March 06, 2007
Are You Bishops or Are You Mice?
That might be the synopsis of ++Rowan Williams comments in his pastoral letter to his fellow Anglican Primates - a question addressed to the American House of Bishops, mostly. As TEC tries to spin the requests out of shape, or to hide behind questions of polity, ++Rowan is being forced to make it clear that what is asked is "a comprehensive abstention from any public rites" for same sex blessings, and to remind bishops that they have all the authority that they need:
To address these requests to the American House of Bishops is not to ignore the polity of The Episcopal Church, but to acknowledge that the bishops have a key role, acknowledged in the Constitution of that church, in authorising liturgies within their dioceses and in giving consent to the election of candidates for episcopal order
Another key phrase immediately follows:
A clear response on these questions is also needed in the near future: we cannot wait for another General Convention for further clarification. A readiness by the leadership of The Episcopal Church to live by that same formal standard of teaching on these matters which applies elsewhere in the Communion is perhaps the first and most important step in the way forward (my emphasis).
To live by is pretty clearly an "invitation" to do more than slyly dodge the question. My sense of ++Rowan as a writer is that he is very careful to write what he means, without being overbearing or blunt. I think he wants TEC to change, to reform, and doesn't want to be blunter than necessary lest the touchy colonials get all feisty. TEC bishops of the Left variety have a tendency to use words as fog or sedative, but not to actually mean anything, and they tend to read everyone else in the same way. I suppose that when you embrace nonsense, you tend toward becoming nonsense.
Posted at 03:16 PM in Anglican Rene
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