THE GUARDIAN: Archbishop of Canterbury says Henry Ndukuba’s comments that homosexuality should be ‘expunged’ are unacceptable
The archbishop of Canterbury has issued a rare public condemnation of a fellow Anglican primate who described homosexuality as a “deadly virus” which should be “radically expunged and excised”.
Justin Welby, who is the leader of the global Anglican church, said the comments made by Henry Ndukuba, the archbishop of Nigeria, were unacceptable and dehumanising.
His criticism was endorsed by senior Church of England colleagues, including Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York, and Sarah Mullally, the bishop of London.
In response to a statement on the pastoral care of gay people issued by the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in January, Ndukuba said: “The deadly ‘virus’ of homosexuality has infiltrated ACNA. This is likened to a yeast that should be urgently and radically expunged and excised lest it affects the whole dough.” » | Harriet Sherwood | Saturday, March 6, 2021
Showing posts with label Anglican Communion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anglican Communion. Show all posts
Sunday, March 07, 2021
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Friday, November 09, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The new Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby offered an olive branch to the gay community saying he will re-examine his opposition to same-sex marriage.
The new Archbishop of Canterbury offered an olive branch to the gay community despite reaffirming his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, pledged to examine his own thinking on homosexuality "carefully and prayerfully" and spoke out against "exclusion".
Be he said he supported the Church's current stance on redefining marriage. "I support the House of Bishop's statement in the summer in answer to the government's consultation on same sex marriage.
I know I need to listen very attentively to the LGBT communities, and examine my own thinking prayerfully and carefully. » | John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor | Friday, November 09, 2012
Related »
Justin Welby, a former oil executive who was made a bishop just over a year ago, has been appointed the next leader of the Church of England, Downing Street confirmed on Friday morning.
A statement on the website of the prime minister's office said the Queen had nominated Welby. A press conference at Lambeth Palace is taking place to announce that the 56-year-old bishop of Durham will be the 105th man to sit on the throne of Saint Augustine, succeeding Rowan Williams[.]
Welby will be enthroned as archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. He said: "To be nominated to this post is both astonishing and exciting. It is something I never expected, and the last few weeks have been a very strange experience.
"It is exciting because we are at one of those rare points where the tide of events is turning, and the church nationally, including the Church of England has great opportunities to match its very great but often hidden strengths.
"I feel a massive sense of privilege at being one of those responsible for the leadership of the church in a time of spiritual hunger, when our network of parishes and churches and schools and above all people means that we are facing the toughest issues in the toughest place." » | Lizzy Davies | Friday, November 09, 2012
THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Justin Welby: a pragmatic priest in turbulent times: An evangelical conservative, the new archbishop of Canterbury will not run up against the suspicion of the church's reactionaries ¶ It was not through a puff of white smoke but through the suspension of booking at Ladbrokes that providence made itself known. For the identity of the new archbishop of Canterbury to emerge in this way is embarrassing, but then embarrassment is nothing new for the Church of England. In recent months fellow churchmen have torn themselves asunder over Occupy, and for far longer they have obsessively observed the injunction of Salt-n-Pepa: let's talk about sex. The divisive preoccupation with gay clergy and gay marriage crowds out much other discussion, and at times prevents the church being heard on anything else at all. And, all the while, the relentless withering of the congregations continues. » | Editorial | Thursday, November 08, 2012
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Rowan Williams tells warring factions to pull together for crucial General Synod vote on church's future
Dr Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, warned of the risk of "piece-by-piece dissolution" of worldwide Anglicanism in a heartfelt personal plea today to warring factions in the Church of England.
At the opening of the church's general synod in London, he called for all parties to put aside their disputes and agree on a fresh framework for settling differences across the 70 million-strong international communion.
The synod votes tomorrow on the Anglican covenant, which has been seven years in the making, and sets the Church of England at a crucial crossroads. The church is already facing probable defections to Roman Catholicism by some priests opposed to the ordination of women bishops.
The covenant was devised in response to divisions caused by the US Episcopal Church's decision to endorse the election of the openly-gay bishop of New Hampshire, Gene Robinson, and it has to be endorsed by all 38 previously autonomous provinces of the communion across the world. The vote will be crucial as not only is the Church of England the mother church of the communion, but Williams is its spiritual head. A senior church official told the Guardian: "There is no Plan B. If this falls, the communion is in ruins."
