This week, stories about the Windsor proposal for an Anglican Covenant resurfaced:
Telegraph Jonathan Petre Archbishop backs two-track Church to heal divisions
Ruth Gledhill That Petre ‘covenant’ story
Living Church Steve Waring Anglican Covenant Unlikely in Less than Five Years
Jim Naughton had this comment.
6 CommentsFirst, the Guardian’s blogsite, comment is free published Partners in prejudice by Peter Tatchell. This is described by Jim Naughton as a “searing attack” on the Archbishop of Canterbury. Tatchell is not polite about the Archbishop of Abuja either.
Second, Changing Attitude has issued a press release entitled IDAHO – the International Day Against Homophobia. This notes that the proposed Nigerian legislation will:
5 CommentsAny Nigerian bishop who tries to listen to homosexual experience in accordance with commitments made by the Anglican Communion will be labelled a supporter of homosexual people and be at risk of prosecution under the terms of the new bill, subject to a maximum prison sentence of 5 years.
The bill will make it impossible for any Nigerian bishop fulfil the commitment of the Anglican Church expressed in the Windsor report to listen to the experience of lesbian and gay people.
Changing Attitude Nigeria thanks the Canadian bishops who have spoken their mind robustly in criticising the Nigerian bill and disassociating from it.
Updated Wednesday
The Connecticut Six have issued a press release in response to this.
We, our priests, vestries and congregations, were shocked and gravely disappointed to learn of the Panel of Reference’s actions in causing the Archbishop of Canterbury to withdraw his referral of our applications to the Panel. Our congregations appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, requesting he refer our situation to the Panel of Reference in July 2005 in light of the abusive and hostile actions of the Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith, Bishop of Connecticut….
…Bishop Smith reported at a clergy meeting on February 8, 2006, that the Panel of Reference had notified him of their review and requested a response from him in early January 2006. We received no word from the Panel regarding its communications with Bishop Smith. Now we read in a public document that the Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn the Connecticut reference to the Panel “until such time as the matter of the civil cases has been resolved.â€
Regrettably, the Panel of Reference did not consult with us or give us an opportunity to speak to their need for a stay of pending civil litigation. Through our counsel, we have repeatedly advised the Diocese of Connecticut that we are agreeable to a referral to the Panel of Reference. Accordingly, we can only assume now that the Diocese and the remaining defendants in the civil litigation have advised the Panel that they will not agree to the Panel’s request to stay the civil litigation. Once again, it appears that the Diocese of Connecticut has denied Parishes the relief and a fair hearing to which they are entitled by evading an acceptable process providing for dispute resolution. Presumably, the Diocese has concluded that it cannot persuade a disinterested mediator of the rectitude of its position…
ACNS has published a Communiqué from the Panel of Reference which reports on a meeting held in London from 9 to 12 May.
It reveals that only three cases have been referred to it so far. Of these:
1. The Diocese of Fort Worth, which does not ordain women to the priesthood, and appealed to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the grounds that it is in serious theological dispute with the Episcopal Church, which at its 72nd General Convention in 1997 passed canons to make the ordination of women mandatory. The Panel considered the preliminary draft of its report, and hopes, after consultation with the parties, to publish its recommendations in the near future.
2. An appeal by six parishes in the Diocese of Connecticut against the oversight of their Bishop. Because the Panel decided last year as a matter of principle that it should not normally consider references where civil cases are proceeding, the Archbishop of Canterbury has withdrawn the reference to the Panel until such time as the matter of the civil cases has been resolved.
3. Parishes in the Diocese of New Westminster in the Anglican Church of Canada which have appealed for alternative episcopal oversight. The Panel has developed a preliminary draft of its report and representatives of the Panel would be visiting Vancouver in the immediate future in order to meet with both parties.
No mention at all of any other cases, such as Recife or Florida. However, it also says that two additional references were received in the course of the meeting, upon which work was undertaken.
The Panel has also revised its procedures.
3 CommentsDetailed reports on what they have done can be found here. A few randomly selected items:
The Diocese of Down and Dromore won an award for its website.
