On Sunday Feb 3rd I tuned into John Cleary's Sunday night radio programme to hear the Rt Rev'd Brian Farran, Anglican Bishop of Newcastle NSW, and Father Colin Blaney, Chairman of the Broken Bay Roman Catholic Diocesan Ecumenical Commission, discussing a new local Covenant agreement between their respective dioceses together with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Newcastle/Maitland.

Prior to discussion on this issue, Bishop Farran shared his disappointment that his metropolitan archbishop, the Most Revd Peter Jensen of Sydney will not be attending the Lambeth Conference this July. Instead he will attend a conference of Evangelicals and Anglican Catholics in Jerusalem in June.

Bishop Farran's views are in tune with those expressed by the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, Dr Phillip Aspinall of Brisbane, in the Sydney Morning Herald the following day. As is often the case, what is not said in interviews and articles is more important than what is said.

Bishop Farran opined that the Lambeth Conference is a significant event held every ten years to which the Archbishop of Canterbury invites the bishops of the Anglican Communion in order to build up fellowship and deal with issues which need to be addressed. He did not mention that not every Anglican bishop has been invited to Lambeth 2008; nor did he mention that approximately one third of those who have been invited may not attend. Bishop Farran also failed to indicate that the possible absentees represent approximately two thirds of the membership of the Anglican Communion. This group has deep theological, spiritual and scriptural issues with those who will attend, and Bishops Farran and Aspinall urged Dr Jensen to change his mind because "the only way to address issues of 'deep difference' in the Church is to 'come together, pray together, study together, study the scriptures together and speak openly with each other.'

The detractors from Lambeth say they have been doing this for well over ten years and have discovered that not only have they been ignored, they have been vilified, persecuted and marginalized by some of the key leaders who will be at Lambeth. They see no point in further talks which will make no difference to the outcomes for the Anglican Communion. They refuse to collude with the view that the appearance of Anglican unity is more important than God's truth.

I can identify with Dr Jensen's views because as a member of Forward in Faith Australia, I have experienced at first hand the absolute refusal of Dr Aspinall and the other Australian bishops to seriously "meet with, pray with, and speak openly with" those of us who have "deep differences with them" on matters such as the innovation of women's ordination, sexual ethics and scriptural revisionism.

Because they have refused to do so I was forced to make a choice between colluding with their agenda and putting my salvation at risk, or joining the Traditional Anglican Communion (a Continuing Anglican Church) in order to guarantee sacramental certainty and orthodox Anglican teaching. At the Lambeth Conference in 1998, the Anglican bishops resolved to build bridges with those in the Continuing Churches with a view to reconciliation between all who walk the Anglican Way. Hopes that this might happen were quickly dashed when the majority of the Australian bishops arbitrarily declared the TAC to be a schismatic body with whom they are not in communion. Forward in Faith Australia has tried for over two decades to have its view heard that by ordaining women to the priesthood and episcopate, the Australian Anglican church would create a new form of ministry which was not part of the ministry of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. In contrast to the approach of the Church of England, the Australian bishops refused to recognise that position as legitimate and make adequate provision for those who in conscience hold it. Instead they have ground down, persecuted and driven many of us out of the Anglican Church of Australia.

Given the track record of many of the bishops going to Lambeth, it is not surprising that Archbishop Jensen and others are saying that enough is enough. The goose and the gander are far from being equal in the Anglican Communion.

In the light of the attitude of most Australian Anglican bishops towards those who hold the same view on the maleness of the priesthood and other issues as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, I was fascinated by Bishop Farran's announcement that a local Covenant was shortly to be signed between him and his respective Roman Catholic counterparts. This local Covenant commits the three dioceses to share resources, work together on social issues, share ministry training for both clergy and laity and even hold parallel Confirmations during a shared liturgy.

The coming together of Christians has to be a good thing, and I experienced something similar in Liverpool (UK) when Bp David Shepherd and Archbishop Worlock acted in harmony over issues dividing that troubled city in the 1970's. They also held joint ministry training sessions. While there is a view that any co-operation between Christians is better than none, it is a mistake to have unrealistic expectations about the outcomes of such ventures.

Both Bishop Farran and Father Blaney spoke of the 'pain' of division between the churches and their inability to share Holy Communion. Bishop Farran did mention that this was due to the Roman Catholic view that Anglican orders were invalid, but he did not mention the new obstacles to resolving that issue resulting from the Anglican innovation of women's ordination, the blessing of same sex unions in some Anglican Provinces and wholesale revisionism in scriptural interpretation. The Diocese of Newcastle has many women clergy, an innovation which both the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches claim the Church has no authority to allow. In consequence, unity talks with the Orthodox and the ARCIC talks (much praised by both speakers) have been 'put on ice'. Given this reality, the proposed Covenant will have a limited value.

Another possible downside from the wider Roman Catholic viewpoint is the risk that in mingling with female clergy, Roman Catholics will succumb to the successful Anglican strategy used to 'win over' some of those Anglicans who once held their views. It is 'once people meet female clergy and realise how nice they are, they will be supportive of women's ordination.' This strategy ignores deep theological and ecclesiological arguments and turns the matter into a secular justice issue. It is a technique being emulated by gay political activists and the new breed of aggressive atheists in the Western world.

This Covenant is similar to what the Anglicans describe as a 'local option', in which one Diocese breaks rank from the stated views of the wider Church and thereby sets a precedent for others to follow. If you want to see the results of this, look no further that the unraveling of the Anglican Communion. It is effective in the Anglican world because each bishop is virtually a pope in his own diocese. Roman Catholics ought to be thankful that despite its critics, the Vatican with its one Pope stands back and takes note of the bigger picture and keeps 'local options' within proscribed boundaries.

Meanwhile those of us who continue to maintain the Anglican expression of the Catholic Faith have to live with the fact that if the Liberal goose is not willing to share any crumbs with the Catholic gander, truth must prevail over unity.

Bp Harry Entwistle SSC
Vice-Chairman (Forward in Faith Australia)
Bishop of the West Australian Apostolic District
Anglican Catholic Church in Australia (TAC)