The international bishop's commission was formed in 2001 to develop a document summarizing 35 years of official Anglican-Roman Catholic theological agreements, to encourage wider study of the agreements and to demonstrate how much Catholics and Anglicans share by promoting joint activities such as prayer services, study, Christian witness and social action.

However, the final document said, "difficulties in the life of the Anglican communion," particularly the tensions caused by the ordination of an openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, the blessing of same-sex unions in British Columbia and the acceptance of women bishops in some Anglican provinces have forced Anglicans and Roman Catholics to recognize that progress toward full unity will be slower than many of them had hoped.

Msgr. Donald Bolen, an official of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told Catholic News Service Oct. 3, that the Anglican-Roman Catholic commission "tried to be honest in its work, not wanting to claim more agreement that really exists and not wanting to cover up areas of ongoing difference where further work is needed."

The Vatican believes the document "is worthy of serious study and reflection," he said, and authorities hope it will be "an instrument to help Anglicans and Catholics on the long road toward reconciliation."

The document said that "even in a time of uncertainty, the mission given us by Christ obliges and compels us to seek to engage more deeply and widely in a partnership in mission, coupled with common witness and joint prayer."

Commission members wrote that while it may not be the time to launch bold new initiatives, "we believe that it is the time to bridge the gap between the elements of faith we hold in common and the tangible expression of that shared belief in our ecclesial lives."

Msgr. Bolen said, "That is not pious rhetoric, but a sense that even in a situation where there is internal division and tension, there is a responsibility to continue our ecumenical commitment and to proclaim the Gospel together in whatever ways are responsible and appropriate."

The first part of the document discusses "the faith we hold in common," drawing upon agreements reached in the official theological dialogues conducted by the Anglican-Roman Catholic commission.

Catholics and Anglicans recognize each other's baptism and can profess together the points of faith summarized in the creed, it said. They believe Christ calls people together in the church, has sent the church on mission to the world and that the Eucharist is the sign of their communion.

The document also acknowledged important areas of faith and church teaching where Anglicans and Roman Catholics differ, including areas of church structure and decision-making, the universal primacy of the pope, the limits to be placed on sharing the Eucharist before full unity is achieved and the validity of each other's ordinations, particularly given the ordination of women in some provinces of the Anglican Communion.

In the Catholic commentary, commissioned by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Auxiliary Bishop Bernard Longley of Westminster, England, said local bishops must determine what joint activities are appropriate.

Relations between Roman Catholics and Anglicans, he wrote, "vary a great deal in different parts of the world, shaped by numerous factors, not least by the different stances in particular Anglican provinces toward the matters of human sexuality currently under discussion, and toward the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate."

Bishop Longley praised the document for its commitment to demonstrating how theological expressions of "communion in faith" can and should lead Christians, individually and as communities, to act upon and witness to the degree of unity they share.

At the same time, he said, the document rightly pointed out how "the personal and communal moral decisions we make have a direct bearing on the degree of communion we enjoy."

The current discussions within the Anglican Communion over homosexuality and regarding women's ordination "concern not only discipline, but also doctrine," he said.

"Where stances have been adopted which move an Anglican diocese or province further from Catholic teaching on doctrinal matters, and where there is significant internal conflict within a diocese or province, there is likely to be a very limited scope for joint practical initiatives," the bishop wrote.

Msgr. Bolen told CNS, "There is no doubt that much effort has gone into fostering relations between Anglicans/Episcopalians and Roman Catholics in North America over the past 40 years, and that the current tensions within the Anglican provinces in the United States and Canada have created serious difficulties for our ecumenical relations there.

"That doesn't mean nothing is possible ecumenically, but it will require careful discernment," he said.

Editors' Note: The document and the Catholic commentary can be found online at: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/sub-index/index_anglican-comm.htm.

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