Archbishop Eames announced his retirement in the course of his presidential address (and here is comment from the Belfast Telegraph)
The synod considered Windsor Report 2004: A Further Response which can be read in PDF format here.
The report (again in PDF format) on the Anglican Consultative Council may also be of interest.
1 CommentMeeting of the Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada
Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre, Niagara Falls ON
2006 04 23-27 [regular spring meeting of the house]
RESOLUTION
Nigeria
moved by Bishop Lawrence [Archbishop of Moosonee] / seconded by Bishop Poole [Suffragan – Toronto/Credit Valley]
The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada notes with grave concern legislation before the Nigerian parliament that would prohibit or severely restrict the freedom of spech, association, expression, and assembly of gay and lesbian persons in Nigeria. This legislation is inconsistent with the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, that recognises these rights as derived from the inherent dignity of the human person.
The Archbishop and Bishops are especially grieved by the strong and public support for this legislation given by the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Whereas Lambeth 1998 resolution I.10 called on churches to listen to the experience of homosexual persons, the proposed legislation criminalises civil and religious same-sex marriage as well as the public and private expression of same-sex affection, all public affiliation between gay persons, and even publicity, public support, and media reporting of the same. The proposed legislation, endorsed in an official communique of the Standing Committee of the Church of Nigeria signed by its Primate, would make the very act of listening to homosexual persons impossible.
The members of the House of Bishops are in full agreement with the Primates’ statement from Dromantine in 2005, that ‘The victimisation or diminishment of human beings whose affections happen to be ordered towards people of the same sex is anathema to us.’ The Nigerian legislation, and its endorsement by the Church of Nigeria, is indeed anathema to us, and quite at odds with the grace and love given to all human beings in Jesus Christ.
We therefore disassociate ourselves from the actions of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) that are inconsistent with the Commitments of its bishops made at Lambeth and Dromantine, and we call on Anglicans throughout the Communion to listen and respect the human rights of homosexual persons.
Carried unanimously
28 CommentsIn the Church Times Pat Ashworth reports: Archbishop defies court.
0 CommentsTHE ARCHBISHOP of Central Africa, the Most Revd Bernard Malango, and the disputed Bishop of Lake Malawi, the Rt Revd James Mwenda, have been found in contempt of court, and were due to appear with others before a judge yesterday. If they failed to appear, a warrant would be issued for their arrest…
According to the Anglican Journal:
Canada’s Anglican bishops unanimously endorsed a motion expressing “grave concern” about proposed legislation in Nigeria that “would prohibit or severely restrict the freedom of speech, association, expression and assembly of gay and lesbian persons.” Their motion also called criticized the (Anglican) Church of Nigeria for its support of the legislation…
Anglican Mainstream has issued an editorial comment, defending the Nigerian church, in response to this news story. You can read that here.
4 CommentsTime has announced its 2006 list of
…the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example, is transforming our world”.
Under the category of
Leaders & Revolutionaries – Dictators, democrats, holy men (and a TV host) – these are the people with the clout and power to change our world,…
they have included Archbishop Peter Akinola.
The article about him is written by Rick Warren.
Hat Tip: PoliticalSpaghetti.
Update Friday
This matter is reported in the Church of England Newspaper by Andrew Carey in an article titled Archbishop Akinola recognised on Time list.
The Church Times reported it only in a nib (not on web until next week) as follows:
14 CommentsAkinola makes top-people’s list
THE Archbishop of Nigeria, the Most Revd Peter Akinola, and Pope Benedict XVI have been included in Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people. The Iraqi Muslim Shia cleric and military leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, was also included.
Updated August 2012
The links below are broken. The PDF file is now available here.
Washington Window, the monthly newspaper of the Diocese of Washington [D.C.] has a major feature in the May issue, in two parts, entitled Following the Money: Donors and Activists on the Anglican Right.
You can read it online here: Part 1, and also Part 2. Or the whole thing is available as a single PDF file here. (375 K)
Jim Naughton is the author of this work.
The full press release is here.
The first part of the series, “Investing in Upheaval,” draws on Internal Revenue Service Forms 990 to give a partial account of how contributions from Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr., the savings and loan heir, and five secular foundations have energized resistance to the Episcopal Church’s decision to consecrate an openly gay bishop and to permit the blessing of gay and lesbian relationships.
