Meeting postponed as dialogue hits speed bump.

The official dialogue between Roman Catholics and Anglicans has hit a speed bump, although both sides insist that they are committed to further conversations in their common search for Christian unity.

A meeting of the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) in Seattle scheduled this month was postponed in the wake of last November's consecration of the first openly gay man to be elected bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States. Roman Catholic archbishop Alex Brunett, Co-chair of the commission who was to host the meeting, said that the consecration has created "a major problem" in relations between the two churches.

Shortly after Bishop Gene Robinson's consecration in the diocese of New Hampshire, ECUSA Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, co-chair of ARCIC since 1999, wrote to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams announcing his decision to resign. He said his resignation was at his own initiative, not the result of pressure either from the Vatican or Lambeth Palace.

The dream of unity remains strong, Archbishop Brunett said at a news conference, because agreement on theological issues has remained "very close" and both sides "certainly work hard to cultivate that relationship."

He was echoing blunt comments from Pope John Paul during an October meeting with Archbishop Williams in which the pontiff said, "As we give thanks for the progress that has already been made, we must also recognize that new and serious difficulties have arisen on the path to unity. These difficulties are not all of a merely disciplinary nature; some extend to essential matters of faith and morals."

Meanwhile, in a meeting with Archbishop Williams, Walter Cardinal Kasper, head of the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity, expressed his concerns about sexuality issues "because it is not only an internal problem of the Anglican Communion, but it also touches on our relations."

Cardinal Kasper met with the Canon John Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council, in Rome last November where they decided that the current work of ARCIC should proceed until the completion of the current phase in 2004 and then the future agenda and next phase can be determined.

At the same time they decided that the next meeting of the International Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, formed in 2001 to foster practical co-operation, should be put on hold in light of ecclesiological concerns raised by Bishop Robinson's consecration. The work of the commission's subcommittees, however, will continue.