Authority exercise.

LONDON--Westminster Abbey dates to a time before the 16th-century split between the Catholic Church and the Church of England. So it was fitting that last May's joint Anglican-Catholic document, "The Gift of Authority," was announced at the abbey. The Anglican-Roman Catholic Theological Commission, the official theological dialogue group of the two communions, prepared the document.

Pope John Paul II played a significant role in laying the foundation for the dialogue behind the document. In the 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint ("That All May Be One") on ecumenism, he stated his openness to discussing ways in which the bishop of Rome could exercise his authority in the larger Christian community. The current document seeks to explore "how authority is exercised at various levels in the church's life." The commission's co-chairmen added, "Unless we can reach sufficient agreement about authority ... we shall not reach the visible unity to which we are both committed."

The passages drawing the most attention have to do with the authority of the pope in relation to that of bishops and the Christian faithful as a whole. "The Gift of Authority" outlines a sense of papal primacy in which the pope "in certain circumstances ... has a duty to discern and make explicit, in fidelity to scripture and tradition, the authentic faith of the whole church, that is the faith of all the baptized in communion."

It also suggests that both Anglican and Catholic bishops should take the opportunity to teach and act together in matters of faith and morals and should witness together on issues affecting the common good.

"When [Christians] are not one in faith," the document also stated, "they cannot be one in life and so cannot demonstrate fully that they are faithful to the will of God."