The Rev. Canon John Gibaut referred to all Christians as “sons and daughters of Benedict” when preaching on the saint’s feast day, July 11.
Anglican Communion News Service invited Canon Gibaut, director of unity, faith, and order for the Anglican Communion, into conversation with Fr. Henry Wansbrough, a Benedictine monk and leading biblical scholar.
They met at Ampleforth Abbey in northern England, where Wansbrough has been a monk for more than 60 years.
Wansbrough’s mother was Jewish before she converted to Roman Catholicism. His father was Anglican, his grandfather was an Anglican vicar, and his great-grandfather was the first Anglican bishop in Brisbane. Wansbrough says this history gives him “well-spread tentacles.”
Gibaut has served on several national and international ecumenical dialogues and commissions. He is the Anglican secretary of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, and Wansbrough is a commission member.
Adapted from Bernadette Kehoe, ACNS
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
