Just as the Church of England General Synod was giving its backing to
a mechanism to preserve unity in the Anglican Communion, conservative
Primates were issuing a statement declaring that they can no longer give
it their support.
In a statement issued by the Primates Council of the Global Anglican
Future Conference (GAFCON) Wednesday, they said they could no longer accept
the Anglican Covenant as a means of resolving disputes within the
Anglican Communion despite originally being some of the main drivers
behind the measure.
“While we acknowledge that the efforts to heal our brokenness through
the introduction of an Anglican Covenant were well intentioned we have
come to the conclusion the current text is fatally flawed and so support
for this initiative is no longer appropriate,” they said.
The statement was signed by Archbishops from West Africa, North America, Rwanda, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya.
In it, they also confirm that they will not attend next year’s
Primates’ meeting in Ireland.
Instead, they plan to hold their own
meeting in the latter part of 2011, followed by an international
gathering dubbed GAFCON 2 sometime in 2012.
The announcement threatens to scupper the Anglican Covenant process,
as the measure cannot be implemented without the approval of all 38
Provinces in the Communion.
Just this morning, the Church of England General Synod agreed to send
out the draft Anglican Covenant for consideration by diocesan synods.
The measure is backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and is due to come back to Synod for a final vote in 2012.
It was first proposed in the Windsor Report in 2004 as a response to
the crisis brought on by the consecration of the openly gay Gene
Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire the year before.
The Covenant seeks to preserve unity by formalising the process by
which Provinces that act in a manner contrary to Anglican tradition are
dealt with.
During this morning’s debate, a motion in support of the Covenant was
overwhelmingly approved by Synod members although there were some
reservations raised even by its supporters.
The Bishop of Gloucester, the Rt Rev Michael Perham, expressed
concern that it could be used to take “punitive action” against certain
Anglicans although he added he would vote in favour of it out of loyalty
to Archbishop Rowan Williams.
SIC: CT/UK