Möte i Anglican Communion

Häromdagen avslutades ett stort möte i Tanzania mellan The Anglican Communions "primater", dvs de biskopar och ärkebiskopar som är leder de olika anglikanska kyrkorna. Så här skriver Wikipedia:

An Anglican primate is the chief bishop or archbishop of one of the thirty-eight churches (also known as provinces) of the Anglican Communion. Some of these provinces are stand-alone ecclesiastical provinces (such as the Church of the Province of West Africa), while others are national churches comprised of several ecclesiastical province (such as the Church of England). Since 1978, the Anglican primates have met annually for an Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is regarded as the chief (though primus-inter-pares) of the Anglican primates. While the gathering has no legal jurisdiction, it acts as one of the informal instruments of unity among the autonomous provinces of the Communion.

En av de mest uppmärksammade frågorna som behandlades var oenigheten mellan den amerikanska episkopala kyrkan (ECUSA) och en del andra kyrkor i gemenskapen, kanske framförallt i Afrika, kring ECUSAs inställning och agerande i HBT-frågan. ECUSA har nyligen utsett en ny biskop som lever i ett samkönat förhållande, de prästviger öppet homosexuella människor och de är positiva till att införa välsignelse av samkönade förhållanden. Detta har kritiserats av andra kyrkor, och relationerna är ansträngda. Vissa konservativa delar av ECUSA som inte heller uppskattar detta har vänt sig till biskopar från andra anglikanska kyrkor för att få stöd och episkopal tillsyn. En av dem som kritiserat ECUSA är Peter Akinola, biskop i Nigeria och en huvudaktör i Global South Anglican. Han i sin tur kritiseras för att ha agerat inom andra biskopars stift. (Läs mer på Wikipedia)

Vid mötet i Tanzania undertecknades en kommuniké, Primates Meeting Communique, som beskriver vägen framåt. ECUSA får inte auktorisera välsignelseakt för samkönade par, och de får inte utse biskopar som lever i samkönade förhållande. Men många för många är det oklart vad kommunikén egentligen innebör. Så här skriver Inclusive Church blog:

What does it all mean? Indeed. That will take some time to figure out, as all of us parse the released documents and speak with others. Here are some preliminary thoughts on the Communique and Covenant.

No one can say this means victory. Progressives will need to find a way to accept the clear requirement to refrain from consecrating as bishops those who live in same-sex unions. (Though it says nothing about LGBT bishops otherwise.) We need to agree that no Rites of Blessing will be authorized.

For their part, American conservatives, especially ECUSA dissidents, will need to agree that Bishop Katharine is their primate, though they'll have a primatial vicar. They have to deal with the fact that Bishop Katharine is now a member of what was until recently the primatial old boys' club, and they even have to reckon with her on the Primates' Standing Committee. Looks like +Peter Akinola won't be having any communion at Lambeth or the Primates' Meetings any time soon.

Inclusive Church blog: Primates' Meeting -- what does it all mean?

◊ Uppdaterat: Läs mer i Kyrkans tidning: Anglikanernas ultimatum till systerkyrkorna i USA.

◊ Uppdaterat igen: (Via Father Jake Stops the World) ECUSAs presiding bishop (ung. motsv ärkebiskop) Katharine Jefferts Schori ger sin respons på kommunikén från Anglican Communion. Hon skriver:

The Episcopal Church has been asked to consider the wider body of the Anglican Communion and its needs. Our own Church has in recent years tended to focus on the suffering of one portion of the body, particularly those who feel that justice demands the full recognition and celebration of the gifts of gay and lesbian Christians. That focus has been seen in some other parts of the global Church, as inappropriate, especially as it has been felt to be a dismissal of traditional understandings of sexual morality. Both parties hold positions that can be defended by appeal to our Anglican sources of authority - scripture, tradition, and reason - but each finds it very difficult to understand and embrace the other. What is being asked of both parties is a season of fasting - from authorizing rites for blessing same-sex unions and consecrating bishops in such unions on the one hand, and from transgressing traditional diocesan boundaries on the other.

epiScope: A Season of Fasting

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