Welcome message to Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi,
new Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome
Caravita, Rome, 26 October 2017

Your Grace,
Dear Archbishop Bernard,
Brothers and sisters in Christ,

Your Grace’s special representative to the Holy See reflects the great hope for unity between the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church that followed the second Vatican Council. That hope lives on, and must live on in the heart of every Anglican and Roman Catholic, because it is the hope expressed in the prayer of our Lord on the night before he died, “that they may be one” (Jn 17: 11). We have been extraordinarily blessed by past representatives of your Grace and your predecessors, all of whom have graced us with their gifts. They have been a much valued point of contact that has enabled us to understand developments and the challenges of the worldwide Anglican Communion within a context of friendship.

                There is an important ecumenical principle: “In necessariis unitas, in aliis libertas, in omnibus caritas,” that is, “In essentials unity, in all else liberty, in everything charity.” This phrase, which was important in the early Church, found its way into the second Vatican Council’s document on ecumenism, Unitatis Redintegratio (§ 4) and it continues to guide our ecumenical work. We seek to find agreement on the essential truths of our faith, we rejoice in the diversity of expressions of Christian faith that we find in the spirituality, theology and worship of our Christian brothers and sisters, and in all things charity prevails.

                The Anglican Centre and the role of the special representative to the Holy See might best be thought of in these terms. Through the courses and the opportunities for conversation between Anglicans, Catholics and other Christians we strive to find agreement in all that is essential to Christian faith. Through the worship and spirituality of the Centre, we Catholics can learn to love the rich liturgical and spiritual heritage of the Anglican Communion. However, most important of all is the establishment and maintenance of bonds of charity. Archbishop Bernard, you give a personal expression to that charity. We welcome you. You are already a friend. We look forward to deepening that friendship in the coming years as we continue to work towards that unity in faith for which our Lord prayed. We wish you and your wife, Mathilde, every blessing for your time with us here in Rome.