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BRAZIL: Province leaders strike back at orthodox Diocese of Recife
Stranger "Ecclesiastical Coincidence"
Anglican Province of Brazil seeks convenant, aid from the Episcopal Church of United States of America at the same moment that the bishop Robinson Cavalcanti of recife is "deposed".
Brazilian Province Seeks Covenant, Aid from U.S. Church
July/5/2005
The Living Church
http://livingchurch.org/publishertlc/viewarticle.asp?ID=1123
The Anglican Province of Brazil is seeking a covenant with the Episcopal Church, and a report recently submitted to the national Executive Council includes a proposal for a "substantial mission fund," to be used for expansion of ministry throughout the South American country.
The Province of Brazil was founded in 1890 by Episcopal missionaries. It achieved independence in 1965 and the Episcopal Church concluded ongoing financial obligations in 1975. In 1990, during centennial celebrations in Brazil, the primates of Brazil and the Episcopal Church agreed to establish a bilateral committee to "reconnect and reconcile dynamics of distance that occurred during and after the establishment of the Brazilian province," according to "The Commitment to be Companions in Christ," the bilateral committee report submitted last month to Executive Council.
"We envision the covenant as a bold, risk-taking venture, based on a more authentic view of both our churches," the report states. "This covenant calls for a renewed commitment to our relationship with one another. We envision a mutual partnership where God's gifts are shared joyfully with each other."
The request for outside financial aid comes at roughly the same time that the primate, the Most Rev. Orlando Santos de Oliveira, has sought ecclesiastical finality to a long-running personal dispute with the bishop and Diocese of Recife, which claims to be the largest in the province. The public part of the dispute began on March 14, 2004, when the Bishop of Recife, the Rt. Rev. Robinson Cavalcanti, participated in an unauthorized confirmation service in the Diocese of Ohio.
Although the Province of Brazil did not have a canon in place at the time prohibiting international encroachments into another bishop's diocese, Archbishop Oliveira reprimanded Bishop Cavalcanti, who continues to enjoy the full backing of the standing committee as well as the majority of the clergy of Recife. After testimony regarding "a climate of tension" by some diocesan clergy, the Brazilian House of Bishops unilaterally imposed alternate episcopal oversight last September. Bishop Cavalcanti and the standing committee refused to recognize that decision and appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury for mediation by the Panel of Reference.
The House of Bishops in Brazil deposed Bishop Cavalcanti in absentia on June 17, citing among its grievances the fact that Bishop Cavalcanti refused to recognize the AEO decision and had used "offensive language" against the primate in a speech prepared for members of the advocacy group, Anglican Mainstream, of England.
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