Ecumenists at Work

UNDER THE RUMOROUS eaves of the Palazzo Doria, beneath the tiled roof on which are spaced great terracotta pots of olive and oleander that overlook the fountains of arcaded courtyards, and frame, in the distance, the domes of Borromini and Michelangelo, is one of the more extraordinary institutions of ecumenical Christendom, which bears the prosaic name of Centro Anglicano and which, in effect, is the Anglican Communion’s embassy to the Holy See.

Almost unknown to the public, hardly known even to the Episcopal Church of the United States, which helps support it, the Centro Anglicano, or Anglican Center, has been working quietly and diligently for over a decade with representatives of the Vatican’s Secretary for Christian Unity to reconcile Rome with its apostolic dissenters who were sundered from it during the reign of Henry VIII over four centuries ago. Rome and Canterbury have gone their separate ways since then, and communions of their obedience or allegiance have planted themselves all over the world. But each kept to doctrines the other was able to recognize continuously if not always to accept.

NK

About the Author

Nicholas King

Featured Tags

UNDER THE RUMOROUS eaves of the Palazzo Doria, beneath the tiled roof on which are spaced great terracotta pots of olive and oleander that overlook the fountains of arcaded courtyards, and frame, in the distance, the domes of Borromini and Michelangelo, is one of the more extraordinary institutions of ecumenical Christendom, which bears the prosaic name of Centro Anglicano and which, in effect, is the Anglican Communion’s embassy to the Holy See.

Almost unknown to the public, hardly known even to the Episcopal Church of the United States, which helps support it, the Centro Anglicano, or Anglican Center, has been working quietly and diligently for over a decade with representatives of the Vatican’s Secretary for Christian Unity to reconcile Rome with its apostolic dissenters who were sundered from it during the reign of Henry VIII over four centuries ago. Rome and Canterbury have gone their separate ways since then, and communions of their obedience or allegiance have planted themselves all over the world. But each kept to doctrines the other was able to recognize continuously if not always to accept.