Referencing Anglican polity and the Windsor Report, [Archbishop Drexel] Gomez said that in the three years since the release of the Windsor Report, positions across the Communion have “polarized” and there is “less trust” between parties and provinces than there has been for a long time.<\/p>\n
“Everyone claims to be the defender of the true spirit of Anglicanism, and to describe that spirit as orthodox, mainstream, comprehensive or inclusive,” he said. “The language has become more strident, and, quite frankly, scaremongering is commonplace.”<\/p>\n
He said in a situation which is becoming “increasingly overheated” we need to hear “a voice of calm.” We need to identify the fundamentals that we share in common, and to “state the common basis on which our mutual trust can be rebuilt.”<\/p>\n
Stating that as “essentially all that the covenant proposal is — no more and no less,” Gomez clarified that it is not intended to define some sort of “new Anglicanism,” or invent a new model of authority, or “peddle a narrow or exclusive view of what Anglicanism is.”<\/p>\n
“It is intended to state concisely and clearly the faith that we have all inherited together, so that there can be a new confidence that we are about the same mission,” he said.<\/p>\n