Malines Conversations

A series of conversations between prominent Roman Catholic and Anglican figures. The conversations were held between 1921 and 1925 in Malines, Belgium, under the presidency of its Cardinal Archbishop, D. J. Mercier, at the instigation of Charles Lindley Wood, Second Viscount Halifax. Wood published the results in 1928 and 1930. All the conversations after the first took place with the knowledge of the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Anglican participants included Bishops Charles Gore and W. H. Frere. A wide range of agreements was reached on papal primacy of honor, real presence, eucharistic sacrifice, episcopacy, etc., which foreshadow the current discussions of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). The movement was temporarily set back by evangelical opposition in the Church of England and by the subsequent divergence of Anglican and Roman Catholic positions concerning birth control. See Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC).