Despite the resignation of the Anglican co-chair and a temporary suspension of the international dialogue, nothing has happened to the official ecumenical dialogue between Episcopalians and Roman Catholics in the United States, according to the Rt. Rev. C. Christopher Epting, retired Bishop of Iowa and the Presiding Bishop’s deputy officer of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations.

Members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic dialogue in the United States (ARC-USA) met March 25-28 at St. Paul’s College in Washington, D.C.

Last fall, after Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold resigned as co-chair of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), the international equivalent of ARC-USA, some feared that the Vatican would shun bishops who voted in favor of the New Hampshire consecration, but Bishop Epting said the subject never came up and the 20-member commission gathered for daily Eucharist.

Both Episcopal bishops with jurisdiction serving on the committee, the Rt. Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr., Bishop of Kentucky and ARC-USA co-chair, and the Rt. Rev. Barry R. Howe, Bishop of West Missouri, voted in favor of the New Hampshire consecration.

“This was not a question of putting our disagreements to bed and moving on,” Bishop Epting said. “There are still lots of issues to sort through, but nothing has been derailed.”

The commission focused most of its attention during the meeting on two ongoing projects: one a five-part Lenten study program designed to deepen shared faith traditions and the other a study of authority.

The committee hopes to have a version of the study program completed in time for testing in several locations during Lent next year. Although designed to be undertaken jointly between Episcopal and Roman Catholic congregations, it is also suitable as a parish program.

Following previously agreed statements on local and universal authority, the commission is examining intermediate or regional levels of authority, including among other things, the provincial autonomy of the Anglican Communion and the centralized role of the Vatican in the Roman Catholic Church.