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Anglicans honour Canadian ecumenist

By  Simon Caldwell, Catholic News Service
  • February 4, 2009
DonBolan.jpgThe spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion has honoured a Canadian Catholic priest for his service to ecumenism.

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury awarded Msgr. Donald Bolen the Cross of St. Augustine in recognition of his work in the field of Anglican-Catholic relations, said a Feb. 3 statement from Lambeth Palace, the archbishop's residence.

"Msgr. Bolen has for many years been far more than an able facilitator of Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue. He has been a friend and colleague whose deep commitment to the possibilities of ecumenical dialogue and our common witness to the truths of the Gospel has been unflagging and inspirational," Williams said in an e-mail sent to Catholic News Service Feb. 4. "This award is a small sign of the regard, affectionate and admiring, in which Don is held and a sign of my personal appreciation of his work and friendship in recent years."


Williams bestowed the honour on Bolen during a private audience in Lambeth Palace, the archbishop's residence, in early November.

"The archbishop paid warm tribute to the theological acumen and spiritual discernment that Msgr. Bolen had put unreservedly at the service of Anglican-Roman Catholic relations during his seven-year assignment to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome," said the statement from Lambeth Palace.

Bolen, a priest of the archdiocese of Regina, served as the Vatican's officer for relations with the Anglican Communion and the World Methodist Council between 2001 and 2008 while working for the pontifical council. He served as the co-secretary of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission and the international commission for dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Catholic Church.

Currently, Bolen holds the Jesuit Father Peter W. Nash Chair in Religion at Campion College at the University of Regina. This summer he is expected to resume parish ministry in the archdiocese.

The Cross of St. Augustine was founded by Anglican Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury and was first awarded by him in 1965. It is a circular medallion bearing a replica of the eighth-century cross of Canterbury. On the reverse side is an engraving of the throne of St. Augustine in Canterbury Cathedral.

Each year the cross is awarded to a small number of clergy and laypeople who have given long and distinguished service to the Church of England or within the Anglican Communion. Occasionally it is awarded to members of other Christian denominations. The awards are made at the discretion of the archbishop of Canterbury.
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