ROME (CNS) Two months before opening the Anglican Communion’s Lambeth Conference, the Anglican primate was in Rome to commission his new representative to the Vatican, to meet privately with Pope Benedict XVI and to convene a Christian-Muslim dialogue. Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Communion, said his May 5 meeting with Pope Benedict "was a friendly and informal meeting in which we discussed a number of ecumenical issues, some of the pope’s impressions from his American visit and common issues in Christian-Muslim dialogue."
As the ordination of openly gay clerics, the blessing of gay unions and the ordination of women bishops in some Anglican provinces threatens to split the Anglican Communion, the July 16-Aug. 3 Lambeth Conference will bring Anglican bishops together to discuss structures and procedures for ensuring unity.
Pope Benedict and Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican’s chief ecumenist, have expressed their hopes that the communion can remain united, but have said unity must be based on fidelity to the Scriptures and tradition, including moral issues.
In an interview with Vatican Radio before meeting the pope, Archbishop Williams said, "I hope to bring him up to date on our plans about the Lambeth Conference."
The archbishop was asked if the installation of the Rev. David Richardson as his representative to the Vatican and head of the Anglican Center in Rome was coming in "perhaps the most difficult phase" of modern Catholic-Anglican relations.
"I think that in terms of the conflicts within the Anglican Communion, yes, it’s an unprecedentedly difficult time — no two ways about that," the archbishop said.
But "tremendously deep foundations have been laid of personal trust and confidence," which should allow an honest discussion to continue with Vatican officials, he said.
Archbishop Williams’ trip to Rome was planned around the seventh Building Bridges Seminar, a meeting of Christian and Muslim experts from around the world, which the archbishop convoked to promote dialogue.