From the editor’s desk

A lucid and valuable achievement

The latest agreed statement from the Anglican?Roman Catholic International Commission, ?Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ?, is in sharp contrast to the despondency that seems to have overtaken many ecumenical endeavours in recent years. Here is something to be celebrated at last ? a clear, learned, profound, persuasive but above all generous treatment of one of the most divisive themes of the Reformation. It is right to acknowledge that the longest road to travel to arrive at this comprehensive agreement was on the Anglican side, though that journey started long before Arcic was specifically commissioned to undertake this study. But Catholic members of the commission have also had to admit that Marian devotions can sometimes go too far, and need to be centred on Jesus Christ if they are not to mislead the faithful. The statement quotes the caution contained in the commentary of the cult of Fatima (technically a ?private revelation?) issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2000: ?The criterion for the truth and value of a private revelation is ? its orientation to Christ himself.?

Anglican Evangelicals in particular have held back from the renewed interest in devotion to the Virgin Mary which was triggered within Anglicanism by the Oxford Movement and which is still a vibrant part of Anglo-Catholic spirituality. The new document addresses their misgivings one by one. After studying the long and rich history of the tradition concerning Mary?s sinlessness, for instance, the commission finds it consonant with Scripture, as it does the expression Theotokos, ?Mother of God?. Nor does Scripture exclude the ancient belief in Mary?s bodily Assumption. Hence neither the dogma of the Immaculate Conception nor of the Assumption, both relatively recently defined, need be an obstacle to unity. It points out the many ways that the Church?s attention to the figure of Mary helped to shape and defend Christianity?s core Christological doctrines. But it also accepts there is no scriptural reason to reject explicit prayers to Mary for her intercession with her Son. Indeed, it acknowledges that over the generations many Christians have turned to her for comfort and help in affliction and grief.

It was frequently stated during the debates leading up to the ordination of women in the Church of England that by contrast to Roman Catholicism, Anglican spiritual devotions could sometimes seem cool, cerebral and rather masculine. It was remarked that the important place of Mary in the devotional life of ordinary Catholics, and the pre-eminent position occupied by her specifically as woman in the Catholic understanding of the scheme of salvation, may have helped maintain there a better emotional and devotional balance. It is good therefore that she should be restored to her place of honour within Anglicanism, for Anglicanism?s sake as well as giving her what is her due. There is a basis in this report, furthermore, for a reappraisal of Catholic attitudes towards Mary leading to a renewal of Christ-centred devotion to her. Taken as a lucid restatement of the Christian faith concerning her rather than just as an ecumenical document, ?Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ? is one of Arcic?s most valuable achievements from which good is sure to come.

Related articles:
Making Sense of Mary by Sarah Jane Boss
The Catholic contributor?s view
The Anglican contributor?s view
Church in the World - Marian accord raises unity hopes