wfn.org | ACNS3635 What happened at the Primates Meeting? A guide for our

["Anglican Communion News Service" <acnslist@anglicancommunion.org>]

ACNS 3635     |     ACO     |	  17 OCTOBER 2003 

What happened at the Primates Meeting? A guide for our ecumenical partners

As you will know, the Primates of the Anglican Communion met together at
Lambeth Palace on 15 and 16 October in response to recent developments
within the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church of the
United States of America. These developments included the election of a
priest in a committed same sex relationship as a bishop, and the
authorisation by one diocese in Canada of a public Rite of Blessing for
Same Sex Unions.

In their Statement at the end of the meeting, the Primates said four
main things - (a) they committed themselves to working together in the
Communion as far as possible, (b) they reaffirmed the teaching of the
Anglican Communion on sexual ethics, (c) they acknowledged that recent
developments will damage the Communion, and (d) they established a
commission to take matters further.

1.	The Primates expressed their unanimous commitment to the ongoing
life of the Communion. The meeting reaffirmed, and indeed celebrated,
the Anglican tradition of faith and worship, and all the primates are
committed to co-operating together as far as possible in the Communion's
shared work and witness, in spite of disagreements on the issue of
homosexuality.

2.	The Primates also reaffirmed the traditional teaching of the
Communion in relation to the issue of homosexuality, as expressed at the
Lambeth Conference 1998 in Resolution 1.10. They reaffirmed the whole of
this resolution, including commending the main report of the Lambeth
Conference on this issue to the members of the Communion, and the
commitment to listen to the experience of homosexual persons in an
ongoing process of study.

3.	This reaffirmation means that the wider Communion cannot support
the recent developments for the blessings of same sex unions or the
election of Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. Indeed, the
ministry of Gene Robinson as a bishop will not be recognised or received
in the vast majority of the Anglican world.

What are the consequences of all of this? 

4.	First, it means that a state of impaired or broken Communion is
beginning to exist between many parts of the Anglican world and the
Diocese of New Westminster in Canada. The Anglican Church of Canada is
still in the process of resolving the questions that the authorisation
of a public Rite of Blessing for Same Sex Unions in that diocese raise,
and it is unlikely that any further developments can occur until the
Canadian General Synod has met in 2004.

5.	Secondly, for many parts of the Anglican Communion a state of
impaired or broken communion will exist with the Diocese of New
Hampshire, given the assumption that the Consecration will go ahead, and
possibly with the whole of the Episcopal Church (USA).

What are the wider implications?

6.	Questions remain about the nature, extent and duration of this
impaired or broken communion. Will a breach in Communion between two
parts of the Anglican Communion mean a Communion-wide split with each
province having to choose between one side or the other? How will these
divisions affect the relationship of each province with the See of
Canterbury as the centre of unity of the Communion?

7.	In order to answer these questions, the Primates have requested
the Archbishop of Canterbury to establish a Commission which will report
in twelve months time to the next meeting of the Primates. Until then,
provinces have been urged by the Primates to avoid precipitate action.

8.	The Department of Ecumenical Affairs and Studies will be pleased
to respond to any enquiries from our ecumenical partners on these
issues, and can be contacted at the Anglican Communion Office. A copy of
the Primates' Statement can be found at
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/articles/36/25/acns3633.html. The
Lambeth resolutions from 1998 can be found at:
http://www.anglicancommunion.org/lambeth/1/sect1rpt.html. The resolution
on human sexuality is Resolution I.10.

Gregory K Cameron,
Director of Ecumenical Affairs and Studies,
London, 17 October 2003

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