ADDRESS OF PAUL VI TO THE MEMBERS
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE ANGLICAN CENTRE IN ROME

Wednesday, 17 November 1971

We are delighted to welcome you, members of the Council of the Anglican Centre here in Rome.

It is now five years since We spoke hopefully on the occasion of the opening of the Centre, shortly after We had had the pleasure and consolation, still warm in our memory, of welcoming here His Grace Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury.

During these five years the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue and the Anglican Centre in Rome, inaugurated together, have prospered together. Both are symbols and expression of the commitment we share to the cause of Christian unity, which must be the fruit of a growth both of mutual knowledge and mutual love.

We never cease to give thanks to our common Father for the grace of this hope and aspiration, and for the perseverance and wisdom he grants to those who pursue it.

Some of you have been deeply engaged in this labour of knowledge and love from the beginning, all of you are now at one in this task. It is a joy for us to speak with you and to invoke the generous blessing of Almighty God on the work of the Centre and on that of the International Commission as it moves into an important phase in the search for organic unity.