London, England, Jul 2, 2008 / 02:07 am
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the highest-ranking cleric in the Church of England, has responded to the announcement of the Global Anglican Future Conference that it is setting up a Council of Primates to defend what it sees as Anglican orthodoxy. Archbishop Williams said the planned council would not be universally accepted throughout the Anglican Communion and would be abused by factions who use concerns about theological integrity as pretexts for ecclesiastical infighting.
The GAFCON meeting ended in Jerusalem on Sunday with the release of the “Jerusalem Declaration.” The meeting had been called to address controversies within the Anglican Communion over the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the authority of Scripture, and issues concerning sexual morality such as some Anglicans’ approval of homosexual acts. The declaration claims that most of the world’s practicing Anglicans have entered a “post-colonial” reality where the Archbishop of Canterbury is recognized for his historical role but is not seen as the only arbiter of what it means to be an Anglican.
The Jerusalem Declaration also states that GAFCON is not breaking away from the Anglican Communion.
In his statement responding to the declaration, Archbishop Williams said GAFCON’s final statement contained “much that is positive and encouraging” about the priorities of conference participants.
“The 'tenets of orthodoxy' spelled out in the document will be acceptable to and shared by the vast majority of Anglicans in every province, even if there may be differences of emphasis and perspective on some issues,” the archbishop said.