With
a news blackout and the isolation of Primates to the point of their being “treated
like children,” there has been much speculation but little real information
from the Primates Meeting until the past few hours.
But
now has come news that the Archbishop of Uganda has walked out and written a letter
to his church. From the letter, it
appears that the Archbishop of Canterbury will not allow a vote on the
presenting issue of expelling the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of
Canada from either the Primates Meeting nor the Anglican Communion.
And
now have come reports that there may be partial sanctions against The Episcopal
Church, which would expire after three years no matter what TEC does or does
not do. These are early reports
only, but it appears just about everyone will go home unhappy.
UPDATE: Due to a leak,
the communiqué has been released early.
The text follows:
14 Jan 2016
Today the Primates agreed
how they would walk together in the grace and love of Christ. This agreement
acknowledges the significant distance that remains but confirms their unanimous
commitment to walk together.
The Primates regret that
it appears that this document has been leaked in advance of their communiqué
tomorrow. In order to avoid speculation the document is being released in full.
This agreement demonstrates the commitment of all the Primates to continue the
life of the Communion with neither victor nor vanquished.
Questions and further
comments will be responded to at a press conference tomorrow at 1500. Full
details are available here.
The full text is as
follows:
1. We gathered as
Anglican Primates to pray and consider how we may preserve our unity in Christ
given the ongoing deep differences that exist among us concerning our
understanding of marriage.
2. Recent developments in
The Episcopal Church with respect to a change in their Canon on marriage
represent a fundamental departure from the faith and teaching held by the
majority of our Provinces on the doctrine of marriage. Possible developments in
other Provinces could further exacerbate this situation.
3. All of us acknowledge
that these developments have caused further deep pain throughout our Communion.
4. The traditional
doctrine of the church in view of the teaching of Scripture, upholds marriage
as between a man and a woman in faithful, lifelong union. The majority of those
gathered reaffirm this teaching.
5. In keeping with the
consistent position of previous Primates’ meetings such unilateral actions on a
matter of doctrine without Catholic unity is considered by many of us as a
departure from the mutual accountability and interdependence implied through
being in relationship with each other in the Anglican Communion.
6. Such actions further
impair our communion and create a deeper mistrust between us. This results in
significant distance between us and places huge strains on the functioning of
the Instruments of Communion and the ways in which we express our historic and
ongoing relationships.
7. It is our unanimous
desire to walk together. However given the seriousness of these matters we
formally acknowledge this distance by requiring that for a period of three
years The Episcopal Church no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith
bodies, should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee
and that while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion,
they will not take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine
or polity.
8. We have asked the
Archbishop of Canterbury to appoint a Task Group to maintain conversation among
ourselves with the intention of restoration of relationship, the rebuilding of
mutual trust, healing the legacy of hurt, recognising the extent of our
commonality and exploring our deep differences, ensuring they are held between
us in the love and grace of Christ.
1 comment:
It will be interesting to see how the conservative Anglican leaders get portrayed in the media:
https://thereluctantsamizdatwordpresscom.wordpress.com/2016/01/13/what-is-truth/
Post a Comment