Completion of the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III)
The third Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC III) has completed the second and final phase of its work. Following the Commission’s previous meeting (Melbourne, Australia, October 2025), an editorial sub-committee worked on completing the Agreed Statement for this phase, sharing drafts of their work with the full commission for comment, in advance of circulating the final draft for approval. A plenary meeting of the Commission took place online on 5 October, during which members approved the text of the Agreed Statement, entitled, While They Were Talking and Discussing: Learning to Do Moral Discernment in Communion.
This Agreed Statement is intended to complement the first document published by ARCIC III, Walking Together on the Way: Learning to be the Church – Local, Regional and Universal (2018). With the finalisation of this Agreed Statement, ARCIC III has now completed the task mandated by Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Rowan Williams, to study ‘the Church as Communion, local and universal, and how in communion the local and universal Church come to discern right ethical teaching.’
At the end of this phase of its dialogue, the Commission issued a Communiqué.
Participants in the work of ARCIC III for the second phase of its work (2019-2026) were:
Anglican Communion
Co-Chair
The Most Revd Philip Freier, Archbishop of Melbourne, Anglican Church of Australia
Members
Dr Moeawa Callaghan, Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
The Revd Dr Isaias Ezequiel Chachine, Anglican Church of Southern Africa
The Revd Dr Stewart Clem, The Episcopal Church (2023-2026)
Canon Dr Paula Gooder, Church of England (2019)
The Rt Revd Garth Minott, Church of the Province of the West Indies
The Most Revd Linda Nicholls, Anglican Church of Canada
The Reverend Dr Alexander Ross, Anglican Church of Australia
The Revd Canon Dr Peter Sedgwick, Church in Wales
Consultant
The Rt Revd Christopher Hill KCVO, Church of England
Co-Secretaries
The Ven. Dr William Adam, Anglican Communion Office (2019–2022)
Canon Dr Christopher Wells, Anglican Communion Office (2022–2026)
Staff
The Revd Neil Vigers, Anglican Communion Office
The Ven. Jonathan Gough
Catholic Church
Co-Chair
The Most Revd Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, England
Members
Sister Margaret Atkins OSA, England (2019-2020)
The Revd Albino Barrera OP, USA
The Revd Paul Béré SJ, Italy
The Most Revd Robert Christian OP, USA (2019)†
Prof. Kristin Colberg, USA
Prof. Sigrid Müller, Austria
Prof. Emmanuel Nathan, Australia
The Revd Prof. Vimal Tirimanna CSsR, Sri Lanka
Consultants
Prof. Paul Murray, England
The Revd Anthony Currer, England (2023-2026)
Co-Secretaries
The Revd Anthony Currer, Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (2019–2022)
The Revd Martin Browne OSB, Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (2022–2026)
WCC Faith and Order Commission Consultant
Prof. Myriam Wijlens, Germany