On Tuesday, the American bishops, the majority of whom are liberals, are expected to vote to support a greater role for gays and lesbians in the Church, both with regard to the creation of new bishops and the blessing of same-sex relationships.
Unless they can be persuaded otherwise, it seems certain the move will irrevocably split the Church, ending the Anglican Communion and creating an alternative alliance between Africa and conservatives in the US.
Into this increasingly hot and humid atmosphere, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, arrived for a frenetic round of last-minute shuttle diplomacy in a series of private meetings.
As events progressed, Dr Williams showed his face only briefly. In the lobby of the InterContinental, the lift doors opened to reveal the leader of the Anglican Church, his eyes weary from jetlag and battle fatigue.
Asked how the meetings were progressing, the archbishop gave a Gallic shrug and an exasperated raise of the familiar bushy eyebrows before the blessed relief of the lift doors sliding shut again.
He is said to have cut no less awkward a figure in the private meetings, seemingly pained by the position that he finds himself in, trying to reconcile those who believe homosexuality is a sin with liberals who want a more inclusive Church.
Read it all. There are a couple of things which need to be said about this article. First, the document to which Jonathan Wynne-Jones refers is the one posted last Friday by Stand Firm, and so far as I am aware it has no approved status as of yet, and I honestly will be surprised if the House endorses it in some fashion (maybe they will). So it is not true-yet–that the US Bishops have rejected–or approved–anything. Second, and more importantly, we learn that the week before Dr. Williams went to New Orleans he had a private meeting with Archbishop Akinola. This does not sound like the action of an Archbishop who (a) is not trying as best he can to be faithful to the whole communion and (b) is not taking the concerns of the Global South seriously–KSH.
Within the article, it was not a conga line, but a “second line.”
Canon Harmon
I made the same mistake in a series of comments on Stand Firm, but this story is by Jonathan Wynne Jones, not Jonathan Petre.
oh darn it–thanks mark
And so we are at the point where all the good ABC can do is pray for a miracle to cut this Gordian knot.
Anyone remember the joke about the shipwreck victim praying to God for salvation?
The author makes a common mistake in framing the disagreement as [i]”…who see homosexuality as an affront to the will of God.”[/i] rather than [i]homosexual practice[/i].
Jeffrey A. Roberts