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In May, 2005, Mary: Grace ami Hope in Christ (MGHC) was issued by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). The document was developed in response to a request, in 1999, for a statement on Mary in the doctrine and life of the Church. The ARCIC team met five times and submitted the document in 2004 to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Anglican Consultative Council.
MGHC. which concludes the second round of dialogues of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), is. as Donal Flanagan recently wrote, a "fitting ending to the complex and invaluable task that the Commission has accomplished over the past twenty-two years." Seattle Archbishop Alex J. Brunett, co-chairman of the dialogue team. said the document "was born of our efforts to obey the call, so frequently expressed by our respective leaders, to seek what we hold in common and to celebrate the important traditions of our shared heritage." Fr. Arthur Kennedy from the U.S. Bishops' Secretariat for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs said that it "is probably one of the best ecumenical documents that has been developed ... It retrieves the whole of the common tradition of the ancient Church and then imparts a trajectory of understanding into the 19th and 20th centuries." The document has four main sections: A. Mary according to the Scripture • The Witness of Scripture: A Trajectory of Grace and Hope • Mary in Matthew's Birth Narrative- • Mary in Luke's Birth Narrative • The Virginal Conception B. Mary in the Christian Tradition • Christ and Mary in the Ancient Common Tradition • The Celebration of Mary in the Ancient Common Tradition • The Growth of Marian Doctrines and Devotion in the Middle Ages • From the Reformation to the Present Day C. Mary within the Pattern of Grace and Hope • Mary in the Economy of Grace • The Papal Definitions • Mary and the True Family of Jesus • Mary in John's Gospel • The Woman of Revelation 12 • Scriptural Reflection D. Mary in the Life of the Church • Intercession and Mediation in the Communion of Saints • The Distinctive Ministry of Mary
Conclusion: Advances in Agreement.
At this time. MGHC is not considered an "authoritative" document from the Anglican Communion or the Catholic Church, but one presented for further study, dialogue, and prayer, to be evaluated in "due course." The document can be found on the Vatican website (www.vatican.va) under the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. (The printed version is also available: Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg. 2005.)
Areas of Agreement The 1981 Windsor Statement from the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission had noted areas of doctrinal agreement on Mary. Both Anglicans and Catholics agreed that • Mary is inseparably linked to the doctrines of Christ and the Church; • Mary received the grace for the unique vocation to be Mother of God Incarnate (Theotokos) and Mother of the Redeemer; • Christ was "conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary"; • Mary is a model of holiness, obedience and faith.
MGHC affirmed these 1981 statements and added other areas of agreement. It affirmed the Church's recognition of Mary as "New Eve" (#35) and "Ever-Virgin" (#37) and its tradition of praying with and praising Mary. In its commentary on Scripture, texts which have nourished Marian devotion were presented in a symbolic and ecclesial context. At the Wedding Feast at Cana, Mary's response. "Do whatever he tells you" shows her as a member of a messianic community committed to the Messiah and reflects the Church's understanding of Mary's role "to help the disciples come to her son. Jesus Christ" (#25).
Mary's spiritual motherhood was manifested at Calvary: "Understood in terms of discipleship, Jesus' dying words give Mary a motherly role in the Church and encourage the community of disciples to embrace her as a spiritual mother. . . Mary is seen as the personification of Israel, now giving birth to the Christian community (cf. Isaiah 54:1; 66:7-8), just as she had given birth earlier to the Messiah" (cf. Isaiah 7: 14) (#26).
MGHC's final section "Mary in the Life of the Church" speaks of Mary's presence in the Communion of Saints. "In understanding Mary as the fullest human example of the life of grace, we are called to reflect on the lessons of her life recorded in Scripture and to join with her as one indeed not dead. but truly alive in Christ. In doing so we walk together as pilgrims in communion with Mary. Christ's foremost disciple, and all those whose participation in the new creation encourages us to be faithful to our calling" (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17. 19) (#65). Mary's distinctive ministry is "assisting others through her active prayer" (#71). "Mary and the saints pray for the whole Church and the practice of asking Mary and the saints to pray for us is not communion-dividing" (#79).
The Marian Dogmas MGHC is a comprehensive text on Mary in the doctrine and life of the Church, but there appear to he two underlying issues throughout the text--the Marian dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. The 1981 Windsor Statement noted that "the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption raise a special problem for those Anglicans who do not consider that the precise definitions given by these dogmas are sufficiently supported by the Scripture ... .The Catholic participants said that it is the conviction of Roman Catholics that the Marian dogmas formulate a faith consonant with the Scripture." In accord with its tradition of going behind "opposed or entrenched positions" to discover the common inheritance of faith, ARCIC makes several proposals (#4).
