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GAFCON Primates Clarify Remark of Chilean Bishop Tito Zavala to Stay in Communion
By David W. Virtue in Jerusalem
www.virtueonline.org
June 20, 2018
The Bishop of Chile, the Rt. Rev. Tito Zavala made a comment during a speech saying that his newly formed diocese was not leaving the Anglican Communion, giving a false impression that a split had formed in the ranks of the GAFCON primates.
Feeling the heat of his comment and to assuage any misunderstanding of what he said, five primates appeared on stage at the International Convention Center which included ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach (USA), Tito Zavala (Chile) Stanley Ntagali (Uganda) Laurent Mbanda, (Uganda) and Peter Jensen, general secretary of GAFCON, to restate GAFCON's position that they were not leaving the Anglican Communion and there was no temptation as such to leave.
The position of GAFCON was clearly stated yesterday by South American Primate Greg Venables who said "we are not leaving the Anglican Communion, we are the Anglican Communion."
Zavala clarified his comment and said that the Diocese of Chile was in the final stage of being a province and reiterated that, "We belong to GAFCON and we have signed the Jerusalem Declaration."
He further asserted that "We are not in communion with those who have departed from biblical truth. Belonging to the Anglican Church will not change our principles. Our Anglican Church of Chile is a biblical church based on mission and the Jerusalem Declaration. We are united in one body. We are unified in our principles and in the way we work and are together."
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