The Irish Churches and the Eucharist
It is a privilege to be asked to contribute to Search, the Church of Ireland’s theological journal. The editor has often told me that for her the icon of Anglican-Roman Catholic (ARC) relations is Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Runcie renewing their baptismal vows together in Canterbury Cathedral. One of my brethren tells me that there is now in the cathedral a slab of some kind inserted in the floor to mark the spot. In this essay I try to work out what are the implications of this sharing of a common baptism. I shall also look at the epiclesis, the invocation of the Holy Spirit in the eucharist. This is an early church feature which both our churches have now happily rediscovered.
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