Anglican peace talks threatened
Pastor Dale Morgan
Anglican peace talks threatened*
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent in Dar Es Salaam
Last Updated: 2:52am GMT 12/02/2007
The Archbishop of Canterbury flies into the biggest Anglican crisis
since the Reformation today without even knowing whether his fellow
Church leaders will sit in the same room together.
Dr Rowan Williams will arrive at a primates' meeting in Tanzania, east
Africa, with compromise proposals he hopes can avert schism by bridging
the abyss between the warring factions over homosexuality. But when he
reaches the White Sands conference centre in Dar Es Salaam he will find
the primates, the leaders of the worldwide communion's 38 self-governing
provinces, more polarised than ever.
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop's peace talks threatened
Dr Rowan Williams will today aim to solve the biggest Anglican crisis
since the Reformation
Even before his plane touches down the event has become mired in
unprecedented levels of politicking that have challenged his moral
authority as "first among equals".
To the consternation of officials, the conservative primates have set up
their own headquarters in the neighbouring Beachcomber hotel, at which
they will determine their collective strategy, and they are threatening
to snub Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, the liberal leader
of the Episcopal Church, the American branch of Anglicanism.
A number of them are furious that Dr Williams did not consult before
inviting Presiding Bishop Schori, a supporter of gay clergy and same-sex
blessings who was elected as Anglicanism's first woman primate last summer.
If they refuse to deal with her, aides fear that she may leave the
meeting, derailing Dr Williams' peace proposals before they start.
Alternatively, the archbishop could be reduced to shuttling between
rival groups in different rooms, an extraordinary prospect for the Church.
"We just don't know how any of this is going to work out at this stage,"
said one insider. "It could become very awkward indeed."
The conservative Global South group will finalise its position at a
two-day meeting starting today, the outcome of which could prove as
critical as the official five-day primates' meeting beginning on Thursday.
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Drawn primarily from Africa and Asia, Global South consists of about 20
primates representing well over half the worldwide Church, led by the
controversial Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola.
Anglican officials are hoping that divisions between hardliners and
moderates will surface within this group over the next two days,
allowing Dr Williams to appeal to the middle ground. "Much will depend
on whose voices dominate the Global South caucus," said one.
But a leading conservative, the Primate of Central Africa, Archbishop
Bernard Malango, said many of his colleagues would find it "very
difficult" to work with Presiding Bishop Schori. He added that the
presence of the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, for the first time
was also problematic because it had been decided without full
consultation. In a warning to Dr Williams, he said: "If people have come
in a spirit of give and take, that will happen. But if people have made
up their minds to bring certain people here, then it will be difficult.
"I don't want to see the Church damaged but if some groupings,
especially those who are not faithful to the scriptures, decide to do
their own thing, then that puts me in a difficult situation."
If Dr Williams succeeds in persuading the primates to negotiate
together, however, his problems are far from over. The main item on the
agenda is the fate of the Episcopal Church, which brought the worldwide
Church to the brink of schism by consecrating Gene Robinson as
Anglicanism's first openly gay bishop in 2003.
The American Church was asked to apologise for breaching official policy
and toe the majority line by imposing a moratorium on future
consecrations of gay bishops and blessings of same-sex "marriages". But
it failed to do so at its general convention last summer.