Dialogue Document
The Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation in the U.S.A.: Ecclesiology and Moral Discernment (2014)
The Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation in the U.S.A.: Ecclesiology and Moral Discernment, Seeking a Unified Moral Witness
For almost fifty years, since 1965, the Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic Church have been engaged in an official bilateral dialogue sponsored by the two churches, the Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Consultation in the United States of America, sometimes known as ARC-USA. As a part of this dialogue, ARC-USA has produced a number of statements and reports on important theological subjects of concern to the two churches, often building on and responding to the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) established in 1967. Our own statement takes its place in this succession.
In 2008 ARC-USA was asked by the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, to address questions of ethics and the Christian life in the context of ecclesiology, in an effort to achieve greater clarity regarding areas of agreement and disagreement. We were aware that our bilateral dialogue took place in a wider context of discussion of these questions, between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church on the international level, as well as other bilateral dialogues between churches.
To further our discussion, ARC-USA began by reviewing together the 1993 ARCIC document Life in Christ: Morals, Communion and the Church and the ARC-USA response of 1995, as well as the 1993 papal encyclical Veritatis splendor. In our meetings members of our dialogue offered papers on moral teachings in our two traditions. Poverty and immigration were chosen as particular issues, along with contraception, medical care at the end of life, and the blessing of same-sex unions. Through these papers and ensuing discussion we sought to understand more fully how our two churches pursue the work of teaching and learning within the Christian moral life.