Global South Anglican

An Observation on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Second Presidential Address to Lambeth 2008.

- Cardinal Walter Kasper is a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in the Roman Curia, and Cardinal Deacon of Ognissanti in Via Appia Nuova. Here follows the address from Cardinal Kasper to the Lambeth Conference, delivered on July 30, 2008

‘What is Lambeth ‘08 going to say?’ is the question looming larger all the time as this final week unfolds.  But before trying out any thoughts on that, I want to touch on the prior question, a question that could be expressed as ‘Where is Lambeth ‘08 going to speak from?’.  I believe if we can answer that adequately, we shall have laid some firm foundations for whatever content there will be.

And the answer, I hope, is that we speak from the centre.  I don’t mean speaking from the middle point between two extremes — that just creates another sort of political alignment.  I mean that we should try to speak from the heart of our identity as Anglicans; and ultimately from that deepest centre which is our awareness of living in and as the Body of Christ.

The WCG’s observations, can also be read in a pdf copy here

On Tuesday 22 July, approximately 200 bishops and several primates gathered to discuss issues which concern the Global South, especially that of the faithful Anglicans in the United States. Bishop Bob Duncan of Pittsburgh spoke, along with Bishop Michael Scott-Joynt of Winchester and Bishop N.T. Wright of Durham. We had a wonderful time with the bishops from Africa, Asia, Latin America, UK, Australia, New Zealand and USA. We were all encouraged and ended the meeting by singing “He is Lord.”

Ed: Some hopeful observations.

A continuation from Part One

After 21 years of war, in which more than 2 million people lost their lives and more than 4 million people have become refugees or internally displaced, we are greatly encouraged at thenew future offered by the CPA. However, we remain deeply concerned that the conflict in Darfur, in Western Sudan, continues unabated, and at the localized conflict in several places which threatens stability and the sustainability of peace. We therefore wish to share with you the following concerns…

Read the rest here

The Common Cause Partnership leaders issued a statement today welcoming the Jerusalem Declaration and the statement on the Global Anglican Future and pledging to move forward with the work of Anglican unity in North America.

This document is NOT a report by the Windsor Continuation Group. It constitutes their preliminary observations on the life of the Communion and of the current state of responses to the recommendations of the Windsor Report, and offering some suggestions about the way forward. These observations are offered to the Lambeth Conference for conversation and testing.

Chris Smith, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s aide de camp met with Archbishop John Chew of Southeast Asia and Presiding Bishop Mouneer Anis of Jerusalem and the Middle East —- leaders of center right Communion Partners group, and Presiding Bishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone —- a member of the more traditionalist Gafcon primates’ council.

The Bishop of Durham and other English bishops met with the primates to formalize a way forward for the conservative amidst the chaos of the Anglican Communion the unfolding train wreck of the Lambeth Conference. The two conservative factions are at odds with the best way of responding to the crisis of doctrine and discipline within the Anglican Communion. The Gafcon wing, led by the Churches of Nigeria and Uganda and comprise over 60 percent of the Communion’s members, are seeking to reform the Anglican Communion, lessening the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the existing power structures.