Anglican primates hold meeting to avert schism

Jan 14, 2016

By Giorgio Bernardelli
The situation is very heated as 38 primates of the Anglican Communion gathered at a summit on Jan 11. This is the first that is convened by Justin Welby since he was named Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.

It is not a routine meeting: the Primates’ Meeting was established in 1978 by the then Archbishop Donald Coggan. It is supposed to meet every three years, however, the last gathering took place in January 2011 in Dublin and even then, only 23 of the 38 Anglican provinces took part.

It was the clearest sign of the split that took place in the mid 2000’s, following the decision of the Episcopal Church in the US and the Anglican Church of Canada to proceed with the ordination of a bishop who had openly declared himself to be gay and the blessing of same-sex marriages.

The biggest absence noted at the 2011 Meeting convened by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was that of the Churches of the so-called Global South, where most of the world’s 85 million Anglicans are concentrated. In 2008, these Churches formed their own official body, the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which is made up of the primates of Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, South Sudan, Congo and Rwanda, as well as the primate of the Anglican province of South America and the Anglican Church of North America.

Convening a new Primates’ Meeting was a big challenge for Justin Welby: before doing so, he visited each of the Churches within the Anglican Communion and, this summer, each of the primates individually confirmed their participation. He also did something that did not go down too well with the liberal wing of the Anglican Communion: he invited the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of North America, Foley Beach, to take part. The Anglican Church of North America participates in GAFCON, even though  the new province is not formally part of the Anglican Communion.

“The difference between our societies and cultures, as well as the speed of cultural change in much of the global north, tempts us to divide as Christians,” Welby wrote in September, officially convening the Meeting. “When the command of scripture, the prayer of Jesus, the tradition of the church and our theological understanding, urges unity. A 21st-century Anglican family must have space for deep disagreement, and even mutual criticism, so long as we are faithful to the revelation of Jesus Christ, together.”

As is known, the Archbishop of Canterbury is simply meant to be “the first among equals” within the Anglican Churches. “We have no Anglican Pope,” Welby continued in the September text.

“Our authority as a church is dispersed, and is ultimately found in Scripture, properly interpreted. In that light,” he concluded, “I long for us to meet together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to seek to find a way of enabling ourselves to set a course which permits us to focus on serving and loving each other, and above all, on the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ.”

Despite the fact that all primates are attending, the Meeting is going to be challenging. There is a north-south split  on subjects such as the relationship with secularisation and sexual ethics: such a polarisation was also witnessed in the Catholic Church when the Synod on the Family took place.

The Primate of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, leader of one the largest African Anglican Churches, wrote a letter to his faithful in recent days, explaining that on Monday he will be attending “a meeting”, which the Archbishop of Canterbury invited him to attend.

However, his Church, like the others affiliated with GAFCON, do not consider themselves to be in communion with the Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada. He also added that he will only stay on at the Meeting if “the first topic of conversation in the ‘gathering’ of Primates is the restoration of godly order in the Anglican Communion”.

Otherwise, he said, “I will uphold the Provincial Assembly’s resolution and withdraw from the meeting”. The Primate of the Episcopal Church of the United States on his part, simply said: “We are gathering to pray, discuss and support one another in our ministry”.

Archbishop Welby is keen to avert the usual polarisation over the homosexuality question. This is partly the reason why he has invited the Catholic Jean Vienier — founder of L’Arche, a community that has been at the forefront of supporting people with intellectual disabilities and the weaker members of Christian communities — to speak to the primates.

“We need to recognise that we’re going to be dealing with some very, very difficult issues — within the life of the Anglican Communion, but also hugely difficult issues that are affecting the whole church of Christ and our whole world,” the Archbishop of Canterbury said in a new message inviting faithful to pray for a positive outcome of the Meeting.--Vatican Insider