Reunion.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIII, Issue 10, 2 April 1923, Page 456

Reunion.

The secretary of the E.C.U writes this m his annual report on the subject of Reunion: — "The prospects of reunion at home are not brilliant; m fact, they have become dim and ever dimmer as time has passed since the publication of the Lambeth Appeal. The action of some bishops m encouraging what are called 'united services,' and m permitting the intrusion of unauthorised persons into the pulpits of the Church to exhort the faithful, has done nothUg to forward the cause of reunion, though it has outraged the consciences of faithful Churchpeople. "The Lambeth Appeal demands the acceptance of episcopal ordination, m some sense of the phrase, by Non-. conformist ministers seeking reunion with the Church, as a sine qua non. It does not appear, liowever, that Protestant Nonconformists are really anxious at present about reunion with the Church of England at all, and as to episcopal ordination it is clear -that they will have none of it, m the historic and Catholic sense of the phrase. "On the other hand, there is no doubt but that the hearts of Catholics were deeply affected by the pub-

lication of the 'Call to Reunion,' by Lord Halifax, and the account which he gave of his conversations with Cardinal Mcrcier. Such conversations, though they may have no immediate practical result, undoubtedly pave the way to a better and more sympathetic understanding between those who are represented on either side. "But I have always believed that the way to Catholic reunion will illustrate once again, from our points of vieAv, the old proverb which comforts the weary traveller with the reflection that ' the longest way' round is often the shortest way home. ' I believe that the practical politics of reunion for us lie m the promotion of sympathetic intercourse with the East. The hope of reunion between the Churches of tjie Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Churches of the East already shines with promise on the horizon. The fruition of this hope, if and when it shall -be realised, must necessarily affect the attitude and policy of Rome, and may produce altogether unexpected consequences m that direction. "Meanwhile, something has been done. In the month of August the Holy Synod of the Great Church of Constantinople, after seventy _ years of careful and scientific invesigation and consideration of the question, passed a resolution recognising and affirming the validity and eononicity of Anglican Orders. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of this step on the pai-t of the Holy Synod of Constantinople. We may reasonably expect that the lead given by His Holiness the Patriarch and the Holy Synod will be followed by the Synods of other autocephalous Churches of the East, and that there will be a general recognition and acknowledgment of the validity and canonicity of Anglican Orders. "It is easy to see that the effect of this decision will be revolutionary m effect so. far as Catholic Christendom is . concerned. We ourselves have never had any doubt upon the. point, but we have stood quite alone hitherto m the Catholic world m our assertion of and confidence m the validity of our Orders. "If the resolution of the "Holy Synod be accepted by the rest of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, . the •whole position will be changed. "So much is true; yet at the same time we must neither exaggerate nor • anticipate too much. It is quite possible that our Orders may be recognised as valid, but that does not necessarily mean that we are to be received by the Greeks or to receive them oii equal terms m free intercommunion. Though Orders be valid, it is yet possible that those who hold them may be notorious heretics ; and

before we can hope to proceed further on the path of reunion with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, we must satisfy them as to the soundness and orthodoxy of our belief. "In this connection the immense value of the Declaration fo Faith and Doctrine which is being issued by the E.C.U., and to which thousands of English clergy have gladly appended their signatures, will be evident. "Although, owing to the --.troubles m the Near East, the Declaration has not yet been presented to His Holiness the Patriarch, yet it was translated and printed m the newspapers of the East, and has already served its purpose to some extent m connection with the resolution of the Holy Synod to which we are referring. We have been assured that a copy of this Declaration of Faith and Doctrine translated into Greek was m the hands of every member of the Synod at the time of the passing of the resolution; and it is not presumptuous to infer that the character of the Declaration may have gone far towards reassuring the minds of some of the members' of the Synod 'with regard to the implications of the important step that was then taken. "But this obstacle still blocks the •way. The Easterns say that they cannot contemplate intercommunion with us until they know what we really do believe; and they add that apparently we cannot agree among ourselves about that. Indeed/this is true. And so we are brought back to the same point agaiin. Fo,r those who truly love our Lord and desire the fulfilment of His Will m the world, the immediate thing to be done is to pray and work for the conversion of the Church of England to the knowledge and love of Him m the Catholic way."