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from FaithWorld:
Conservative bishops deliver blow to Anglican Covenant
Conservative Anglicans have rejected a proposed landmark agreement designed to prevent splits in the worldwide Anglican Communion, just as the Church of England -- the Communion's mother church -- moved a step closer to adopting it.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the 80 million Anglicans worldwide, has invested much personal authority in the proposed Anglican Covenant, which aims to prevent disputes over divisive issues such as gay bishops and same-sex unions. He has said the Anglican Communion faced a "piece-by-piece dissolution" if member churches failed to undertake to avoid actions that upset others. (Photo: Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams opens the General Synod at Westminster Abbey in London November 23, 2010/Dan Kitwood)
The General Synod, the Church of England's governing body, voted in favour of the deal, although it still has a number of stages to go before adoption, which would be no earlier than 2012.
But the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) Primates' Council, a group largely led by African church leaders, on Wednesday rejected the proposed Covenant, which would require member churches to settle disputes through discussion.
from FaithWorld:
First group of Anglican bishops to convert to Rome
(Photo:Â Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Pope Benedict celebrate evening prayer at Westminster Abbey in London September 17, 2010/Richard Pohle)
Five Church of England bishops opposed to the ordination of women bishops will take up an offer by Pope Benedict and convert to Roman Catholicism, heralding a possible exodus of traditionalist Anglicans.
The bishops will enter full communion with Rome through an ordinariate, a body proposed by the pope last October to let traditionalists convert while keeping some Anglican traditions, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales announced.
from FaithWorld:
Excerpts from Pope Benedict’s address at Lambeth Palace
(Photo: Pope Benedict and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams embrace at Lambeth Palace in London, 17 Sept 2010/Chris Ison)
Meeting Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, Pope Benedict put aside differences between the two churches and stressed the close cooperation they have developed over the past four decades.
Here are excerpts from the pope's comments to the archbishop:
"...It is not my intention today to speak of the difficulties that the ecumenical path has encountered and continues to encounter. Those difficulties are well known to everyone here. Rather, I wish to join you in giving thanks for the deep friendship that has grown between us and for the remarkable progress that has been made in so many areas of dialogue during the forty years that have elapsed since the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission began its work. Let us entrust the fruits of that work to the Lord of the harvest, confident that he will bless our friendship with further significant growth.
from FaithWorld:
Church of England stops short of links with breakaway U.S. Anglicans
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England, 23 Dec 2009/Suzanne Plunkett
The Church of England stopped short of recognising a new conservative church in North America on Wednesday, avoiding possible embarrassment for the main Anglican church in the United States.
But some evangelicals in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) said they were encouraged by the decision of the General Synod, the CoE's parliament, for the archbishops of Canterbury and York to report back on the break-away church's progress next year.
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