In advance of the vote – which is technically to refer the covenant to dioceses for consultation – supporters and opponents have indulged in heated rhetoric; liberal Anglicans claimed it would spell the end of individual churches' autonomy and subject decisions of the Church of England to the prior approval of reactionary churches such as the homophobic conservatives of equatorial Africa. Gregory Cameron, the Bishop of St Asaph in Wales, the canon lawyer mainly responsible for drawing up the covenant, likened opponents to the BNP. Read on and comment >>> Stephen Bates and Riazat Butt | Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: This is astonishing news. Pope Benedict XVI has created an entirely new Church structure for disaffected Anglicans that will allow them to worship together – using elements of Anglican liturgy – under the pastoral supervision of their own specially appointed bishop or senior priest.
The Pope is now offering Anglicans worldwide “corporate reunion” on terms that will delight Anglo-Catholics. In theory, they can have their own married priests, parishes and bishops – and they will be free of liturgical interference by liberal Catholic bishops who are unsympathetic to their conservative stance.
There is even the possibility that married Anglican laymen could be accepted for ordination on a case-by-case basis – a remarkable concession.
Both Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Rowan Williams are surprised by this dramatic move. Cardinal Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was in Lambeth Palace only yesterday to spell out to Dr Williams what it means. This decision has, in effect, been taken over their heads – though there is no suggestion that Archbishop Nichols does not fully support this historic move. >>> Damian Thompson | Tuesday, October 20, 2009
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI introduced a fast track for Anglicans seeking to join Roman Catholicism, a move paving the way for conservative Anglicans frustrated by their church's blessing of homosexuality in the priesthood and same-sex unions to enter the Catholic fold.
The Vatican on Tuesday announced plans to create a special set of canon laws, known as an "Apostolic Constitution," to allow Anglican faithful, priests and bishops to enter into full communion with the Vatican without having to give up a large part of their liturgical and spiritual traditions.
With the measures, Pope Benedict is attempting to reclaim ground lost by the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century when King Henry VIII defied papal authority to found the Church of England. The move clears the way for entire congregations of Anglicans to join the Catholic Church and makes it easier for married Anglican priests to convert without embracing Catholicism's traditional code of priestly celibacy. >>> Stacy Meichtry and Amy Merrick | Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, July 21, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT: The Anglican leadership issued a stark message of inclusivity yesterday in a key sermon delivered to 650 bishops by a speaker invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
"There is space equally for anyone and everyone, regardless of colour, ability, gender or sexual orientation," said Duleep de Chickera, the Bishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka, in a passionate sermon which received prolonged applause from the bishops at Canterbury Cathedral.
"It is an inclusive communion where there is space equally for everyone and anyone regardless," the bishop said in the service presided over by Rowan Williams that marked the official opening of the Lambeth Conference.
While acknowledging that "some of us are not here" – a reference to more than 200 conservative bishops boycotting the conference – Bishop de Chickera added that "unity in diversity is the cherished Anglican tradition ... United in spite of the fact that we are different, because in Christ we are equal". Bishops Back Plea for ‘Inclusive Communion’ >>> By James Macintyre in Canterbury | July 21, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
Saturday, July 19, 2008
THE INDEPENDENT: An international coalition of bishops is rallying to the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury in a move that appears likely to ensure Anglican unity as the church enters one of its most crucial weeks since the Reformation. In all, 650 bishops from around the world are gathering at the University of Kent in Canterbury for this week's Lambeth Conference. Apocalyptic scenarios have been predicted, but it now appears that the broader Anglican family will hold together thanks to a series of sermons by Rowan Williams appealing for unity and the desire among bishops – including many from Africa – not to be seen to be the wreckers of the communion. Church Rallies Round Williams as African Bishops Boycott Lambeth >>> By James Macintyre, Religious Affairs Correspondent | July 19, 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
Friday, February 15, 2008
DAILY EXPRESS: The schism in the Anglican Communion over the issue of homosexuality widened further with the Church of Uganda announcing a boycott of the Lambeth Conference.
The meeting of the world's Anglican bishops takes place every 10 years at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. It is supposed to be the one occasion when all bishops can meet for worship, study and conversation.
But the Anglican Church in Uganda has long threatened to boycott the conference because it is unhappy the "crisis" surrounding the Communion's stance on homosexuality has not been resolved.
The row over homosexuality flared up following the consecration of an openly gay man, Gene Robinson, as Bishop of New Hampshire in the US in 2003. The Church of Uganda, and other traditionalist churches in the developing world, criticised Anglican leaders for failing to address how one province in the Communion could make such a move without wider consultation.
The Church of Uganda will now attend a more traditional meeting, the Global Anglican Future Conference, to be held in Jerusalem in June. Uganda Boycotts Anglican Conference >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Monday, February 11, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has many fine qualities: he is unquestionably sincere, well-meaning, and intelligent. He has manifested an admirable commitment to upholding spiritual values. But his position as leader of the Church of England requires him to have another virtue: that of judgment. And unfortunately, the events of last week have shown a surprising and regrettable lapse of judgment.
