Video: Archbishop of Canterbury preaches at Rome’s Episcopal church
[Episcopal News Service] Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams delivers a sermon March 11 at St. Paul’s Within the Walls, an Episcopal Church parish and the first non-Roman Catholic church to be built inside the walls of Rome. The St. Paul’s congregation was joined by members of All Saints Anglican Church in Rome, a parish in the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe, for the service.
On March 10, Williams and Pope Benedict XVI prayed together during an ecumenical vespers service at San Gregorio Magna al Celio in Rome to mark the 1000th anniversary of the founding of Italy’s Camaldoli monastic community. The service was attended by many Anglicans and Episcopalians, including Bishop Pierre Whalon of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and the Rev. Austin Rios, rector of St. Paul’s Within the Walls.
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Clicking on to this recently-made video, in the Episcopal Church of St.Paul’s in Rome, one can still detect the spirituality of a pretty good Archbishop of Canterbury. Preaching without notes, his capability to proclaim the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is still very evident.
Archbishop Rowan’s later meeting with Pope Benedict at Solemn Vespers in Rome, also gives evidence of the respect with which the ABC is regarded in Roman Catholic circles. There is an obvious rapport existing between two formidable scholars of the Christian community in the world of today. Whatever we may think of Rowan’s urging towards the ethos of the Covenant, I believe he has the Unity of all Christians in mind when he does that so passionately.
Unfortunately, that unity may not have taken into account the people on the margins of the Church – Women and LGBT persons, who look forward to their emancipation in the light of the Gospel the ABC so fervently embraces.
Father Ron Smith, Christchurch, New Zealand
