Photo above: The Rev’d Jim Linthicum, Associate Priest at the Anglican Centre in Rome leads prayers in the Centre. Credit: Neil Turner for IARCCUM.

It is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity as I write, and it seems an appropriate time to be asking for your support in the Annual Lent Appeal, because the focus of our efforts this Lent will be the Anglican Centre in Rome.

In a world that seems ever more divided and fragmented, all work for unity is precious and valued. The unity in truth of Christ’s church is his gift, but it is a gift to be treasured and nurtured – during the recent “Synod on Synodality” of the Roman Catholic church, the Centre was buzzing with visitors and hosted structured conversations that could have taken place nowhere else. 

Founded in 1966, just after the second Vatican Council, it remains as a bastion of hope for full visible unity. We now recognise each other’s baptism, our priests can preside together when Anglicans and Roman Catholics are married, we have travelled far towards agreement in the matters of the Eucharist and Justification by faith in Christ; and the Centre smooths the path for discussions on the important issues ahead. 

Crucially, and recently, the Centre has been a hub of activity as the Roman church has held its recent Synod. The Roman Catholic church is looking to increase its own sense of inclusion of all Christians in the mission of the church, and it recognises the learning that is available from the Anglican Communion in this.

Archbishop Ian Ernest, Director, talking about the history and work of the Centre.
Credit: Neil Turner for IARCCUM

The Director of the Centre, Archbishop Ian Ernest (of the Anglican church of Mauritius) is also the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Personal Representative to the Vatican, and he works on joint projects for education and shared mission. 

The Centre works closely with the Roman Catholic lay community, St Egidio in Rome, and some of our chaplaincies across Europe work locally with their St Egidio communities, ministering to the poor and disadvantaged. The Centre makes a space for hospitality and the encounter between Christian traditions; when Rome wants to know what Anglicans are doing and thinking, it helps for us to have a base in Rome where that kind of networking can happen. 

Bishop David Hamid will be retiring at the end of February, and that occasion will be marked by gifts of all sorts – but it would be a great mark of our affection for him to support the Centre; he has been for some time a director on the Board of Governors of the Centre.

The Centre takes for its motto the words of Jesus in John 17:21: May they all be one; Even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you; may they be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [John 17:21] Gifts for the Centre will enable the continuation and deepening of a work greatly valued as a sign of the unity we already have, and the unity we pursue.

Yours sincerely, 

 +Robert Gibraltar in Europe