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Synod to debate Pope's supremacy
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent and Jonathan Wynne-Jones
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
1/19/2004
The Church of England is being asked to take its biggest step towards accepting the primacy of the Pope and the concept of infallibility since Henry VIII broke from Rome 450 years ago.
A joint Roman Catholic and Anglican report arguing that the Pope should be recognised as the "universal primate" is to be debated by the General Synod next month.
Church leaders anxious to promote unity have welcomed the proposals, but they will meet fierce resistance from conservative Protestants.
The Rev David Phillips, the general secretary of the Church Society and a Synod member, said: "We would reject universal primacy even if the papacy is reformed. There is no way we would want to be linked to the Roman Catholic Church. On some issues, its teaching is even worse now than it was at the Reformation."
The Gift of Authority report was published several years ago by the Third Anglican/ Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC).
It argued that Anglicans should accept the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome as long as the Pope devolved much of his power to his bishops and local churches.
More controversially, the report also suggests that the Church as a body could, in certain circumstances, make infallible pronouncements on matters of teaching.
Most Anglicans, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, are opposed to the present concept of papal infallibility, which allows the Pope to make such declarations, which cannot be overturned, on his own.
In reality, however, there have been only a few such ex cathedra statements, relating mainly to the Virgin Mary. Catholic teaching on controversial issues such as birth control is not covered.
The Pope has recently signalled his willingness to re-examine his role and even evangelical bishops have indicated that they could accept him as a spokesman.
However, many will view the Synod debate as largely academic as unity talks have been derailed by the Anglican decision to ordain women and the row over homosexuality.
Moreover, the Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Rev Ian Cundy, who is the chairman of the Church of England's Council for Christian Unity, is expected to slow progress on the ARCIC report further when the Synod meets from Feb 9.
While the bishop will welcome moves towards greater unity between the Churches, he will criticise aspects of the report and ask for more detail and clarity in key areas.
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