Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

Anglicans and Roman Catholics celebrated 40 years of their dialogue with each other in a service of Ecumenical Vespers held in St Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, Quebec.

Heather Penney presents Bishop Barry with a copy of the Gospels from the illuminated St. John's Bible, while Montreal Anglican seminarian Nick Pang presents Bishop Dowd with a 400th-anniversary edition of the King James Bible

Photo Credit:Harvey Shepherd

All those who had participated over the years on the theological dialogue were invited to participate along with present members, the Anglican Roman Catholic Bishops' Dialogue, and the Ecumenical Commission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. They worshipped along with pilgrims to the landmark shrine. The choir of Christ Church Cathedral and the Petits Chanteurs de Mont Royal sang under the direction of Patrick Wedd.

During the liturgy, young people from each Communion presented gifts to the Montreal bishops who presided at the service. Anglican seminarian Nick Pang (who was a steward at the Lambeth Conference 2008) presented a 400th anniversary edition of the King James Bible to Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Dowd, while Heather Penney, a Roman Catholic from Newfoundalnd, presented a copy of the Gospels from the illuminated St John's Bible to Bishop Barry Clarke. The exchange of gifts is symbolic of the way each Communion learns from the other through ecumenical engagement and dialogue.

The liturgy is printed in the current edition of the journal Ecumenism, so that local congregations may use it in their own settings to mark the 40th anniversary with their neighbours of the other church. Ecumenism is published by the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in Montreal: http://www.oikoumene.ca/