Posted on 10/7/2005, 8:37:39 PM by sionnsar
The Archbishop of Canterbury has written to the Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Peter Akinola, assuring him of the Church of England’s orthodoxy, pledging it has not, and will not, put the Anglican Communion at risk by altering its teaching on marriage.
Archbishop Akinola disclosed the letter at a news conference in the Nigerian capital of Abuja following the Church’s triennial synod. In his remarks, Archbishop Akinola stated his Church’s decision to delete references to the Archbishop of Canterbury from its constitution had been misconstrued by some as a prelude to schism by Nigeria. This was not true, he said, as the Church of Nigeria “treasured its place in the Anglican Communion.”
However, Archbishop Akinola said “the disarray the United States and the Canadian churches brought on the Communion because of their revisionist agenda on homosexuality” prompted Nigeria to act. Adding a confessional clause to its constitution allows that “those who are bent on creating a new religion in which anything goes, and have thereby chosen to walk a different path, may do so without us” he said.
He was also disturbed by the practical consequences of the Church of England’s House of Bishops’ Pastoral Statement on Civil Partnerships, calling it “double-speak.” The Church of England was not above criticism, he said. If it adopted doctrinal innovations that put it at odds with the Anglican formularies, it too would be subject to reproof.
Canon AkinTunde Popoola, the Church of Nigeria’s communications officer, said, “Archbishop Williams indicated that the Church of England maintains the Church's teaching on marriage and will not do anything to deviate from it.” He said the letter was a private communication between the primates and would not be made public.
The Rev. Jonathan Jennings, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s press officer, said policy forbade comment on the archbishop’s private correspondence.
The July 25 Civil Partnership Pastoral stated, “Sexual intercourse, as an expression of faithful intimacy, properly belongs within marriage exclusively.” Clergy may enter into a civil partnership, the House of Bishops said, provided they “give assurances to his or her bishop that the relationship” is chaste.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. Akinola is a patient man.
bttt
Very well put.
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