Because of the transport difficulties caused by heavy snow across England in the past 24 hours, the meeting of the Council of ESBVM which was to have taken place tomorrow, January 7th, at the University Catholic Chaplaincy at Oxford has been postponed to Thursday February 18th. It will take place at Oxford and replaces the meeting of the Executive that was to have taken place on that day in London.

The lunch at Christ Church College which was to have preceded tomorrow’s meeting is also postponed to February 18th. Please could members of the Council inform Fr Bill Mcloughlin at their earliest convenience whether they will be able to attend the rescheduled meeting, whether they will be attending lunch at Christ Church Colllege and whether they will need a parking space at the college.

The Executive of the ESBVM notes the publication on November 9th 2009 of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus which provides a means by which groups of Anglicans may enter into the communion of the Catholic Church while preserving those aspects of the Anglican tradition that are compatible with the teaching of the Catholic Church. In respecting the conscience of those who freely wish to take up this offer of the Holy See the ESBVM remains committed to the wider unity that all Christians involved in the ecumenical movement continue to seek. The Executive will place this matter for further discussion on the agenda of the January 2010 meeting of the ESBVM Council.

ESBVM does not comment upon the internal life of particular churches and ecclesial communities, and notes that this Apostolic Constitution is similarly published not as a commentary on difficulties within the Anglican Communion in recent times but as a pastoral response by the Holy See to requests from bishops and groups of the Anglican tradition over a number of years.

Conscious that the Anglican tradition originated in England, known across the centuries as ‘Our Lady’s Dowry’, it is the sincere prayer of ESBVM that under the patronage of Our Lady, and building upon the work of many, including the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity & Mission (IARCCUM), the response by groups of Anglicans to Anglicanorum coetibus will make a significant contribution to the reconciliation of all Christians in one flock with one shepherd, that ‘they may all be one’.