From ......... National Catholic Reporter

December 20, 1996

page 9

CATHOLIC-ANGLICAN IMPASSE

Anglican leader Archbishop George Carey and Pope John Paul II remained at an impasse after two days of talks over fundamental issues that have divided their churches, including women's ordination, gay marriages, contraception and the primacy of the pontiff.

The meetings, which ended Dec. 5, were amiable, but neither the Vatican nor Carey could point to any progress in the long effort to restore unity between the churches.

"I'm a realist and the realistic part of my response is to recognize that there are still deep divisions," Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told reporters Dec. 5. "Nevertheless, this meeting certainly strengthened that feeling that we have traveled a long way together, and in spite of recent difficulties that both of us have spoken about, the commitment to go on fills me with hope."

Despite fundamental differences, Carey said he and the pope were in step on the importance of morality in everyday life and on numerous social issues, such as poverty.

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