Anglican Leaders Disagree on Global South Communiqué

An Anglican archbishop of South Africa clarified his position on a communiqué issued last week by the Global South, saying he is "deeply disturbed" by the approach of the leaders especially over homosexuality.

In a statement released Sunday, Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town said he was not made aware of the communiqué that the Primates of the Global South had put their name to - a document that had confirmed their support for orthodox Anglicans against homosexuality.

"...there is no doubt that the tensions within the Anglican Communion, arising from actions within North America, raise serious and problematic concerns for our future," said Ndungane in the statement. "Yet I am deeply disturbed by the tenor of our approach, as reflected in this communiqué."

Leaders of 20 Anglican provinces at the Global South Primates meeting last week released a communiqué on Friday commending conservative leaders in North America for their "faithfulness" and proposing a separate orthodox Anglican structure in the United States.

Since the 2003 consecration of New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, an active homosexual, The Episcopal Church - the U.S. Anglican arm - has remained divided and many conservative leaders believe a division is inevitable. The Rt. Rev. John H. Rodgers, a bishop with the conservative Anglican Mission in America, had said conservative U.S. churches are looking to form a separate Orthodox Anglican province as an alternative to The Episcopal Church.

Ndungane, who had attended the primates meeting last week in Kigali, Rwanda, expressed wariness over some of the proposals stated in the recent communiqué, including a suggestion for another presiding bishop to represent The Episcopal Church at the Primates meeting in February 2007. Presiding bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori, who will be installed Nov. 4, is a supporter of homosexuality.

"This [proposal] introduces a completely new dimension into our relationships within the Communion, the reciprocal implications of which we have not considered," he said of the proposal. "I would feel more confident if we addressed this question as a part of the more comprehensive reassessment of the nature of the Communion for our times, which is underway not least through the work of the Covenant Design Group.

A leader of the Anglican Province of Southern Africa since 1996, Ndungane has been notoriously known for his liberal voice among conservative African Anglicans.

"While I may well concur with some sections of the text, there are others which are certainly not consonant with the position of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa," he said in the statement.

Ndungane also criticized the Global South for allowing their agenda to be dominated by an influence from the U.S. rather than concentrating on the priorities of their own people and Provinces. Archbishop Desmond Tutu had also called it "little short of outrageous" that church leaders should be obsessed with issues of sexuality when AIDS and poverty is so prevalent. In his book "Rabble-Rouser for Peace," the Nobel Peace Prize winner expressed shame at the Anglican Church's rejection of gay priests and shame to be an Anglican.

Some Episcopal leaders, however, have said otherwise. Conservative dioceses in the Anglican Communion Network, a group of 10 U.S. dioceses that left The Episcopal Church, welcomed the statement by the Global South Primates. Bishop Robert Duncan, moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, recognised the threatening issues the Global South face such as poverty and disease and was humbled by their continued support and guidance to the U.S. dioceses remaining faithful to Scripture - a stance that has encouraged the leaders represented in the communiqué, which are said to represent more than 70 per cent of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Despite the disagreements within the worldwide body, many Anglican leaders including Ndungane remain hopeful of the unity of the Anglican Communion.