Global South Anglican has published A Pastoral Exhortation to the Faithful in the Anglican Communion.
This is signed by:
Global South Primates Steering Committee:
Chairman: The Most Revd Peter J. Akinola, Nigeria
Vice-Chairman: The Most Revd Emmanuel Kolini, Rwanda
General Secretary: The Most Revd John Chew, Southeast Asia
Treasurer: The Most Revd Mouneer Anis, Jerusalem and the Middle East.
Members:
The Most Revd Stephen Than Myint Oo, Myanmar
Bishop Albert Chama, Dean of Central Africa
The text is reproduced in full below the fold.
1. We, under-shepherds of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church of Jesus Christ, bring greetings to the faithful in the Anglican Communion. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. For in his great love for us, we are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2: 19-22).
2. The Vatican announcement on Apostolic Constitution (Note of The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church) gives us an occasion in making the following pastoral exhortation.
3. We welcome Pope Benedict XVI’s stance on the common biblical teaching on human sexuality, and the commitment to continuing ecumenical dialogue.
4. At the same time we believe that the proposed Anglican Covenant sets the necessary parameters in safeguarding the catholic and apostolic faith and order of the Communion. It gives Anglican churches worldwide a clear and principled way forward in pursuing God’s divine purposes together in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church of Jesus Christ. We urge churches in the Communion to actively work together towards a speedy adoption of the Covenant.
5. In God’s gracious purposes the Anglican Communion has moved beyond the historical beginnings and expressions of English Christianity into a worldwide Communion, of which the Church of England is a constitutive part. In view of the global nature of the Communion, matters of faith and order would inevitably have serious ramifications for the continuing well-being and coherence of the Communion as a whole, and not only for Provinces of the British Isles and The Episcopal Church in the USA. We urge the Archbishop of Canterbury to work in close collegial consultation with fellow Primates in the Communion, act decisively on already agreed measures in the Primates’ Meetings, and exercise effective leadership in nourishing the flock under our charge, so that none would be left wandering and bereft of spiritual oversight.
6. As Primates of the Communion and guardians of the catholic and apostolic faith and order, we stand in communion with our fellow bishops, clergy and laity who are steadfast in the biblical teaching against the ordination of openly homosexual clergy, the consecration of such to the episcopate, and the blessing of homosexual partnerships. We also urge them, as fellow Anglicans, to continue to stand firm with us in cherishing the Anglican heritage, in pursuing a common vocation, in expressing our unity and common life, and in maintaining our covenanted life together.
7. In the closing words of the Anglican Covenant: With joy and with firm resolve, we offer ourselves for fruitful service and binding ourselves more closely in the truth and love of Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory for ever. Amen.
“Now may the God of Peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Hebrews 13.20, 21)
I’m sorry, but this just sounds like one more round of “My way or the highway.” It is inconceivable to me that anyone claiming to be Anglican can claim such certain ownership of the truth. I’ve always thought that one of our best characteristics is our willingness to hear and engage alternative viewpoints. Ah, the ghost of Cromwell is undoubtedly smiling….
So it *is* all about sex. after all!
“We urge the Archbishop of Canterbury to work in close collegial consultation with fellow Primates in the Communion, act decisively on already agreed measures in the Primates’ Meetings, and exercise effective leadership in nourishing the flock under our charge, so that none would be left wandering and bereft of spiritual oversight – Global South Primates, Chairman Abp.P.Akinola – What a nerve!!! Here is the Primate of All Nigeria asking the Archbishop of Canterbury – who as Primate-inter-pares he has already rejected publicly, by striking the See of Canterbury from his Provincial Statute Book – to intervene on behalf of GAFCON… Read more »
They may be right about point 5, except that I still maintain the definition of Anglican is “in communion with Canterbury”, and earnestly desire these trumped-up wannabees cease trying to redefine the communion in their terms, especially having defied the original definition to the extent of rewriting the introductions to their bibles.
Being right about the shifting changes of political power is no thing of which to be proud.
So now we know, as if we didn’t. The purpose of the Covenant is international discipline dished out by the Primates Meeting, and it is all centred around bishops and homosexuality. Whereas the Pope’s offer was centred around bishops and being female. So pick your obsession. Which is why no one with any ethical sense would pass the Covenant.
Rome is welcome here only insofar as it agrees with their view on homosexuality. Otherwise it’s “the grim wolf” that “with privy paw daily devours apace and nothing said…” Archbishop Williams is welcome only insofar as he does his duty and gives them their Covenant. The Covenant is important only insofar as it confirms their view on homosexuality. An ecclesiastical Empire needs a broader basis, methinks.
“We urge the Archbishop of Canterbury to work in close collegial consultation with fellow Primates in the Communion … so that none would be left wandering and bereft of spiritual oversight.”
Unless, of course, they are GLBT.
The usual suspects, with the usual spin, and the usual digs at ++Williams, and their diatribe complete with the usual homophobic slurs. Women weren’t even worth a mention.
