Bishop Clark discusses Statement on Ministry

Describing the priesthood, Bishop Alan Clark, Auxiliary of Northampton, said last Saturday: "Our lire iind holiness is i most important sign of the presence of the Church of Christ, and the ordained ministry is there to subserve it — namely, 10 provide a ministry of word and sacrament which will enable the Gospel to Hc known and hrought home to us, and the demands of the Gospel made stringent upon. us."
Bishop Clark was speaking at a study day for the Arundel and Brighton Diocese at Redhill. Surrey. The topic was "The Agreed Statement on the Doctrine of the Ministry." He k
• co-chairman of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission, which published the statement last December.
He underlined that they had tried to cstahlish "what Ly e belietc about ordained ministry, not to decide in w hieh Church or Churches the genuine minister was to be Found. lie added: "I make bold In soy that if priest or bishop reads this statement prayerfully and with sympathy. he will find 001 who he is."
He pointed out that the two Churches both traced their origin to apostolic times. and demanded that the ordained ministry. should stern from there_ They, agreed. too. that there was only one priesthood. that a Christ. and the ordained minister was its effective sign. or sacramental presence.
Canon Alan Wilkinson, Principal of Chichester Theological College, gave an Anglican's response. Speaking personally. he said he was grateful for the advances that had allowed such a statement to be reached. though somewhat disappointed because it was too theoretical.
"It k not a matter of uniting priesthood in I henry or theology. simply at the level of the New Testament. It is a matter of uniting what the pricsthoods have become, both good and bad, flesh and blood priesthood . the Cure d'Ars with George Herbert, Abbe Michonneau with Trevor luddleston."
Ile also expressed anxiety that sonic difficulties relating to the doctrine of ministry were not brought into the open hy the statement. "I do not believe it is ecumenical to avoid conflict. Diversity is not something to he apologised for, it is something to rejoice in. Without diversity we should he dead."
The 140 people present included Bishop Simon Phipps. of Horsham, and six other Anglican clergy. 37 Catholic priests. and a number of nuns.
ish op Michael Bowen of Arundel and Brighton presided.
Discussion groups raised questions IL) which Bishop Clark and Canon Wilkinson replied. Both agreed with a suggestion that moral theology must also go on the aeenda for ecumenical diseussions.