Source: Living Church
7/2/2007
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s office has released a statement on the status of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson’s invitation to the 2008 Lambeth Conference, saying “there is no change to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s decision not to invite the Bishop of New Hampshire to the conference as a participating bishop.”
Last week a British daily newspaper reported that a member of the archbishop’s staff had informed several concerned clergy members of the Church of England by letter that Bishop Robinson would be attending.
The letter sent to the clergy listed Archbishop Rowan Williams’ previously stated reasons for not inviting Bishop Robinson, and closed with a reminder that “it is still being explored whether Bishop Robinson might attend in another status.”
In an interview with a reporter for The Living Church, a spokesman for Archbishop Williams called for a halt to further speculation and confirmed there had been no changes or new actions taken over Bishop Robinson’s invitation to Lambeth since the invitations were extended last month.
Senior advisors to Archbishop Williams noted it was possible that some bishops may have their invitations withdrawn to the gathering of the Anglican Communion’s bishops next summer in Canterbury.
In his letter of invitation, Archbishop Williams stated, “with the recommendations of the Windsor Report particularly in mind, I have to reserve the right to withhold or withdraw invitations from bishops whose appointment, actions or manner of life have caused exceptionally serious division or scandal within the Communion.”
(The Rev.) George Conger