Global South Anglicans to Put Homosexuality Controversy to Rest
While Episcopal bishops convene in Texas to discuss the relationship of the Episcopal Church to other primates within the Anglican Communion, conservative Anglican bishops are soon expected to sign a pact condemning the ordination of gay clergy.
Leaders of the Global South Primates are currently meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, where clerics from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia desire to put the homosexual controversy to rest. Reports indicate that the agreement, however, is likely to deepen rifts between conservatives and liberals in the Anglican body.
"In order to put to rest this issue of homosexuality, we are working on an Anglican covenant with provisions that very clearly say what it means to be an Anglican," said Nigeria's Archbishop Peter Akinola, according to Reuters.
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"Who ever subscribes to this covenant must abide by it and those who are unable to subscribe to it will walk out," he added.
Bishops from the Global South who hold the Church as subordinate to Scripture had expressed their need to carry on the Anglican faith as Western churches are divided over homosexuality. A petition letter written by conservative Anglican leaders at the request of the bishop of the Diocese of Shyira in Rwanda, the Rt. Rev. John K. Rucyahana, last month had stated that the "burden of preserving the Anglican faith has necessarily fallen upon churches in Africa and Asia." The letter was sent out to all Anglican bishops.
Meanwhile in the United States, "Windsor bishops" – leaders who agree with the Windsor Report – are trying to maintain an "unimpaired relationship" with the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the other primates in the worldwide body. Participants of the meeting include leaders in the conservative Anglican Communion Network, currently made up of 10 dioceses across the nation.
ACN spokesperson Jenny Noyes said she "can't say" yet if the conservative leaders have responded to the pact being made in the Global South, but she believes the U.S. leaders are "aware of it."
Both meetings in the Global South and the U.S. are concluding Friday.
