Bishop Ray Sutton, Provincial Dean for Ecumenical Affairs, and Bishop Eric Menees led a team from the Anglican Church in North America in conversation with representatives of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Among the topics discussed were the Anglican Church in North America’s membership in the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) and the Global South of the Anglican Communion, including the statement on sexuality released by the Global South following their meeting in Cairo. Bishop Sutton also summarized the current state of the ACNA’s ecumenical conversations with the Orthodox, Lutherans, Polish National Catholic churches, the Messianic Jewish Community, the Presbyterians, Methodists and other denominations and ministries.
Other topics discussed during the gathering included Pope Francis’ John 17 Initiative calling for Christian unity, as well as the desire to identify concrete issues of mutual need and shared concern such as the sanctity of life and religious freedom.
You can learn more about the John 17 movement here: http://www.john17movement.com/ourvision/
The conversation included Bishop Ray Sutton (Mid-America), Bishop Eric Menees (San Joaquin), Bishop Clark Lowenfield (Western Gulf Coast), and The Rev. Dr. Greg Peters. The Roman Catholic members of the conversation were Bishop Mitchell Rozanski, Chair of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Fr. John Crossin, Executive Director, and Fr. Rob Roberson, Staff Scholar for Orthodox and ARCUSA Relations. The meeting took place on October 12, 2016 in Chicago.
The next gathering is scheduled for October 11, 2017, in Chicago, IL. At that meeting, both Anglican and Roman Catholics scholars will be presenting papers on issues around religious liberty.
