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CANTERBURY: Episcopal Church will be sanctioned by Primates over passage of Gay Marriage Canon
By David W. Virtue in Canterbury
www.virtueonline.org
January 14, 2016
Reliable sources have told VOL that the Episcopal Church will be sanctioned by the Primates of the Anglican Communion following the passage of the Marriage Canon last summer at General Convention in Salt Lake City.
The Primates unanimously recognized that the Marriage Canon passed by the Episcopal Church was a departure from the faith and teaching held by the majority of Provinces. It was also a departure from the mutual accountability and interdependence implied by virtue of being in relationship in the Anglican Communion.
Sanctions have been passed that will last for three years. TEC may no longer have representatives on ecumenical and interfaith bodies. Secondly, TEC should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee and can only have voice but may not vote in the Instruments of Communion.
Egyptian Archbishop Mouneer Anis wrote at his blog, "To all the loved ones who lifted me in their prayers for the meetings of heads of the Anglican Archbishops of the world. The Lord heard your prayers and responded. We unanimously affirmed that the faith of the Church allows only marriage between one man and one woman linked together for life, and that the decision to allow the American church representatives pair is a departure from the doctrine of the institution explicit Church teaching on the Bible. And therefore the membership of the Church in America, the Episcopal community ecumenical councils, and those that define the doctrine of the church and its policy. And it was to preserve the unity of the Church."
There is no word on how this has been received by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry who is present here. We also do not know whether this will satisfy ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach should he be recognized as a full primate in the Anglican Communion.
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