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TEC Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori says she will attend 2011 Primates Meeting in Dublin
Orthodox Anglican Primates have said they will not appear if she is there
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
Sept. 22, 2010
A number of African Archbishops including a Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern Presiding Bishop meeting recently in Entebbe said they would no longer attend any gathering of Primates called by the Archbishop of Canterbury if the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church is present. Their non-appearance would signal a de facto split in The Anglican Communion.
"We are committed to network with orthodox Anglicans around the world, including Communion Partners in the USA and the Anglican Church in North America, in holistic mission and evangelism. Our aim is to advance the Kingdom of God especially in unreached areas," they wrote in a communiqué to the wider Anglican Communion.
"In order to keep the ethos and tradition of the Anglican Communion in a credible way, it is obligatory of all Provinces to observe the agreed decisions and recommendations of the Windsor Report and the various communique of the past three Primates Meetings, especially Dar es Salaam in 2007. We as Primates of CAPA and the Global South are committed to honor such recommendations."
In an e-mail sent to a number of orthodox Anglican Archbishops, VOL was told that if the US Presiding Bishop shows up in Dublin next year, they would not attend. At the HOB meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, this week the Presiding Bishop said, when asked at a press conference if she would attend, gave an unequivocal yes.
Likely no shows are: Nigerian Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, Ugandan Primate Henry Luke Orombi, Kenya Primate Eliud Wabukala, Rwanda Primate Onesphore Rwaje, Indian Ocean archbishop Ian Ernest, SE Asia Primate John Chew, Middle East Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis and Southern Cone Primate Gregory Venables. (The latter was not present in Entebbe). Together they represent more than 75% of the Anglican Communion. (NOTE: This list is not complete and may include other archbishops).
In an e-mail to VOL, Archbishop Ernest said, "As mentioned in the letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the 12th April 2010, there were conditions attached to my being present at the Primates Meeting."
In Ft. Worth, Texas, this week Bishop Mouneer Anis excoriated The Episcopal Church (TEC) describing them as "Arians" because of its theology and steadily declining membership and increasing marginalization in the Anglican Communion. Referring to the latest meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA), at Entebbe, Uganda, Anis stated that TEC "was not really welcome," despite being allowed a presence at the event.
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