Vatican approves loan of relic for Anglican Primate Meeting
The Vatican has approved the loaning of a deeply symbolic religious relic to the gathering of Anglican heads in Britain this week, during which Archbishop Justin Welby will lead discussions over issues such as same-sex marriage and female bishops, which have divided the communion for over a decade.
The Canterbury Cathedral in England will display the ivory top of the pastoral staff of St. Gregory the Great – the 6th century pope who dispatched missionaries to England to spread Christianity. The relic will on be display before and following the weeklong meeting between Anglican primates.
The Vatican's culture minister, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, had reportedly authorized the loan of Gregory's pastoral staff last month, which he labelled as "highly symbolic", a "mark of the bond that spiritually unites the Catholic and the Anglican churches."
The Very Rev. Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Church, said the loan of Gregory's crozier was a sign of "ecumenical encouragement" during the primates' meeting.
Gregory was the pope from 540 – 604 AD. He had sent a mission in 597 AD to England to spread the word of Christ in the region. The leader of the mission, Augustine, became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.
The idea of borrowing the relic was proposed by Rev. Robert McCulloch, the Australian procurator general of the St. Columbian Catholic missionary order, who said that it would serve as a "gesture of support of unity and harmony from the Catholic Church for the Anglican Church."
Notably, the Anglican and Catholic churches split in 1534 after King Henry VIII was refused a marriage annulment. Almost half a millennium later, the two churches still remain divided on a number of key issues, including the most recent same on same-sex marriage and ordaining female bishops.