THE communiqu\u00c3\u00a9 issued by the Primates in Canterbury last week does not bind anyone, because the Primates\u2019 meeting has no jurisdiction, a canon lawyer said this week. It represented \u201ccompletely unacceptable interference\u201d\u009d with the autonomy of the bodies to whom it had issued requirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it utterly extraordinary,\u201d\u009d the director of the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff University, Professor Norman Doe, said on Tuesday. \u201cNo instrument exists conferring upon the Primates\u2019 meeting the jurisdiction to \u201d\u02dcrequire\u2019 these things. . . Whatever they require is unenforceable.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
The communiqu\u00c3\u00a9 states that the Primates are \u201crequiring that, for a period of three years, the Episcopal Church [in the United States] no longer represent us on ecumenical and interfaith bodies; should not be appointed or elected to an internal standing committee; and that, while participating in the internal bodies of the Anglican Communion, they will not take part in decision-making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
Professor Doe confirmed: \u201cThe decision will not bind anyone \u201d\u201d not the Episcopal Church. There is no question of that.\u201d\u009d It was for the bodies referred to in the communiqu\u00c3\u00a9 to determine what, if any, consequences the Episcopal Church should face, he said.<\/p>\n
The communiqu\u00c3\u00a9 constituted \u201ccompletely unacceptable interference with the autonomy of each of these bodies as they transact their own business\u201d\u009d. It was \u201cabsolute nonsense\u201d\u009d to suggest that an ecumenical body such as the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), or an Anglican body such as the Anglican Consultative Council, be bound by a decision made by the Primates\u2019 meeting.<\/p>\n
The Anglican Consultative Council is the only instrument of the Communion with a written constitution. Professor Doe suggested, however, that, in the light of the communiqu\u00c3\u00a9, the Archbishop of Canterbury could feel \u201cbound\u201d\u009d not to invite the Episcopal Church to the Lambeth Conference.<\/p>\n
The events of the past week highlighted the consequences of the Communion\u2019s failure to adopt the Anglican Covenant, Professor Doe suggested. He spoke as a member of the Lambeth Commission, which had proposed the Covenant and helped to draft it.<\/p>\n