ARCIC Plenary Meeting takes place in Melbourne

15 Oct 2025

The Anglican–Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) held its annual plenary meeting in Melbourne, Australia, from 5 to 11 October 2025. The meeting had originally been scheduled for May 2025 but was postponed following the death of Pope Francis. The re-scheduled meeting was hosted by the Commission’s Anglican co-chairman, Archbishop Philip Freier, the recently retired Archbishop of Melbourne.

This was the final in-person plenary meeting of the Commission, which has been working since 2019 on the second part of its mandate to examine how the Church, local, regional and universal, discerns right ethical teaching. The Commission devoted a great deal of its time in Melbourne seeking to engage more intentionally in receptive ecumenical reflection on what each tradition can learn from the other regarding ethical discernment. This intensive work led members to the view that further refinement of the draft should be carried out so as to highlight this theme more fully. Further drafting work will be carried out in the coming months, which the full Commission will review in early 2026.

Friday 10 October was the 80th birthday of Bishop Christopher Hill, who has served the Commission since the mid-1970s, first in its secretariat, later as a member, and more recently as a consultant. Members of the Commission were delighted to be able to pay tribute to Bishop Hill’s unparalleled contribution to the work of Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue over half a century. Bishop Hill presided and preached at the Eucharist on Friday morning, and in the evening he was honoured during a festive dinner, for which several representatives of local churches joined the Commission. A message of congratulations from the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Anthony Poggo, was read, after which there were presentations to Bishop Hill and his wife Hilary.

Following the meeting, the Commission issued a Communiqué.

Attending the meeting were:

Anglican Communion

The Most Revd Philip Freier, (Anglican Church of Australia) - Co-Chairman
Dr Moeawa Callaghan (Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia)
Right Revd Garth Minott (Church of the Province of the West Indies)
The Most Revd Linda Nicholls (Anglican Church of Canada)
Revd Dr Alexander Ross (Anglican Church of Australia)
Revd Dr Peter Sedgwick (Church in Wales)
Revd Dr Stewart Clem (The Episcopal Church)
Right Revd Christopher Hill (Church of England)
Canon Dr Christopher Wells (Anglican Communion Office) – Co-Secretary

Catholic Church

Most Revd Bernard Longley (Archbishop of Birmingham, England) – Co-Chairman
Dr Kristin Colberg (St John’s University, Collegeville, USA)
Prof. Sigrid Müller (University of Vienna, Austria)
Dr Emmanuel Nathan (Australian Catholic University)
Revd Dr Vimal Tirimanna CSsR (Accademia Alfonsiana, Rome)
Revd Anthony Currer (Darlington, England)
Canon Prof. Paul Murray (University of Durham, England)
Prof. Myriam Wijlens (University of Erfurt, Germany)
Revd Martin Browne OSB (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity) – Co-Secretary

The last ARCIC meeting was held in Strasbourg from 11-18 May 2024.