He must have known what he was getting into when he entered the minefield of whether Muslim communities should be able to regulate themselves by sharia law. He has insisted that he did not mean to imply that they should be allowed to have a parallel legal system, existing alongside the law of the land. But the fact is that what he did say was so obscure, imprecise and difficult to follow that it could easily be interpreted as endorsing precisely the position from which he has now gone to such pains to distance himself.
A BBC radio studio is not a seminar room, and a lecture in public is not the same as a symposium with academic colleagues. Public debate inevitably operates in bolder, clearer, less sophisticated colours than the nuances of High Table conversation - a reality which the Archbishop may not like, but has to live with for as long as he is head of the Anglican Communion. The media coverage which reported him - wrongly, he insists - as advocating the granting of legal legitimacy to sharia courts was wholly understandable, for his words appeared to support that view. The blame for the resulting uproar must ultimately rest with Rowan Williams himself. Had he spoken in a less ambiguous style, his musings on how "to tease out some of the broader issues around the rights of religious groups within a secular state" would in all probability have been ignored.
They were not, however, ignored. And the fact remains that the Archbishop has got into a pickle from which he has yet to extricate himself. His language was not only unclear: his thinking was uncharacteristically muddled. His suggestion that the British state should recognise different kinds of justice, including sharia, because that would enable people with different religious convictions to feel "loyal" to British society, is preposterous: it is a recipe, not for the social cohesion and unity which he says he craves, but for separatism and conflict. Far from overcoming cultural conflict, its primary effect would be to enforce division by emphasising it. In his effort to find an accommodation with other religions, in particular Islam… >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
BBC: The Archbishop of Canterbury is facing criticism from fellow Anglicans over his comments on Islamic Sharia law.
He has provoked condemnation from the Anglican Archbishop in Latin America, who said confidence in Dr Rowan Williams's leadership had plummeted.
Dr Williams's predecessor Lord Carey has also weighed into the row saying the acceptance of some Muslim laws would be "disastrous" for Britain.
Supporters of Dr Williams say reaction to his comments has been "hysterical". Dr Williams sparked a major row… >>>
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Saturday, February 09, 2008
BBC: The Archbishop of Canterbury continues to face calls for his resignation despite attempts to defuse the row over his Islamic Sharia law comments.
Dr Rowan Williams has been condemned from inside and outside his church for saying the adoption of parts of the law was "unavoidable" in Britain.
At least two General Synod members have called for him to quit and he has been heckled as he left a church service.
But supporters say his comments have been misinterpreted.
The archbishop is said to be shocked and hurt by the hostility his comments have provoked, and on his website he said he "certainly did not call for its introduction as some kind of parallel jurisdiction to the civil law".
However the criticism mounted as his predecessor Lord George Carey accused Dr Williams of overstating the case for accommodating Islamic legal codes. ’Brilliant scholar’ >>>
WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Archbishop Faces Calls to Quit
NZZ Online:
Rücktritt von Erzbischof gefordert
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
Thursday, July 05, 2007
TIMESONLINE: The head of the Anglican Church in Nigeria says that his 120-plus bishops will boycott next year’s Lambeth Conference unless the US Church halts its liberal agenda.
In an interview with The Times published today, Dr Peter Akinola, Primate of Nigeria and Archbishop of Abuja, says that he has lost faith that the Episcopal Church of the United States, which precipitated a schism with the ordination of the gay bishop Gene Robinson in 2003, will ever listen to the conservative evangelical leaders of the Global South churches of Africa and Asia. African bishops ready to boycott conference in row over gay clergy (more) By Ruth Gledhill
Mark Alexander
Saturday, June 16, 2007
THE GUARDIAN: The impending division of the worldwide Anglican communion came a step closer yesterday as the rift over the way the church deals with homosexuality descended into acrimony.
The US Episcopal church rejected the demands of the rest of the church, headed by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, that it should fall into line by refusing to conduct blessing services for gay couples or elect more gay bishops and allow disaffected conservative US congregations to have their own leadership. Anglican split comes closer as US church rejects demand over gays (more) By Stephen Bates
Mark Alexander
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
THE TELEGRAPH: A powerful coalition of conservative Anglican leaders is preparing to create a parallel Church for conservatives in America in defiance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, provoking the biggest split in Anglican history, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
According to sources, at least six primates are planning the consecration of a prominent American cleric as a bishop to minister to Americans who have rejected their liberal bishops over the issue of homosexuality.
The move will send shock waves through worldwide Anglicanism and may prove to be a fatal blow to the efforts of Dr Rowan Williams to hold together what he described last month as a "very vulnerable, very fragile" Church. Anglican coalition to force through breakaway (more) By Jonathan Petre
Mark Alexander
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