Madam, - Has the Venerable Dermot Dunne abandoned the Catholic Council of Trent in favour of the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church? Thanks be to God we have transcended this old controversy.
That was a task given to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), which reached its first agreement on the Eucharist in 1972. A few years later it agreed on the doctrine of ministry and ordination. All of that work was endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, and Pope John Paul II at their meeting in 1996.
There is still disagreement as to who actually has priestly orders. Our (RC) view is that we and the Eastern churches have proper orders but that Protestant orders are invalid and Anglican orders are doubtful, at best.
That is why the present Pope and the previous one put so much effort into reunion with the East, and may even seem to neglect Western ecumenism. Yet it is remarkable how the barriers between us have been falling, if not yet completely.
It may be a hard saying for some people, but shouldn't we rejoice that Dermot Dunne is still preaching the gospel as a minister of Christ rather than taking a job as a lawyer or bank manager? - Yours, etc,
(Rev) EOIN DE BHALDRAITHE,
Bolton Abbey,
Moone,
Co Kildare.