Empty seats in Dublin as Primates opt out

At least ten Primates from the Global South are now expected to boycott the Primates’ Meeting in Dublin in January, Ed Beavan reports in this week’s “Church Time”. He writes: In a statement released on Wednesday, five African Primates, members of the GAFCON Primates’ Council, confirmed that they would not attend the two-yearly meeting. In addition, it is understood that the Primate of South-East Asia, Dr John Chew; the Primate in Jerusalem & the Middle East, Dr Mouneer Anis; and the Primate of the Indian Ocean, the Most Revd Ian Ernest, will not go to Dublin. Furthermore it is expected that two new Primates, Presiding Bishop Tito Zavala, Primate of the Southern Cone, and the Most Revd Onesphore Rwage, Primate of Rwanda, will also boycott the meeting. In the statement, which came out of a meeting of the GAFCON Primates’ Council in Oxford in October, but was released only on Wednesday, five Primates — Dr Justice Akrofi of West Africa, Dr Valentino Mokiwa of Tanzania, the Most Revd Nicholas Okoh of Nigeria, the Most Revd Henry Orombi of Uganda, and Dr Eliud Wabukala of Kenya — say they “join with other Primates from the Global South in declaring that we will not be present”. They acknowledge the Anglican Covenant is “well-intentioned” but say they “have come to the conclusion the current text is fatally flawed”. In response, Canon Kenneth Kearon, sec­retary general of the Anglican Communion, said: “The decision whether to come remains a matter for the Primates.” The Oxford statement also reveals that GAFCON plans to build partnerships with other denom­inations that “share their con­victions” More at: http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=104604