And as to “…none left wandering and bereft of spiritual oversight.” Good would be starting in their own backyard and cleaning up the mess of tiny children in Nigeria being tortured and abused for witchcraft.
The statement is clearly one of, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
That being said, it’s amazing how much in this statement is centered on homosexuals and our place in the Church and Communion. This is a bit obsessive even for them.
Well, you know, they have been working very hard at the construction of their own PseudoPapacy. I imagine it is a bit upsetting to think that perhaps some of their flock, being conservative and all, would prefer to go with the Good Old Fashioned Pope rather than the innovative design for a Protestant Papacy being created by GAFCON and the covenant crowd. And, talk about your “honeyed words”, wha? My partner believes that, when it comes to the closet, when you live with such a basic lie at the centre of your life, lying becomes second nature. Since you have… Read more »
It´s all just plain stupid…imagine the Roman Catholics pontificating about Gay Clergy along with self determined holy +Orombi and +Akinola? Now a touchbase with REALITY from Fr. Geoff Farrow: http://fathergeofffarrow.blogspot.com/2009/10/us-catholic-bishops-teach-americans.html …¨In LGBT people and popular bigotry, they have an effective scapegoat for the “moral evils” plaguing marriage and society. Thereby they are able to refocus popular attention away from the pedophilia sex scandals in the Catholic Church and re-establish themselves as a moral authority. What if someone should bring up the inconvenient fact that most Catholic priests and bishops are gay and that this data has been published? Well, hypocrisy… Read more »
Is this Akinola’s way of telling us he is now in support of the covenant. Last I heard he was saying the covenant wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.
“At the same time we believe that the proposed Anglican Covenant sets the necessary parameters in safeguarding the catholic and apostolic faith and order of the Communion.”
Oh, come on. If they really believed that, they would have (all) come to Lambeth ’08!
A mere seven points in this statement, and at least 1.5 are about homosexuality: I don’t know what the (so-called) Global South want to call their new sect (idolatry?), but it certainly ain’t Catholic or even less, Anglican!
Honestly, a fiction writer couldn’t make this sort of stuff up, without being accused of bathos. Yet is is real, and really published with solemn faces in certain Anglican sectors. My gloss? Well, the Global South seems to be saying, Hold on, wait a long minute. We are the ones who can properly diss both women and gay bishops; don’t go running off to that Rome fellow so fast. Except, as we all already know, GAFCON may not be all that free from twisted ambivalences about current AngloCatholic manners, including the loud rumors that AngloCatholics are keepers of some of… Read more »
I suppose it does cast a positive light on those of us in SEC & TEC where the principle of inclusivity for all, including LGBT and women(!), is claimed.
I think it’s amusing that the Global South bishops are saying “We’re more conservative than the Pope, and more correct as well. Jesus built His Church upon our Rock, not the Pope’s.” The big unintended consequence is that the Anglican Rite will become the liberal stronghold of the RC. All the priests who want to get married, and they are usually somewhat liberal, will sign up to be priests in the Anglican Rite. Also, for Anglicans to join the RC in any Rite, there will have to be allowances for divorce and birth control. When even one part of the… Read more »
Point 6: “we stand in communion with our fellow bishops, clergy and laity who are steadfast in the biblical teaching against the ordination of openly homosexual clergy, the consecration of such to the episcopate, and the blessing of homosexual partnerships.” So it’s ok to ordain and consecrate homosexuals who lie about their orientation and activities? And no mention of the authority of Scripture and all the other “more weighty” issues, of which homosexuality was only the symptom, that they used to insist were the “real” causes of the problem. Rowland Williams saw this coming a century ago: “If we are… Read more »
“The big unintended consequence is that the Anglican Rite will become the liberal stronghold of the RC.”
“Liberal” being relative in this context. This sounds just as funny to my Canadian ear as when I hear Americans refer to the Democrats as “liberal”!
“The motion “Welcomes Archbishop Duncan’s assessment that the recent Vatican offer of a Personal Ordinariate ‘will not be utilised by the great majority of the Anglican Church in North America’s bishops, priests, dioceses and congregations’ and urges all Anglicans to reject the Vatican’s proposal”. – Virtue on line – This V.o.L. posting, quoting a motion passed at the recent Sydney Diocesan Synod, denotes the Sydney Diocesan equivalence with Bobby Duncan and ACNA’s distaste for the new Roman Catholic offer of ‘Ordinariates’ for disaffected Anglicans. The Sydney Synod – under the leadership of its Archbishop Peter Jensen (clothed in collar and… Read more »
I have just noticed today (Thursday, 5 November) the following item from the V.o.l. web-site, which outlines a TEC priest’s view on a problem associated with Rome’s current offer of an accommodation with dissident Anglicans: Quote: “At the time of Pope Leo’s encyclical, for many, the luster of the papacy faded, and the papal curia, looked at calmly and dispassionately, was seen to be but a piece of skillfully constructed human machinery. This situation continues today, and presents a major issue for clergy who cannot deny the validity of their own Sacraments. Unless there is a resolution, corporate union with… Read more »