c. 1996 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY _ Anglican Church leader Archbishop George Carey and Pope John Paul II remained at an impasse after two days of talks over fundamental issues that have divided their churches, including women’s ordination, gay marriages and the primacy, or supreme authority, of the pontiff.

The meetings, which ended Thursday (Dec. 5) were amiable, both sides agreed. Nonetheless, neither the Vatican nor Carey could point to any tangible progress in the long effort to restore unity to the divided churches.”I’m a realist and the realistic part of my response is to recognize that there are still deep divisions,”Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told reporters after his Thursday session with the pope.

The meeting lasted 45 minutes and was followed by lunch. The two leaders also met on Tuesday.”Nevertheless,”he said,”this meeting certainly strengthened that feeling that we have traveled a long way together, and in spite of recent difficulties that both of us have spoken about, the commitment to go on fills me with hope.” The pope also sounded a realistic note when he told Carey at the start of their Thursday meeting that an Anglican-Roman commission charged in 1983 with seeking improved relations had not found adequate common ground.”Sadly, these difficulties seem to loom large on the way to the reconciliation which the dialogue intended to promote,”the pope said. He urged Anglicans, whose forebears split from Rome in 1534 when King Henry VIII refused to accept papal authority, to”reflect on the motives and reasons of the positions I have expressed in the exercise of my teaching office.” But among the Anglicans, the jury on some divisive issues appears to be in. Some provinces of the worldwide communion of 60 million Anglicans began ordaining women as priests as early as the mid-1970s and in 1992, the Church of England _ the spiritual headquarters of Anglicanism _ began allowing women priests.

At the time, John Paul called the English church’s action a”grave”mistake that would deepen a rift between the churches.

There are now more than 2,000 Anglican women priests and a handful of women bishops around the world.

The Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States, also permits artificial contraception, which Rome solidly opposes. And the church has shown tolerance toward homosexual marriages, which Carey himself has spoken favorably about. The pope has labeled homosexuality a”disorder.” Asked whether any accommodation might be found over”mixed marriages”between Catholics and Anglicans, Carey said:”I don’t think there will be any practical steps that will come out of this meeting.”The Catholic Church opposes marriage outside the faith and requires that children be brought up Roman Catholic.”But what I was doing was putting this on the table,”he said.”People in both our communities want us to address”the issue.”So it is there as an issue to be tackled. We’ve got to address that at the theological level. I do not see any easy solution to the problem.” But he took a softer line on women’s ordination, acknowledging that a number of Anglicans oppose the practice. Some have left the church over the issue.”We are committed to what is going on,”he said, but added:”The Anglican Communion has not received it (women’s ordination) totally. The Anglican Communion itself is on a journey. We have to wait and see the way that God is leading his people.” Despite these fundamental differences, Carey said he and the pope were in step on the importance of morality in everyday life and on numerous social issues, such as poverty.

Carey’s visit marked the second time in four years that he has met with the pope. The first meeting between the top leaders of the two churches since the 16th-century separation was 30 years ago, when Archbishop Michael Ramsey met with Pope Paul VI.

Carey, who was accompanied by his wife and aides, including two women, said of the 76-year-old pontiff,”I found the pope in very good form indeed.” When asked why several aides were present at their”private meeting,”Carey joked,”I would have thought (it) as alone as you ever want to be.” Last month the pope did meet privately with Cuban President Fidel Castro. He has also had private sessions with other world leaders.

During his three-day stay, Carey also met with seminarians, gave sermons and visited with other Vatican officials. Later Thursday he joined the pope for a service at the church of San Gregorio al Celio. The church was served some 1,400 years ago by Augustine, who in 601 A.D. became the first archbishop of Canterbury.

MJP END HEILBRONNER