The Archbishop of Canterbury's hopes this week of preventing the 78 million-strong worldwide Anglican communion from finally sliding into schism over the issue of homosexuality appeared slim on Sunday as he prepared to fly to Tanzania for a meeting of the Church's primates.
Conservative archbishops, mainly from the developing world, have gathered in Dar es Salaam for a separate two-day conference in advance of a formal meeting tomorrow to plot tactics and agree on a strategy before Rowan Williams arrives today.
If the meeting does split, the divisions within the third-largest Christian denomination would have repercussions for the "mother" Church of England, some of whose bishops have weighed in on the side of the conservatives.
Opposition
Archbishops from the developing world have told Williams privately that they are opposed to his invitation to Katharine Jefferts Schori, the presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church, to attend the meeting because she supported its election of the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, in 2003.
Schori is the first female primate of a leading Christian denomination in Church history and some Africans have threatened that they will not sit down in the same room with her or recognize her authority.
"I think it is going to be a very bloody meeting and it is impossible to predict which way it will go," said one primate who will be attending what is scheduled to be a four-day meeting.
Archbishops, particularly those from Africa, want the US Church to be thrown out of the Anglican communion because the Church has been supportive of gay relationships, which they see as being in defiance of biblical injunctions.
They are being supported and lobbied at the meeting by English and US conservative, mainly evangelical, factions who also want to overthrow the US Church's liberal leadership and claim it for themselves.
In a further uncompromising sign, the Most Reverend Peter Akinola, the primate of Nigeria and leader of the so-called "global south" archbishops opposed to any accommodation with the Church's homosexual members, has told Williams that he objects to the presence of John Sentamu, Arch-bishop of York, at the meeting.
Support
Williams invited Sentamu to speak for the Church of England at the meeting, but also to give himself extra support.
Williams chairs the meetings of the primates but finds it difficult independently also to represent the position of the English Church.
Suspecting that Sentamu, despite his African and evangelical credentials, is too accommodating to the liberal Americans, Akinola has called for him to be barred from the meeting.
One senior English bishop has criticized the Americans.
Michael Scott-Joynt, Bishop of Winchester, wrote in the Church of England newspaper at the weekend that if Schori is allowed to attend, "I am in no doubt that this would destroy the authority of the communion ... the Episcopal Church and its new presiding bishop are increasingly departing from basic Christian belief in the lordship and uniqueness of Christ."
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
RELAXED: After talks on Ukraine and trade, the French president met with students while his wife visited pandas, after the pair parted ways with their Chinese counterparts French President Emmanuel Macron concluded his fourth state visit to China yesterday in Chengdu, striking a more relaxed note after tough discussions on Ukraine and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) a day earlier. Far from the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing where the two leaders held talks, Xi and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), showed Macron and his wife Brigitte around the centuries-old Dujiangyan Dam, a World Heritage Site set against the mountainous landscape of Sichuan Province. Macron was told through an interpreter about the ancient irrigation system, which dates back to the third century
RSS