A Notable Concordat.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XI, Issue 5, 1 November 1920, Page 328

A Notable Concordat.

The " Living Church " ; (United States of America) m its issue of August 14th prints the terms of the Concordat embracing terms of corporate unity and intercommunion between Anglicans, Old Catholics and Easterns, which has been signed by the Old Catholics and the Armenian Patriarchate at Constantinople, and cordially received by, the Synod at Athens, and the Orthodox Patriarch at Constantinople. In a leading article, the editor says:— "As an event m Church history this has no equal m the last four hundred years) nor as a forward event, m ten centuries. It means that, if the present hopeful indications shall be crowded with success, there will no longer be m Catholic Christendom three great ''branches" of the Churchy each going its own way, regardless of the others; that the great schism of the 9th century will be healed m so far as it affects Easterns and Anglicans; with a small body of Latins associated with these m intimate, friendship. Once, more, there will be a really world-wide unity m the (Datliplic Church, not, indeed, embracing the Churches of all lands, those of the Roman obedience being self-excluded, but yet paralleling the Latin Communion with a united. Catholic Church m which East and West are intermingled as they have been m more than a thousand years." . . " s \' - The terms of the agreement proposed'as a basis of unity are briefly as follows:— ' In general, we accept with common mind the traditional and ecumenically received faith, ministry and sacramental order of the Historic Catholic Church, acknowledging however,

that! each particular autbnomous part of the Catholic Church has authority to regelate its own internal government,' ritual, and spiritual discipline., \ ■ ;■■■■.•-.■ ••■ : : '■■' \ ■-^ ;■',;,. .-■. In paxtictilar : (1) All ■ accept the .authority of the Catholic Church over all the^jfiijbi^'tp'^aiiA-wJiat^w 1 necessary t p ; be; believed and practised for salvation. ',(2) Alii accept the canonical Scriptures as being the veritable Word of God. (3) All accept the. Nicene Creed, the decrees of the ecumenically General .Councils and ; the sacraments as means of grace. (4) /The Westerns agree that; Filioque was irregularly but that the insertion m Spain was to combat Arianism, and that no dual procession is intended. ? The 'Easterns accept the above, statement, but maintain the liberty of using' the ori--ginal Creed. (5) The Councils of Mcaea-325, Constantinople 381, Ep«hesus 431, Chalcedon .451, .Constantinople 680/1 and Nicaea 78X, are agreed to be ecumenical. (6) With regard to sacraments, or mysteries of grace, we agree that Baptism, Confirmation, the Holy Eucharist, Penance, Holy Order, Holy Matrimony and Holy Unction are means of grace stowed by the Holy Spirit; m this sense all confess that there are seven Sacraments. (7) All agree m rejecting the claims of the Papacy to infallibility and overlprdship; ■ ■, In 1919 Professor Adrdutsos discussed our orders m his treatise, '[The Validity of English Ordinations, ' ' and came to the conclusion (p. 113) that until Ecclesia Anglicana could speak with an united voice as regards the sacraments, confession, ■the Eucharist,, the ecumenical : councils, it was idle f or / the Orthodox Church to entertain any idea of corporate reunion- That voice has now spoken through the last Lambeth' Conference, and N thus the way is payed for reunion. All honor to our brethren of the American Church for their labors an the same direction. Te Deum Laudamus.— -"Church Stan- ,: dard." ; ■ ;