held over the Anglican Communion. He said, "Somebody asked' me, ‘Where will the Archbishop of Canterbury fit in if you accept a primacy of this sort?’ Well, I can think of a way of arranging that.” The report took 11 years to prepare and is expected to spark off considerable debate among Anglicans and Roman Catholics. The Anglican Church is expected to make a final decision on the report at the next Lambeth conference in 1988. Dr Runcie said that the report was a "delicate attempt" to look at questions which had caused immense bitterness.

He said, “It will require a good deal of careful teaching in the churches. The theologians have. I believe, learned to talk with each other and reach agreement and that is excellent.

“But perhaps they have not sufficiently learned to talk to the faithful of the churches and it will need a good deal of translation before it comes back to the church authorities for endorsement. “So I see it as an international study document that will take several years to filter through the churches before it comes back for anything like ... approval by the authorities of each church.” Dr Runcie, who will welcome Pope John Paul at a service in Canterbury Cathedral on May 29, said that the Pope had emphasised that he wanted his visit to Britain to have an ecumenical dimension. The Pope saw his visit to Canterbury as an important part of that. Dr Runcie said, “As I see

it, the purpose is to build on this ecumenical sentiment, to enlarge.it to include other Christian groups in England, and to make that occasion an opportunity for a step forward which will have wider significance than these islands.” There were dangers that the Pope’s visit "might strengthen elements that are not so keen on ecumenism.” Some people still believed constitutional issues of great importance were at stake and that these were being underestimated “in the name of a kind of soft-boiled ecumenism." Dr Runcie said, “I have tried to take those (views) seriously. But there has been a certain amount of less responsible protest at the papal visit, and I myself think that to be unrepresentative of the mainstream churches and unrepresentative of the generation of my children, 18 and 22.” Of his experience in Liverpool, when he was howled down and jostled by militant Protestants, he said that he had grown up in Liverpool and that he remembered the battles and bitterness in the streets on Roman Catholic and Protestant special days. “Some pretty dreadful things used to’ happen in those days. I hoped that those days were completely things of the past but obviously, in a small way but very noisy way, it is still there.” Of the role of women in the Anglican Church, Dr Runcie said that their position had been understimated historically, “and that is putting it mildly.” While he was. pleased that Anglicans were moving towards equality for women, he had not not been in favour of their immediate ordination as priests. This had been done in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada, and the United States and it had been agreed at the last Lambeth conference that this would not break up the i Anglican Communion.