Anglicans Recognise The Pope As Church Father

August 14, 2022256 views0

Anglicans Recognise The Pope As Church Father

2022-08-14T12:23:10+01:00

By Church News

At the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, in the ecumenical discussions, Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, said that most Anglicans recognize the pope as “the father of the Church in the West.”The Lambeth Conference brings together leaders of international Anglican churches approximately every ten years to discuss current issues and come to a consensus. One of the issues this year is ecumenism.The 2022 Lambeth Conference with the theme “God’s Church for God’s World: Walking, Listening, and Witnessing Together,” had over 600 bishops representing Christian communities from the Anglican Communion who gathered for a program of lectures and discussions ranging from peace and reconciliation to environment and sustainability.During this year’s conference, Justin Welby said that he is “not proud” of the level of progress made in promoting Christian unity in recent years. He attributed this stagnation in part to what he termed “habits of separation” that have been fostered over the last 500 years.Nonetheless, he believes that the majority of the Church of England’s members acknowledge the pope to be “the father of the Church in the West.” Addressing the conference, Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect for the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, stressed the urgency of ecumenical dialogue. Koch called the present state of division an “emergency” in the Church.The Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley noted that the conference could cement the unity of the Anglican Communion.Longley also pointed out that the road to wider Christian unity and dialogue between the Anglicans and the Catholic Church would be “hampered” if the former were to divide.Welby’s comments on ecumenism follow his call for a vote on banning same-sex marriage earlier in the conference.However, Welby said at a press conference in March that debates on human sexuality should not dominate this year’s Lambeth Conference.An estimated 480 spouses additionally went to the meeting and some were welcomed to share their considerations during the conference.Phyllis Magina, wife of Bishop Robert Magina of Kenya’s Diocese of Nambale said, “what surprised me much in this conference is how much God can bring the whole wide world together, just to sit under his feet and learn from him and hear from him and listen to him”.ALSO READ The Queen Speaks Of ‘great need for God’ In Letter To Lambeth Bishops