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99-092

Archbishop of Canterbury warmly greeted by Anglicans in South 
America

by Jerry Hames

(Episcopal Life) Archbishop George Carey of Canterbury, in a 
weeklong swing in late May through the Church of Brazil and the 
strongly evangelical Church of the Southern Cone, made a 
worldwide call to churches to throw open their doors to welcome 
strangers.

"We must welcome people, we must care for them, we must 
ensure they feel at home in our worship and that we relate our 
faith to the needs of people outside," he said. Carey visited the 
dioceses of Northern Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay. In 
Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, where he addressed the provincial 
synod, Carey warned that it is easy for the church to talk about 
mission, but fail to act on it.

He described "an innocent sign" on the porch of a church in 
his diocese that reads: "Keep this door firmly shut, sheep may 
enter." For too many years, this has been the unspoken view of 
many Anglican churches: This church is not for you; keep out," he 
said.

Youth and leadership development are other challenges the 
church faces, Carey said. He encouraged Anglicans to take 
seriously their mission to young people by focusing on their 
needs and goals. "And, finally, we must raise up godly, educated 
men and women for Christ's work," Carey said.

Vote on women priests fails

However, the Anglicans in the Southern Cone will not have 
female priests to continue the church's work -- at least for now. 
A vote to permit dioceses to ordain women as priests failed to 
get the required two-thirds approval.

The proposed motion, approved by a majority of those 
present, sought permission from the province to allow dioceses to 
proceed with such ordinations if they wished. A provincial press 
release said that bishops and delegates who opposed the 
resolution spoke of their desire to be faithful to biblical 
witness.

Two women deacons from Montevideo who attended the synod 
took Carey and his wife, Eileen, a nurse, to an AIDS hospital, 
where they have a ministry. Carey laid hands on the patients and 
prayed with the families during his visit. One of the deacons, 
Audrey Gonzales, originally a journalist from Tennessee, 
ministers to the English-speaking community at Holy Trinity 
Cathedral and at a home for the elderly.

"This is the most attention the church has ever received 
from the press and media," said Presiding Bishop Maurice 
Sinclair, who said he hopes Carey's visit will increase the 
church's visibility in the community. Reflecting the cathedral's 
active street ministry, people from all walks of life mingled 
with hundreds of others, and street children sat on the floor in 
front of the English ambassador and Eileen Carey during the 
service.

In the Diocese of Northern Argentina, Carey seized an 
opportunity to talk with government officials about concerns 
shared by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches over land 
rights of the indigenous people and urged compliance of 
agreements already reached but not yet enforced.

Traditional Bolivian pipe music added to the festivities in 
Santa Cruz, when Carey joined Bishop Gregory Venables in 
consecrating a new church. The priest said the parish ministry 
was one of "reconciliation and hope" in a community polarized by 
expanding Christian fundamentalism.

In Uruguay, Carey urged in his address to provincial synod 
that lay and ordained ministers prepare themselves to encounter 
diversity in the secular world and with other members of a 
worldwide Christian church. "This is something that Anglicanism 
has sometimes struggled to acknowledge, preferring to focus on 
the local and immediate.

"The days are gone when parochialism can work," he said. 
"What we do or say here can so easily be broadcast to the other 
side of the world within seconds. So I want to encourage outward-
looking theological education that will strengthen the identity 
of this province and equip your people for the realities of the 
word and the church today."

Arriving by small plane at Ing Juarez in the Chaco region of 
northern Argentina, Carey was greeted by a city that is 80 
percent Anglican. More than 6,000 filled the city arena for a 
three-hour Festival of Praise.

--based on reports from the Anglican Communion News Service by 
Jim Rosenthal and the Latin American and Caribbean Communication 
Agency.