The Archbishop of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Mouneer Anis of
Egypt, has issued a statement to refute allegations made in a blog post
by an American priest.
The Revd George Conger claimed on his Anglican Ink website that Archbishop Moneer was “perturbed” by the lack of support from Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby over ongoing legal hearings about the status of the Diocese of Egypt and its relationship with a protestant church group.
Conger also said that the recent appointment of the Dean of Alexandria, Samy Shehata, to Archbishop Welby’s Anglican Communion Task Group force was a “deceitful” act.
Dean Samy was approached following discussions involving Archbishop
Justin, Archbishop Mouneer, and the secretary general of the Anglican
Communion, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon.
Archbishop Mouneer made it clear that
the Dean had decided not to take up the offer because of his
forthcoming appointment as the area Bishop of North Africa.
Archbishop Mouneer went further, saying that he was “troubled and disappointed” by the article written by Conger, saying that it “was not accurate.”
He continued: “In regards to the support of the Archbishop of
Canterbury for the Diocese of Egypt in its struggle with the Protestant
Church Association who are trying to bring the Anglican Church under its
umbrella, it is important to say that Archbishop Justin Welby has been
so supportive to me and to our Diocese on this issue. I am so grateful
to him for his great support and for writing to our President in regard
to the recognition of our Church in Egypt.
“The other misunderstanding was regarding the participation of Dean
Samy Shehata in the Taskforce of the Anglican Communion. Dean Samy is
going to be the Area Bishop of North Africa in addition to his
responsibilities as the Dean of Alexandria and the Dean of the
Alexandria School of Theology. For this reason, he apologised for not
being able to participate on this Taskforce because of his very busy
schedule.”
He concluded: “I hope this provides sufficient clarification of the real situation.”
The Anglican Ink article also repeats allegations of forgery relating
to the attendance at this year’s Anglican Consultative Council meeting
in Lusaka by members of the Anglican Church of Kenya. Those allegations
were refuted in April by Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon.