Unity between Catholics and Anglicans is being discussed as an objective but is still a long way off, an international commission of bishops from the two churches said on Tuesday.
The co-chairs of the International Anglican-Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM) poured cold water on a British media report which implied reunification was possible in the not-too-distant future.
"Talk of plans to re-unite the two communions is, sadly, much exaggerated," said Catholic Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane, Australia, and Anglican Bishop David Beetge of Highveld, South Africa.
The bishops were reacting to a report in The Times of London which cited a draft document being prepared by IARCCUM for release later in the year.
The document discusses common ground between Catholics and Anglicans and makes proposals for steps towards unity. The proposals include having members of both denominations attend each others' synods and conferences and pray for each others' leaders.
"What the document says is not new," the IARCCUM chairs said in a statement, noting that it was not an official declaration by their churches.
"It is unfortunate that its contents have been prematurely reported in a way which misrepresents its intentions and sensationalises its conclusions".
The "radical proposals" referred to by the British newspaper were in fact the same as the ones made for the last 35 years by the ARCIC commission for dialogue between the two Churches, the bishops added.
The document - Growing Together in Unity and Mission - is to be published by IARCCUM as soon as a Catholic commentary to it has been written. An Anglican one has already been prepared.
'LONG JOURNEY'.
"It is being put forward to foster discussion and reflection," the statement said. "We hope that when published it will be a helpful instrument on the long journey towards full communion"
The state of dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans came into focus last November when the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams met Pope Benedict in Rome.
The visit marked the 40th anniversary of a landmark meeting between Michael Ramsey, then head of the Anglican Church, and Pope Paul VI.
Benedict and Williams pledged commitment to dialogue but admitted that Catholic-Anglican relations had stuttered in the last decade and that there were "serious obstacles" to ecumenical progress.
Chief among these obstacles is the Anglican Church's acceptance of gay bishops and women priests.
The Anglican Communion, headed by the Church of England, came into being in the 16th century when England's King Henry VIII broke with Rome.
It now has about 77 million members around the world while the Catholic Church has 1.1 billion members.
