Archbishop of Canterbury lectures African Anglican primates on poverty, environment
June 15, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: Citing Western Anglican leaders’ abandonment of biblical teaching on homosexuality, the Anglican primates of Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda announced that they would boycott the 2022 Lambeth conference (periodic meeting of Anglican leaders).
The African primates also criticized the conference’s “focus on peripheral matters about the environment and difficulties experienced by disadvantaged communities.”
In his response, Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, the primate of the Church of England, criticized some of the African primates’ statements but said that the invitation to the conference remained open.
“We are distressed to read that you consider matters of the environment, poverty and economic disadvantage to be ‘peripheral,’” said Welby. “Not to care for God’s creation and for the poor and destitute is in direct contravention of the teaching of scripture and the words of Jesus Christ.”
“Boycotts do not proclaim Christ,” added Welby. “Those who stay away cannot be heard, they will lose influence and the chance of shaping the future.”
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