Cardinal Cormac to speak at Worth Abbey on Anglican-Catholic dialogue

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor

Cardinal Cormac’s first major event in his old diocese of Arundel & Brighton since his recent retirement as Archbishop of Westminster will be held at Worth Abbey, Crawley, West Sussex on 29 October from 7.30pm.

Abbot Christopher will be welcoming all to the Abbey church followed by the Cardinal who will deliver the Seventh Richard Stewart Memorial Lecture reflecting on his many years involvement in working with other Christians and especially with ARCIC (The
Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission). The Cardinal was for many years the Catholic Co-Chairman of ARCIC, and he has called his lecture “ARCIC: Dead in the Water or Money in the Bank?”

Cardinal Cormac who was Bishop of Arundel & Brighton from 1977 to 2001 said: “I am really looking forward to the opportunity to come back to the diocese in which I began my connection with ARCIC and to reflect on the fruit of those many years of involvement and dialogue with the Anglican Community. I will also be a chance to see old friends and familiar faces.”

The lecture will be followed by a Question and Answer session before all are welcome to the Abbey Narthex for wine and nibbles with the Cardinal and Abbot.

The lecture is organized by the Mission and Unity Department of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton which works to foster ecumenical action in the diocese with other Christians. As well as supporting Catholics in the parishes of Arundel & Brighton Diocese to engage in local activities for Christian Unity the department also organizes diocesan wide events such as the Richard Stewart Memorial Lecture.

John Roberts, Mission and Unity Adviser for Arundel & Brighton Diocese said: “This will be a premier event in the diocese and for all people in Surrey and Sussex interested in fostering Christian Unity. I am pleased the tickets for the event, which are free, are already going fast with nearly 500 gone already. I am certain that on the day it will be standing room only!”

Tickets for the event are available from the Mission & Unity Office at the Christian Education Centre, 4, Southgate Drive, Crawley, RH10 6RP, tel.: 01293 651163, email sue.fellows@dabnet.org.

ARCIC: the Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission was established by Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI in 1967. Its terms of reference were established by the Malta Report in the following year and it has worked in two phases - 1970-1981, and 1983-2005.

The first phase of work was completed with the publication of the Final Report in 1981, dealing with three topics: The Eucharist, Ministry and Authority. The second phase covered a more diverse range of topics including: Salvation and the Church, 1986; The Church as Communion, 1991; Life in Christ: Morals, Communion and the Church, 1993; The Gift of Authority, 1999, and culminating in the publication of Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ in 2005. A preparatory commission for a third phase of ARCIC met in London in October 2007.