The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States have both spoken of their “concerns” and “distress” at the Archbishop of Canterbury’s plans to impose sanctions on provinces that have breached the moratoria on gay bishops, same-sex unions, and cross-border interventions (News, 28 May).
Dr Williams announced the sancÂtions ”” which amount to excluding provinces from ecumenical dialogues and stripping them of some decision-making powers ”” in his Pentecost letter to the Anglican Communion. He took the action in response to the consecration of an openly lesbian bishop, the Rt Revd Mary Glasspool, in the Episcopal Church in the US last month (News, 21 May).
As part of the follow-up to the Pentecost letter, the secretary general of the Anglican Communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon, announced on Monday that he has written to members of the Episcopal Church serving in the inter-Anglican ecuÂmenical dialogues, “informing them that their membership of these diaÂlogues has been discontinued”.
In a sense it’s almost comical that the Secretary General has politely asked ++Fred Hiltz if the ACoC has in fact broken the moratorium on SSB’s. Can you imagine a state trooper pulling over a car for speeding and then asking the driver,
Officer: “Were you speeding, sir?”
Drivwer: “No, officer, I wasn’t.”
Officer: “Oh, all right, then. Maybe I imagined it.”
David Handy+
Maybe they can get extra for those buildings they’re suing for since they are now marketing themselves as the “distressed” – like blue jeans?
I will not be satisfied until their distress turns to genuine anguish and then repentance. Minus repentance we can leave it at anguish.