World Anglican leaders suspend US Episcopalians from ecumenical talks
June 08, 2010
The worldwide leadership of the Anglican communion has suspended representatives of the Episcopal Church in the US from participating in ecumenical dialogues. The disciplinary action came after the Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles ordained a lesbian bishop, in defiance of a call from Canterbury for a moratorium on such ordinations. Canon Kenneth Kearon, the secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, wrote to Episcopalian leaders in the US to inform them that they would no longer be invited to participate in ecumenical dialogues. He revealed that he had also written to the Anglican primate in Canada, asking whether that province would abide by the appeal of world Anglican leaders for a moratorium on the ordination of openly homosexual bishops. In May the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, had suggested taking that action against Anglican provinces that violated the moratorium. He had called for the same disciplinary action against conservative Anglican leaders who intervened in the affairs of other provinces-- a reference to prelates from Africa and South America who have encouraged conservative Anglicans in America and Britain to form their own separate communities. Canon Kearon said that he asked for reassurance from these prelates about their "interventions into other provinces."
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Further information:
- Anglicans cut Episcopalians from ecumenical bodies (AP)
- Secretary General lays out next steps following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Pentecost letter (Anglican Communion News Service)
- Archbishop of Canterbury: punish both extremes on Anglican policy regarding homosexuality (CWN, 5/28)
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