wfn.org | Anglican Observer at the United Nations resigns

[Daphne Mack <dmack@dfms.org>]

99-022
Ottley resigns as Anglican Observer at the United Nations

by Marianne Meed Ward
(Anglican Journal) Following a "deterioration" in support 
from Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, Bishop Jim Ottley, 
outspoken Anglican Observer at the United Nations, has agreed to 
step aside to make way for "restructuring," effective March 31.

"My contract is up and the archbishop and I came to the 
conclusion that it was wise not to renew  it," said Ottley in an 
interview from his New York office. A five-member interim 
transition team, headed by retired bishop Paul Moore, Jr. of New 
York, will oversee the office of the observer until a permanent 
replacement for Ottley is named.

The observer is jointly appointed to a three-year renewable 
contract by the archbishop and the Anglican Consultative Council, 
comprised of representatives of all the provinces of the Anglican 
Communion. The observer works with a 20-member international 
advisory committee which meets four times a year.

Whose issues
In the telephone interview, Ottley said he had heard prior 
to the Lambeth Conference last summer that Carey was not entirely 
happy with some of his work but during a discussion with the 
archbishop at Lambeth Palace in London Carey affirmed support for 
him. However, in a subsequent letter to Ottley, Carey raised the 
possibility of Ottley's retirement, hinting that sooner might be 
better. Sources suggest that, in the meantime, some members of the 
advisory committee complained to Carey about how the office was 
administered.

The final straw was a confidential letter to the advisory 
committee from Carey in November that raised the matter of 
"restructuring" the office. It was news to Ottley and it clearly 
presupposed his resignation, he said, but did not spell out what 
was meant by restructuring. "I am accepting the decision," Ottley 
said. "I don't think I have a choice."

Ottley, the second person to hold the position since it was 
established almost eight years ago, has worked at the United 
Nations since October 1994. During his tenure he has spoken out on 
such issues as the international debt crisis, use of landmines, 
ecology, globalization, interfaith dialogue, poverty, human rights 
abuses and the rights of women and children.

"Coming from Panama and the Third World, those are the 
issues that are constantly with us, and someone from that part of 
the world is going to talk about them," said Ottley. "I've put a 
lot of emphasis on world debt and that got the attention of the 
archbishop and the Lambeth Conference."

According to Ottley, Carey never directly expressed concern 
about the issues he raised or what he said about them but "those 
close to him had given me that impression." Ottley assumed that 
"we were saying what the rest of the Communion wanted us to say."

Fundraising always a problem
According to Canon Frederick Williams, rector of the Church 
of the Intercession in New York and the longest serving member of 
the advisory committee, the letter from Carey asked for a review 
of the lines of accountability, fundraising, goals and priorities 
of the office of the observer. The archbishop declined to renew 
Ottley's contract for another three years while the review was 
ongoing.

The office was initially established with a three-year grant 
from Trinity Church Wall Street in New York. When that expired, 
the advisory committee was given the task of raising the 
approximately $300,000 annually needed to run the office.

"Funding has always been iffy," said Williams. "After 
Bishop Ottley arrived, he discovered there was a lot more 
fundraising in the job than he thought and had been led to believe 
was his job. Fundraising is not Ottley's strength or his 
interest."

Ottley was also subjected to "infighting" between the 
archbishop and the ACC over who controlled the observer according 
to some observers. Because the position was a joint appointment, 
it was never clear to whom the observer reported, said Williams.

"There were some internal politics between the ACC and the 
archbishop, namely `Does the observer operate as an ambassador at 
the United Nations or is he a staff to other organizations and 
reports to them?' The question was, `Who hires, fires and controls 
(the observer)?'" said Williams. "After a point, that debate 
becomes tiresome. The observer just wants to do his job."

A prophetic role?
In a report to the advisory committee March 15, Ottley made 
several recommendations for improving the office of the observer 
and clarifying its role.

"One approach views the office as an advocate on the issues 
of poverty, justice and inequality. It views the office as 
assuming a prophetic and pro-active role in these areas. The 
second demands that the office not assume a prophetic role in 
these areas," wrote Ottley. The non-prophetic model, he said, 
leaves the office merely a "ceremonial function."

Ottley clearly favors the prophetic model, but added in his 
report that the prophetic ministry of the church "should not be 
guided by the foreign policy of any country where our churches are 
located; nor should it ever serve the particular interest of any 
foreign service. Prophetic ministry should not be confused with 
programs on the social issues of the United Nations. "I never saw 
this office as a program office but as one that lifted up issues 
that affected our lives in the world in which we live," wrote 
Ottley.

He recommended that the office remain in New York, that it 
be staffed by someone from a developing country, that the contract 
be for a renewable three-year term, and that human rights "always 
be a part of the concerns of this office."

Ottley will provide a report to the ACC in September and 
will be available for advice and consultation until then.

--Marianne Meed Ward is a freelance writer living in Toronto. This 
article first appeared in the April issue of the Anglican Journal, 
the national newspaper of the Anglican Church of Canada.