Eschatological Perspective - The Virgin Mary in the Pattern of Grace and Hope The blessings accorded to Mary are seen within "the economy of grace from its fulfillment in Christ 'back' into history, rather than 'forward' from its beginning in fallen creation towards the future in Christ," an eschatological perspective offering new context "in which to consider the place of Mary" (#52). In this eschatological perspective, Mary embodies the 'elect Israel'- of whom Paul speaks - who are "called according to God's purpose." Those whom God "foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . .. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified" (Romans 8:28-30: 2 Timothy 1:9). This pattern of hope and grace already foreshadowed in Mary will be fulfilled in the new creation in Christ when all the redeemed will participate in the full glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3-18) (#54).
The Immaculate Conception and Assumption - Consonant with Scripture Scripture speaks of God's covenant with Israel--"several times described as a love affair between God and Israel"--a blessing for all the families of the earth" (Genesis 12:3, 26:4; 28:14: Sirach 44:22). Within the covenant God calls particular persons--David, Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Paul--so that special tasks may be performed. By prevenient grace. God prepares persons from the very beginning of their existence (Psalm 139: 13-16: Jeremiah 1:1 -5). St. Paul speaks of this prevenient grace as he refers to those who are "called according to God's purpose." The preparation by God for a prophetic task is exemplified in the birth of John the Baptist, in the calling and sanctification of Sarah and Hannah, "whose sons fulfilled the purposes of God for his people." The birth of Mary's son is the fulfillment of God's will for Israel, and Mary's part in that fulfillment is that of free and unqualified consent in utter self-giving and trust: "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord: let it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38; cf. Psalm 123:2). God was at work in Mary from her earliest beginnings, preparing her for the unique vocation of fearing in her own flesh the new Adam, "in whom all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). Of Mary, both personally and as representative figure, it can be said that she is "God's workman-ship. created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand" (Ephesians 2:10).
"This eschatological perspective illuminates the understanding of the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. In view of her vocation to be the mother of the Holy One (Luke 1:35), we can affirm together that Christ's redeeming work reaches 'back' in Mary to the depths of her being, and to her earliest beginnings. This is not contrary to Scripture, and can only be understood in the light of Scripture. Roman Catholics can recognize in this what is affirmed by the dogma - 'preserved from all stain of original sin' and 'from the first moment of her conception'" (#59).
In the Assumption, we see in Mary the final destiny of God's people to share in Christ's victory over the powers of evil and death (#30). Belief in the Assumption, grounded in the promise of the resurrection of the dead and in the recognition of Mary's dignity as Theotokos and "Ever-Virgin," is "coupled with the conviction that she who had borne Life should be associated to her Son's victory over death, and with the glorification of his Body, the Church" (#40). We affirm that "the teaching that God has taken the Blessed Virgin Mary in the fullness of her person into his glory is consonant with Scripture, and only to be understood in the light of Scripture" (#58).
Re-reception In treating the two Marian dogmas MGHC refers (at least thirteen times) to a re-reception of the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. The notion of re-reception (or re-reading) is found in the writings of Cardinals Congar. Ratzinger, and Dulles, especially in dealing with ecclesiological questions. Re-reception is defined in another ARCIC document The Gift of Authority (1999): "Reception is an act both of faithfulness and freedom. The freedom to respond in fresh ways in the face of new challenges is what enables the Church to be faithful to the Tradition which carries forward. At other times, some element of the apostolic Tradition may he forgotten, neglected, or abused. In such situations, fresh recourse to Scripture and Tradition recalls God's revelation in Christ: we call this process re-reception" (cf. Gift 24-25). To this definition of re-reception. MGHC adds: "Progress in ecumenical dialogue and understanding suggests that we now have an opportunity to re-receive together the tradition of Mary's place in God's revelation"(#3).
MGHC is a source of joy for many in the ecumenical movement and for those who believe that the Virgin Mary is not an obstacle to the union of the churches. Archbishop Brimett stated that the MGHC was written in the spirit of Philippians 3:13--"to forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead." The Windsor Statement contained a sage admonition: "One consequence of our separation has been a tendency for Anglicans and Roman Catholic alike to exaggerate the importance of (he Marian dogmas in themselves at the expense of other truths more closely related to the foundation of the Christian faith." In MGHC, the Marian dogmas are presented in relation to the "truths which are more closely related to the foundation of Christian faith." Michael Ramsey. formerly Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote fifty years ago that ultimate reunion will not be achieved by the pursuit of the controversial, but by the "quiet growth of the organic life of every part of Christendom."
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His doctoral studies in Fribourg were centered on the early liturgical texts of the Roman rite. In 1978, he became editor of Marianum, the leading Marian theological journal, to which he brought originality and calm objectivity. In 1990, he succeeded Fr. Salvatore Meo as president of the Marianum, a post he held for twelve years. In 1994 he began the Marianum--Notizie--News.
His familiarity with the early Roman liturgy served the Congregation for Divine Worship well in the formulation of the special blessings found in the Ceremonial for Bishops--including Rite of the Consecration of Virgins (1970); the Rite of Religious Profession; the Blessing of Chrism and Holy Oils (1971); the Dedication of a Church and an Altar (1977); the Crowning of Images of the Blessed Virgin (1981). In 1984, the Congregation appointed a committee, under his direction, to develop the Collection of the Masses of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Collection, which appeared in the Marian Year of 1987 is a significant and enduring enrichment of the Marian liturgical texts in the Roman rite. One of his works translated into English is "The Liturgical Cult of Mary in the East and the West," in The Handbook of Liturgical Studies (vol. 5). He was also responsible for the revision of the liturgical books of the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites) and for editing the texts for the Stations of the Cross used by the pope and the faithful in the Good Friday service at the Colosseum.
After his death, Bishop Piero Marini (Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations) ranked him along with "masters" responsible for the Vatican II liturgical texts--Martimort, Journal, Fischer. Bugnini. He concluded his tribute by thanking Fr. Calabuig:
"Sisters thank you, dear Ignacio, for the Rite of Consecration of Virgins. Religious thank you for the Rite of Religious Profession. Every time an ecclesial community celebrates the Dedication of a New Church--they rejoice because of you. All of us--and I think I can say with a certain boldness--the whole Church thanks you and rejoices because through you we have been given the Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus and the Collectio Missarum Beatae Mariae Virginis" (Marianum-Notizie--News. #24)
He is remembered not only for his scholarly contributions, but also for the quiet assurance he gave others, for his sincere and simple affability, for his remarkable facility for recalling names. In the year 2000, he made these observations about the future of Marian studies. "We need a Mariology that has something to say about the great ecclesial and social questions of our day. such as the centrality of the Paschal mystery, the primacy of the Word. the new evangelization, ecumenism, women in the Church, the conflict between a culture of life and one of death, the assaults on the integrity of creation, the struggle against hunger and oppression. Our today is already becoming tomorrow, our future. It will not be a blind, disorienting future without a guide, but rather a future whose reins are in the hands of God, who permeated our history with his presence. To assert Christ's presence is to affirm the simultaneous presence of the Woman who is indissolubly united to Christ, in his birth, at his death, in history and in glory" (Marianum--Notizie--News, #16).
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In 2005, those who asked for the "religious Christmas stamp" at the Post Office were surprised to receive the same one as was issued in 2004, a painting by Lorenzo Monaco, a fifteenth-century Italian artist. Were the religious Christmas stamps discontinued? No, said a spokesman for the Post Office: there was an abundance of religious stamps left from 2004, and, since rates will rise to 39 cents per letter on January 8, 2006, a new stamp was not issued in 2005.
The 2006 Christmas religious stamp is a painting from the Peruvian artist,
Ignacio Chacon (Denver Museum of Art); it will arrive in the post offices in
October, 2006.
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The Servite Community in Rome announced that Fr. Ignazio Raphael M.
Calabuig Adan, O.S.M., died February 6, 2005--"with faith in Jesus
Christ and his resurrection." Born in Denia, Spain, 1931, he entered the
Servites in 1950, was ordained in Rome in 1955. and spent the next fifty
years in service to the Marianum in Rome. 
Since 1962, the United States Post Office has issued a "Madonna and Child"
Christmas postage stamp, a representation from works in art museums of the
United States. In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service announced that it was
discontinuing the stamp. After protests from many groups and the
intervention of President Clinton, the Postmaster General reversed the
decision and said that it would continue the stamp.