The article sets contributions to organizations such as the American Anglican Council (AAC) and the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) in the context of the donors’ other philanthropic activities which include support for conservative political candidates, think tanks and causes such as the intelligent design movement.
The second article, “A Global Strategy,” uses internal emails and memos from leaders of the AAC and IRD to examine efforts to have the Episcopal Church removed from the worldwide Anglican Communion and replaced with a more conservative entity. The documents surfaced during a Pennsylvania court case. The article also explores the financial relationship between conservative organizations in the United States and their allies in other parts of the world.
And that’s not all. Two other items just published touch on the same area:
If anyone still had illusions about the political slant of the IRD… from politicalspaghetti
This Schism Is Brought to You by the IRD by Daniel Webster in the Witness.
For the part of the Washington Window article that refers to UK recipients of funds, see below.
Update Friday 5 May This is reported in the Church Times Family trusts ‘fund ECUSA’s Right’
40 CommentsUpdated Wednesday evening and Thursday evening
There was an interview this morning with Lord Carey on the BBC radio programme Sunday . You can hear the 8.5 minute segment (Real Audio required) some 35 minutes into the programme at this link. (Better link now available from the BBC.)
The interview was concerned with the letter originally published last Sunday in the Sunday Times newspaper along with this report. The Sunday Times report did not claim any bishops had already signed the letter. It did not reveal its Australian origins either.
Letter original with signature list.
Lord Carey issued a statement. I found it at this location.
The story behind this was explained in Friday’s Church Times in Carey rebuts open letter as ‘mischievous and damaging’ by Pat Ashworth and Muriel Porter.
Sadly for Mr Ince and his colleagues Roger Bolton’s radio interview omitted any reference to LEAC.
Update Monday
The Guardian this morning says Lord Carey hits back at critics’ open letter. (Link to original commendation.)
Update Wednesday
The Australian press has caught up with this matter:
Sydney Morning Herald Anglican liberals pen rebuke to former head and Rent asunder as brawls replace talk
Melbourne Age Anglicans furious at former archbishop
ABC Radio The Archbishop of Canterbury and George Carey
Update Thursday
Ekklesia Anglicans need more jaw and less war by David Wood originator of the letter and
Lord Carey says ordaining a gay bishop verges on heresy
Christianity Today carries this interview: Nigerian Archbishop Demands Justice. The interview was with associate editor Collin Hansen. The strapline says:
20 CommentsPeter Akinola affirms warning to government and Muslims, fires back on the Western press.
The previous TA entry on this, originally posted on 9 April but updated on 13 April.
Since then there has been a further significant press release on 17 April from Changing Attitude titled Nigerian Anglican hostility to gays and threat to Davis MacIyalla revealed. There is also some background on African and Anglican involvement in the recent ILGA Geneva conference.
Today, politicalspaghetti published a very detailed review of recent Nigerian events under the title Things fall apart. (This entry also deals with the New Yorker article, see immediately previous post here.)
9 CommentsUpdated Thursday 13 April
According to the Nation :
The enthronement of Leonard James Mwenda as Anglican Bishop of Lake Malawi Diocese at All Saints Church in Nkhotakota on Sunday was conducted under police guard as a group of some faithful resorted to stone-throwing to stop the Zambian from succeeding the late Bishop Peter Nyanja….
Read Anglicans stone new bishop.
And now, this also: Anglicans seek injunction against bishop.
Some members of the Anglican Diocese of Lake Malawi have dragged newly-enthroned Bishop Leonard Mwenda to court stopping him from conducting business until matters surrounding his election to replace Late Bishop Peter Nyanja are resolved.
Update Thursday
The Nation again: Court stops Anglican Bishop
The High Court in Lilongwe Wednesday granted some members of the Anglican Diocese of Lake Malawi an injunction restraining newly-enthroned Bishop Leonard Mwenda from conducting business, pending a meeting between the laity, the clergy and Archbishop Bernard Malango.
Justice Ivy Kamanga ordered that the two parties should meet within 21 days to sort out outstanding issues concerning the election of the Bishop of the Diocese of Lake Malawi.
