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This meeting of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops from 13 countries, convened by His Eminence Edward Cardinal Cassidy and His Grace Archbishop George Carey, gathered at Mississauga, near Toronto, Canada, from 14-20 May 2000.

The dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics has shown significant signs of progress on the question of authority in the Church. This progress can already be seen in the convergence in understanding of authority achieved by previous ARCIC statements

The Common Declaration by Pope John Paul II and the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey

As we reach the end of ten years in the life of ARCIC-II it may be opportune to recall the words of Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Robert Runcie in their Common Declaration at Canterbury in May, 1982

During the past four years the members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission have considered the mystery of communion which is given and made visible in the Church. This has not been an easy task, because of the inherent complexity and depth of the mystery

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

The document published here is the work of the Second Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II). It is simply a joint statement of the Commission.

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).