Church of England welcomes Catholics into Lambeth Palace

Invitation to Catholic ecumenical community to live and pray daily at palace highlights growing closeness of two churches

theguardian.com, Sam Jones, Monday 18 November 2013

Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols said it was a 'clear sign of the importance
of prayer in the search for visible Christian unity'. Photograph: Arthur Edwards/PA

Members of a Roman Catholic ecumenical community are to take up residence in Lambeth palace next year, breaking five centuries of Anglican tradition and heralding a further rapprochement between the churches of England and Rome.

The move, announced by the archbishop of Canterbury as the Church of England's general synod began a three-day meeting in London, was welcomed by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales, who said it would bring "the riches of a number of Christian traditions of prayer to the life of the palace".

From January 2014, four members of the Chemin Neuf community – a Roman Catholic consecrated sister, a married Anglican couple, and a Lutheran training for ministry – will move into the palace to join in daily prayers and to help the archbishop in his ecumenical efforts.

The community, which was founded in France in 1973 and has about 2,000 members across the world, aims to bring together Christians from different denominations.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, whose personal spiritual director is a Swiss Roman Catholic priest, said he was "deeply moved" that Chemin Neuf had agreed to the "radical and exciting" step.

"The church is constantly called to realise its God-given unity," he said. "The Holy Spirit blows through our lives and our structures and impels us into new ways of learning to love each other as Christ loves us … We pray that this step of obedience will bear fruit among us, and for the church."

Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, described it as a "clear and bold sign of the importance of prayer in the search for visible Christian unity".

Father Laurent Fabre, the founder and superior general of the Chemin Neuf community, said the group had been delighted to accept the archbishop's invitation, adding that Welby had shown "courage and wisdom" in reaching out to a Roman Catholic group.

"On the long and difficult path towards unity of Christians, there have often been surprises," he said. "It is with great joy that we are responding to the amazing invitation of the archbishop of Canterbury to live and pray daily in Lambeth palace, in the heart of the Anglican communion."

The community follows in the footsteps of three Anglican orders whose nuns have resided in the palace for the past 24 years. The archbishop said they were leaving Lambeth "for reasons within the orders".

The announcement underlines the growing closeness between the two churches after years of argument over issues such as the ordination of women and Roman Catholic overtures to disenchanted Anglicans.

When the archbishop met Pope Francis in June this year, he said that co-operation was "an absolute necessity", adding that he and the pontiff were "absolutely at one" on the issue of gay marriage.

In a wide-ranging welcome address to the synod on Monday, Welby described the recent attacks on Christians in Pakistan and Nigeria as one of the greatest challenges to the Anglican church.

"Many parts of the Anglican communion are suffering greatly, and the synod will, I trust, acknowledge both the suffering and courage of many of our sister and brother churches in places like Nigeria," he said. "The issue of how we support each other, and how we understand and confront violent attacks in the light and grace of Christ is certainly one of the greatest of our age."

The archbishop again defended the CofE's right to involve itself in non-religious issues, but admitted that he was looking forward to his work with the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards finally coming to an end.

Noting that the commission was meant to have been "all over by Christmas – last Christmas", he added: "It has been a good opportunity for the church to contribute to national thinking in an area where we are not always institutionally visible, but I will be more than delighted when it is buried – ideally with a stake through its heart and garlic between its teeth."

Welby did not touch on the issue of female bishops in his welcome speech. On Wednesday, the synod will be asked to approve a new package of draft legislation that aims to break the impasse over bringing women into the episcopate. The synod's failure to vote in favour of the introduction of female bishops almost exactly a year ago was widely criticised in parliament, and the church has been warned by its most senior civil servant that it cannot afford another "train crash" over the issue.

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