Kamanga said Archbishop Malango should ensure that Mwenda does not proceed to carry out duties and functions of the office of the bishop of the diocese.
The injunction also restrains Bishop Mwenda from using the official residence, offices of the diocese and any other assets.
Background: here is the text of the resolutions passed at the December clergy conference of the diocese.
1 CommentUpdated 13 April
First, on the Davis MacIyalla story.
Since the last report, the recent comments made on TA include several by the principals in the case. This week the Church Times carried another article, Nigerian attitude is unchanged by Pat Ashworth. And then Changing Attitude issued another statement on Thursday, Colin Coward addresses the new attack made against Davis MacIyalla, Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria.
Update A further press release from CA dated 13 April can be found at Open letter to Canon Akintunde Popoola, Director of Communications, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
Second, on the matter of Muslim-Christian relations in Nigeria.
This letter to the editor appeared last week in the Church Times: Important cultural difference in Nigeria.
Third, the World Organisation Against Torture has issued a press release New Bill Puts Human Rights Defenders of Sexual Rights at Risk (link via allAfrica.com) which calls on the Nigerian government to withdraw the proposed legislation.
11 CommentsUpdated Monday 3 April
Changing Attitude has just published three four press releases, resulting from a recent meeting in Geneva, where Colin Coward met Davis MacIyalla and held extended discussions with him. (The background to this was the ILGA Conference.)
Davis MacIyalla describes his work with Bishop Ugede in the Diocese of Otukpo
Nigerian Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act introduced to House of Representatives
Davis MacIylla reports suspicions of Anglican Church involvement with new bill
In the first of these, it is reported that Davis MacIyalla is known personally to various senior church officials in Nigeria, including Archbishop and Mrs Akinola. The press release asks:
A further challenge to Canon Akintunde Popoola
In the press release issued on 28 December 2005 Canon Akintunde Popoola maintained that he had consulted over 6,000 clergy and none of them knew of Davis MacIyalla. We would now like to ask whether he contacted the people named by Davis in this report, including the Primate of All Nigeria, the Most Revd Peter J Akinola and his wife. Canon Popoola’s denial that Davis was a member of the Anglican Church is all the more remarkable given Davis’s deep involvement in the life of the Church of Nigeria from his earliest years and more recently in the Diocese of Otukpo.
In the third release the personal danger to individuals is discussed. Changing Attitude had also written its own open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and others, concerning this matter last February.
Update
A fourth release: Nigerian gay representatives meet officer at Nigerian Human Rights Commission. This makes further grim reading.
Updated
The Church Times take on the Guardian interview is broader, as revealed by the headline over the report by Rachel Harden: Dr Williams defends Akinola on anti-Muslim riots. The CT press column also deals with the interview at length, but that will not be available on the web for another week.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Peter Akinola, acting as President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has issued A Call to National Mourning as explaine in this press release: CAN declares Two-Day National Mourning.
The Living Church reported this together with some comments from Canon Popoola, in Nigerian Strike Will Protest Sectarian Violence.
And for completeness, here is the defence of the archbishop’s earlier remarks that was made by Bishop Robert Duncan.
Added Friday afternoon
However, there is further news via Blog of Daniel about how others outside the church view the Nigerian legislative proposals in Human rights in Nigeria. And Peter Akinola says “Amen.”
Sixteen human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have urged Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in this Letter to President Obasanjo Regarding Bill to Criminalize Gay Rights to withdraw what the groups characterize as a “draconian” measure that not only “contravenes international law” but violates the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which “ensure(s) rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly.”
The bill also undermines Nigeria’s struggle to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, as a further story from Human Rights Watch points out: Nigeria: Obasanjo Must Withdraw Bill to Criminalize Gay Rights.
