(no subject)
Very encouraging statements from the Right Hon the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England...
The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a “profound apology” to the lesbian and gay Christian community today.
In a powerful address to the General Synod, Dr Rowan Williams warned that any schism within the Church would represent a betrayal of God’s mission.
But he made clear that he regretted recent rhetoric in which he has sought to mollify the fears of the traditionalist wing of the church.
The Archbishop is from the Church’s liberal wing and a man who once espoused equal rights for gays within the Church. More recently he has adopted a conservative line for the sake of Church unity.
Today he said: “There are ways of speaking about the question that seem to ignore these human realities or to undervalue them.
“I have been criticised for doing just this and I am profoundly sorry for the carelessness that could give such an impression.”
Addressing the even more contentious debate over gay ordinations - something which threatens to split the Church farther with the expected consecration in May of Canon Mary Glasspool, a lesbian, as a bishop in Los Angeles - Dr Williams said it had not been helped by those who ignored the fact that many worshippers were gay, as well as many “sacrificial and exemplary priests”.
He made it clear that there was blame on all sides of the argument that has brought the Church to the brink of splitting. He pleaded for Anglicans angry over gays and women bishops to cease fighting, admitting that he and other bishops might have to settle for a two-tier communion.
In his wide-ranging address at Church House Westminster, Dr Williams said that the ordination of women bishops should not go ahead at the expense of the Church’s Anglican Catholic wing, which is currently assessing an offer from the Pope to move over to Rome into a new Anglican Ordinariate.
Dr Williams admitted: “Most hold that the ordination of women as bishops is good, something that will enhance our faithfulness to Christ and our integrity in mission.”
But this good was jeopardised by the potential loss of traditionalists and some evangelicals who oppose women bishops.
Referring to proposals to give women bishops a lesser level of authority, he said the reform should not happen if it is done in such a way that that will “corrupt it or compromise it fatally”.
Dr Williams said that attacks on the Anglican Covenant, a new unity document intended to find a way to keep the 38 provinces under one umbrella, were mistaken.
“There is no supreme court envisaged and the constitutional liberties of each province are explicitly safeguarded,” he said.
Referring to tomorrow's debate tabled by a lay member from the Chichester diocese calling for the Church of England to recognise the breakaway new traditionalist church in the US, he said: “Certain decisions made by some provinces impact so heavily on the conscience and mission of others that fellowship is strained or shattered and trust destroyed.
“The present effect of this is chaos - local schisms, outside interventions, all the unedifying stuff you will be hearing about, from both sides, in the debate on Lorna Ashworth's motion."
As an Anglican Catholic who supports the ordination of women and gays, I don't like the idea of a two-tier Church of England. But I see this as an intermediate step. Some day in the not-too-distant future I think people will look on this whole mess as having been stupid. But the Church of England will have to deal with that when the time comes. I do hope that the order of precedence remains ++Canterbury, ++York, +London, and +Durham. Having a third archbishop will be awkward at best. The Lord Bishop of Durham historically has been quite liberal. (Apologies for all the churchy talk.)
The Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada are both extremely progressive on the issue of homosexuality, with some exceptions here and there.
The Archbishop of Canterbury issued a “profound apology” to the lesbian and gay Christian community today.
In a powerful address to the General Synod, Dr Rowan Williams warned that any schism within the Church would represent a betrayal of God’s mission.
But he made clear that he regretted recent rhetoric in which he has sought to mollify the fears of the traditionalist wing of the church.
The Archbishop is from the Church’s liberal wing and a man who once espoused equal rights for gays within the Church. More recently he has adopted a conservative line for the sake of Church unity.
Today he said: “There are ways of speaking about the question that seem to ignore these human realities or to undervalue them.
“I have been criticised for doing just this and I am profoundly sorry for the carelessness that could give such an impression.”
Addressing the even more contentious debate over gay ordinations - something which threatens to split the Church farther with the expected consecration in May of Canon Mary Glasspool, a lesbian, as a bishop in Los Angeles - Dr Williams said it had not been helped by those who ignored the fact that many worshippers were gay, as well as many “sacrificial and exemplary priests”.
He made it clear that there was blame on all sides of the argument that has brought the Church to the brink of splitting. He pleaded for Anglicans angry over gays and women bishops to cease fighting, admitting that he and other bishops might have to settle for a two-tier communion.
In his wide-ranging address at Church House Westminster, Dr Williams said that the ordination of women bishops should not go ahead at the expense of the Church’s Anglican Catholic wing, which is currently assessing an offer from the Pope to move over to Rome into a new Anglican Ordinariate.
Dr Williams admitted: “Most hold that the ordination of women as bishops is good, something that will enhance our faithfulness to Christ and our integrity in mission.”
But this good was jeopardised by the potential loss of traditionalists and some evangelicals who oppose women bishops.
Referring to proposals to give women bishops a lesser level of authority, he said the reform should not happen if it is done in such a way that that will “corrupt it or compromise it fatally”.
Dr Williams said that attacks on the Anglican Covenant, a new unity document intended to find a way to keep the 38 provinces under one umbrella, were mistaken.
“There is no supreme court envisaged and the constitutional liberties of each province are explicitly safeguarded,” he said.
Referring to tomorrow's debate tabled by a lay member from the Chichester diocese calling for the Church of England to recognise the breakaway new traditionalist church in the US, he said: “Certain decisions made by some provinces impact so heavily on the conscience and mission of others that fellowship is strained or shattered and trust destroyed.
“The present effect of this is chaos - local schisms, outside interventions, all the unedifying stuff you will be hearing about, from both sides, in the debate on Lorna Ashworth's motion."
As an Anglican Catholic who supports the ordination of women and gays, I don't like the idea of a two-tier Church of England. But I see this as an intermediate step. Some day in the not-too-distant future I think people will look on this whole mess as having been stupid. But the Church of England will have to deal with that when the time comes. I do hope that the order of precedence remains ++Canterbury, ++York, +London, and +Durham. Having a third archbishop will be awkward at best. The Lord Bishop of Durham historically has been quite liberal. (Apologies for all the churchy talk.)
The Episcopal Church of the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada are both extremely progressive on the issue of homosexuality, with some exceptions here and there.