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This report is the result of work spread over four years (1981-4) by the Anglican-Reformed Commission which was set up after preliminary consultation in 1978. We were appointed by the Anglican Consultative Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

The following Report is the outcome of three meetings of the Anglican-Lutheran European Regional Commission over the period 1980-82. This Commission was set up at the request of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Lutheran World Federation

Common Declaration of Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Robert Runcie

In our conclusion to our first Statement on Authority in the Church we affirmed that we had reached 'a consensus on authority in the Church and, in particular, on the basic principles of primacy', which we asserted to be of ‘fundamental importance' (para. 24).

After the publication of the first Statement on Authority the Commission received comments and criticisms. Some of the questions raised, such as the request for a clarification of the relation between infallibility and indefectibility, find an answer in the second Statement on Authority

The Report which follows is the outcome of work begun at Gazzada, Italy, on 9 January 1967. A Joint Preparatory Commission met there, in fulfilment of a joint decision by Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, expressed in a Common Declaration during their meeting in Rome in March 1966

Lambeth Conference Archives - 1978