18 CommentsUpdated Friday morning and again Friday evening
Ruth Gledhill has a blog entry today that is mostly about the Recife situation. While not wishing to minimize the significance of that topic, I did find the second part of her article even more interesting:
…The Anglican Communion is in deep crisis. The General Convention in the US could see the ratification of the election of a gay or lesbian Bishop of California. Convention will also debate where Ecusa goes now in response to the Windsor Report. The outcome will determine whether Gene Robinson and the bishops who consecrated him are invited to Lambeth 2008. My guess is that when the invitations go out later this year, some of the US bishops and suffragans might be invited with observer status only, rather as the Ecusa delegates attended the ACC meeting in Nottingham. But beyond not inviting people and issuing public rebukes, there is very little Dr Williams can do with respect to Ecusa if the North Americans do decide to follow their liberal consience, as seems likely.
Meanwhile, work is going on to examine the ACC constitution for a way forward. The constitution is framed to allow new members to be elected into the Anglican Communion but there is no mechanism for expelling anyone or inviting them to leave.
It is to debate issues such as this that Dr Williams has convened a meeting at Lambeth Palace on 24 April to examine the ‘options and scenarios’ for the ‘post-General Convention period’ in the Anglican Communion. Those invited include the Bishops of Durham, Winchester, Exeter, Manchester, Norwich, Bristol and the Dean of St Paul’s as well as representatives from the Church’s mission agencies and Anglican Mainstream. They will discuss the implications for the Church of England and how the ‘Instruments of Unity’ should respond to whatever happens in Ecusa this summer.
In his letter of invitation, leaked to me, Dr Williams’ head of staff Chris Smith says the roundtable discussion concerns the ‘next critical months’ in the life of the Anglican Communion. ‘This is too important a set of issues to allow events to overtake us,’ he says.
My source, who is not one of those invited, interprets it this way: ‘The wording of the invitation makes it fairly clear that Lambeth is expecting no backtrack from Ecusa and is therefore working out how to manage the oncoming schism.’ …
The Bishop of Exeter was present at the recent ECUSA House of Bishops meeting, as noted here. No doubt the July General Synod meeting will be hearing more about all this. (General Convention dates are 13-21 June, General Synod dates are 7-11 July.)
Update 1 The Living Church has also noticed Ruth’s report, see Bishop of Exeter Represents Canterbury at House of Bishops Retreat.
Update 2
Ruth Gledhill has published more, see Schism looms, Exeter warns US bishops
Update 3
On Saturday, The Times had this short piece Archbishop holds talks over fear of a schism.
Last week, the Church Times carried an edited version of the submission made by Bob Stumbles who is Chancellor of the Diocese of Harare and also Deputy Chancellor of the Province of Central Africa. This is now available on the web.
The background was explained in a news article by Pat Ashworth: Kunonga ‘must stand trial’.
Mr Stumbles’ submission is here: Malango has no right to close Kunonga’s trial.
0 CommentsThis week, Rowan Williams issued a pastoral letter to the 38 Primates of the Anglican Communion and Moderators of the United Churches, in which he “sets out his thinking” on the Lambeth Conference 2008 (scroll down past the press release for the full text of the letter).
Although this provoked no reportage in London dailies it was noticed by the wire services:
Press Association Archbishop keen to avoid gay row
Associated Press Anglican Leader Rules Out Gay Debate and later, World Anglican leader rules out rewrite of stand against gay sex
and these reports were widely reprinted across the UK provincial press and across the USA.
The Church Times reported it this way: No enthusiasm for sex at Lambeth by Bill Bowder
In North America, there were several press releases or reports about it:
Episcopal News Service Listening: Archbishop of Canterbury sets out thinking on Lambeth Conference 2008
Living Church Archbishop Williams Writes to the Primates
American Anglican Council Archbishop of Canterbury Says Sexuality Debate Will Not Be Reopened at Lambeth 2008
Anglican Church of Canada Williams sets out thinking on Lambeth Conference 2008
29 CommentsThis View from Fleet Street column by Stephen Bates of the Guardian appeared in the CEN on Friday 3 March. It is republished by permission of the Church of England Newspaper.
“There is always something new coming out of Africa,” wrote Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago and he didn’t mean new in a nice way. To him it meant strange and undesirable.
I hope more than a few Anglicans would agree with him at the moment. Scarcely a week seems to pass without some new scandal, some outrageous statement or appalling behaviour coming out not of sundry regimes, militias, or armed factions, but from an institution that is fast becoming equally corrupt, the Anglican Church itself.
8 Comments