Pope and the Church of Canterbury committed to the quest for unity

VATICAN CITY, Nov 23: Pope Benedict and the Archbishop of Canterbury committed their Churches to the quest for unity today but acknowledged that issues such as women priests and gay bishops in the Anglican Church were obstacles.

Rowan Williams, making his first official visit to Benedict since the Pope's election in April 2005, and the Pope issued a common declaration after private talks and a prayer service.

''Our long journey makes it necessary to acknowledge publicly the challenge represented by new developments which, besides being divisive for Anglicans, present serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress,'' the declaration said.

In the past 10 years, relations between the two Churches have been strained over the issue of women priests and homosexual bishops.

The blessing of same-sex unions in Canada's Anglican Church and moves to ordain women bishops in the Church of England are two issues that are driving Anglicans and Catholics further apart after decades of optimistic dialogue.

In his address to Williams, the Pope spoke of the ''strains and difficulties'' besetting the Anglican Communion worldwide.

''Recent developments, especially concerning the ordained ministry and certain moral teachings, have affected not only international relations within the Anglican Communion but also relations between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church,'' the Pope told Williams.

The timing of the visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was accompanied by his wife Jane and their son Philip, is significant because this year marks the 40th anniversary of the historic meeting between Archbishop Michael Ramsey and Pope Paul VI.

That 1966 meeting was the first formal encounter between the heads of the two Churches since England's King Henry VIII broke with Rome in the 16th Century. The 77-million-strong Anglican communion is feeling the tremors set off when the Episcopal Church in the United States appointed an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire in 2003.

A CHURCH DIVIDED

Anglican bishops from Africa, Asia and Latin America have strongly criticised homosexual clergy and have suggested that dissenting US Episcopalians should set up their own Church.

The Catholic and Anglican Churches had already been divided over the ordination of women priests, which the Church of England, mother Church of world Anglicanism, approved in 1992 and first carried out two years later.

They said dialogue had to continue to "address the important issues involved in the emerging ecclesiological and ethical factors making that journey more dificult and arduous".

Last July, the governing body of the Church of England voted to allow women to be bishops.

The Episcopal Church approved the ordination of women priests and bishops in 1976. It plans to install its first woman primate, or head of the Church, on Saturday when Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is made presiding bishop.

The Catholic Church, which accounts for just over half the world's 2 billion Christians, has been working since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) to try to overcome the splits in Christianity with Anglicans, Protestants and Orthodox Christians.

REUTERS