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Loading ...Conservative Anglican leaders urge change
10.27.2009 8:28am EDT
(London) A conservative group of Anglican bishops are pushing for change in their own churches rather than suggesting the faithful turn to Rome.
The Global South alliance, made up of theologically conservative primates from developing countries, said Sunday in a statement on their Web site that a proposed Anglican Covenant – a shared set of guidelines for membership in the Anglican church – should be adopted.The statement comes in the wake of an announcement earlier this week by the Vatican, saying that Pope Benedict XVI had authorized an Apostolic Constitution. The constitution would allow Anglicans to move to the Catholic church, but keep their own liturgy and married priests.
In a statement posted to their Web site, the group said they appreciated the pope’s stance on the “common biblical teaching on human sexuality” but “at the same time we believe that the proposed Anglican Covenant sets the necessary parameters.
“It gives Anglican churches worldwide a clear and principled way forward in pursuing God’s divine purposes,” the statement reads.
The Global South group is headed by Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola.
There are about 77 million Anglicans around the world. The church has been in turmoil since 2003, when the U.S. Episcopal Church consecrated New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop.
It is uncertain how many Anglicans will seek to switch churches because of the pope’s new policy. The Right Rev. John Broadhurst, the Bishop of Fulham, has said about 1,000 Church of England clergy will seek to join the Roman Catholic Church. Broadhurst chairs Forward in Faith, a group of traditionalists opposed to the ordination of women.
Let the bastards go to Rome (or have they forgotten why the Church of England was formed in the first place?).
The ugly truth that the conservatives don’t want to address is that the faster-growing part of the Anglican Communion is in countries which are not rich when compared to the US, Canada or the UK. Those conservatives are angling for a way to keep all that nice First World money and spend it on a Third World church. There aren’t that many ideological differences between what conservative Anglicans want and what they could get from the Catholic Church, so as Jay said, let ‘em go to Rome. But they can leave the money behind.
And I suppose “pursuing God’s divine purposes” includes the MURDER of African gays and lesbians.
Akinola should be HUNG for his role in African GLBTQAI GENOCIDE.
And the Arch-Weasel of Canterbury has blood on HIS hands for not condemning the schismatic, heretical, MURDEROUS “anglicans” who have gathered around Akinola.
Aside from Bishop Spong, the US Episcopal hierarchy’s response has ranged from muted to silent.
And where are all the human rights groups? Are they afraid to speak because this is a “religious” issue?
So was the Holocaust.
Bud Burgoon-Clark
San Diego, CA USA
What suprises me somewhat is the medias constant focus on the conservative Anglicans who want to leave the national church. What nobody seems to focus on is the overwhelming majority of U.S. Anglicans who are not leaving the Church, but are quite happy to stay exactly where they are. If you look at the Church overall in the U.S., the number of people staying within the Church far exceeds the number leaving.