Articles of Faith: General Synod Feb 2009: Day One

The Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor today spoke of his regret at the divisions in the Anglican Communion that have taken it to the brink of schism.

Addressing the General Synod in Church House, Westminster he said the Anglican Church's struggles affected all churches or "ecclesial communities", as the Pope has instructed Catholic bishops to refer to non-Catholic and non-Orthodox churches.

"Divisions within any church or eccclesial community impoverish the communion of the whole Church," he said. "We Roman Catholics cannot be indifferent to what is happening to our friends in the Anglican Communion and, in particular, in the Church of England.

"All I can say – and I would not want to be misinterpreted - is that it is only in a fuller and deeper unity that the truth and the demands of the Gospel are to be discerned. In this sense, unity is a prerequisite to truth and you should not settle for less – even if it takes time."

The Cardinal is the first Roman Catholic prelate to address the Church of England's governing body since 1982 when his predecessor Cardinal Basil Hume attended Synod to mark the historic visit to Britain that year by the late Pope John Paul II.

He is due to retire later this year and the Congregation for Bishops in Rome will meet this week to decide his successor.

Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor was former chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission that produced the report on communion 19 years ago that finally reached the synod for debate.

Both churches have now entered what is described by many insiders as an "ecumenical winter" because of the Anglican moves towards women priests and bishops and homosexual ordination.

Few bishops now refer to the goal of "visible unity." The Cardinal said: "In the end our ecumenical journey has to be a journey towards fuller communion."

He continued: "I must say that we cannot give up on that ultimate goal even if it still seems so distant. It has to be visible and sacramental communion. We are Eucharistic communities and the communion we seek is Eucharistic – communion in one Eucharist and in the ministries, faith and authority that make it possible. Full communion is more than rediscovering a shared history, or fellow-feeling, and it is more than the parallel structures of life and worship that currently exist between us."

Marilyn McCord Adams, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, who specialises in the medieval period, urged Anglicans not to sell themselves short in dialogue with other churches.

"Has the Church of England lost its nerve?" she said. "Anglicans still do not recognise the primacy of Rome. Some of our provinces dare to ordain women."

The Reformation was not the unfortunate thing that so many seemed to imagine, she said. "Perhaps the last 500 years of division have been turned by God into a good thing. It is wonderful to learn about our ecumenical conversation partners and how they understand the church and the faith. I myself have spent most of my life studying medieval theology. Nevertheless Synod should spend time in consideration of gifts that we bring to the ecumenical table."