The Global South

Fire and Ferment Follow Closing of Meeting in Egypt

When the Primates of the Global South met in Egypt at the end of October, other observers of the Anglican Communion waited--amid much speculation that the African and Asian primates might make good their often-repeated idea of "walking apart"--or requiring others to do so.

No such break occurred; the primates issued a communique, entitled Trumpet III to mark the fact that this was the third time the Global South archbishops had gathered, that did indeed name the "authority of scripture" as a major issue within the Communion but which also named such other challenges as political conflict, poverty, tribal warfare and HIV/AIDS.

The communique also offered prayers for victims of natural disasters and thanked Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams for his presence and for his address to the gathering in which he declared that the ground of unity in the church is found only in Christ.

"...if we are to understand the nature of the church at all, we are to understand who Jesus Christ is and what he does."

"The church is one because Jesus Christ is one," the Archbishop told the group. "The church is holy because Jesus Christ is holy, the church is catholic because Jesus Christ is the savior of all, the church is apostolic because, as the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us.

"In other words, if we are to understand the nature of the church at all, we are to understand who Jesus Christ is and what he does."

It was only some days after the meeting had closed that a letter from the Global South primates to the Archbishop was made public. It accused the Church of England of "giving the appearance of evil" by failing to reject the Civil Partnerships bill in the UK and by failing to "challenge" the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, wondering "whether your personal dissent from this consensus prevents you from taking the necessary steps to confront those Churches that have embraced teaching contrary to the overwhelming testimony of the Anglican Communion and the Church. We urge you to rethink your personal view and embrace the Church's consensus and to act on it."

The Primates letter went on to say, "We are troubled by your reluctance to use your moral authority to challenge the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.... We do not see why you cannot warn these churches now, based on the Windsor Report, and your own convictions about unity, that they will not be invited to Lambeth 2008 unless they truly repent...."

Accusing the Archbishop of "deferring to process" the letter added: "You seem to keep saying `My hands are tied.' We urge you to untie your hands and provide the bold, inclusive leadership the Communion needs at this time of crisis and distrust."

Criticism came almost at once, first from the Most Rev. Clive Handford, President-Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. Deploring that the letter had been leaked to conservative websites and blogs even before the Archbishop had a chance to read it, and that his name had been listed among the signatories without his consent, President-Bishop Handford said, "While I saw a first draft of the letter, I was not involved in any subsequent discussion of it. Several other primates shared my unease. In no way did I give permission for my name to be associated with this letter...The Archbishop of Canterbury came very graciously to a meeting to which, in a sense, he could not have looked forward. He gave a sensible and searching Bible study...he then answered clearly and straightforwardly questions put forward by the Conference. We witnessed a man of God responding in a clear and pastoral way with a desire for understanding and reconciliation."

The Primate of the West Indies, the Most Rev. Drexel Gomez, described the letter as "an act of impatience and a disrespect for process," adding that "We were never told it would be made public. I am not at all happy with the present situation."

He stated that he had conferred with the Most Rev. Gregory Venables, Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone, and that they had agreed after the meeting that they could not be associated with it.

Lambeth Palace officials responded only briefly to the letter, issuing a terse statement:

"The Archbishop of Canterbury has made it clear since before the time of his enthronement that neither he nor anyone else has a mandate to change the teaching of the Church by fiat. He is committed to the process to which all the primates committed themselves and their provinces in the Primates' response to the Windsor Report, contained in the communique following the meeting in Dromantine.

"If this letter is a contribution to that process of debate, then it is to be welcomed, however robust. If it is an attempt to foreclose that debate, then it would seem to serve very little purpose indeed."

ENS, ACNS and other sources contributed to the writing of this article.