A leading conservative Archbishop has accused the worldwide Anglican leadership of trying to "cajole" orthodox churches into accepting homosexuality.
Archbishop of Kenya Eliud Wabukala says in a letter he cannot heed the Archbishop of Canterbury's plea for him to attend next month's meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Lusaka.
This is because the promises made at the recent Primates Meeting in Canterbury to restrict the participation of the Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion because of its liberal stance on homosexuality have not been kept, the Archbishop says.
The so-called "instruments" of communion are "not being used so much as instruments of unity but as instruments to cajole orthodox Global South provinces of the Communion into acquiescence with the secular sexual culture which has made such inroads into the Anglican Churches of the West," he writes in the letter, published on the Anglican Ink website,
Wabukala acknowledges the Archbishop of Canterbury's recognition of the need for "repentance and confession". He continues: "But there does not seem to be any recognition that homosexual activity is a matter for repentance by those speaking on behalf of the London based Anglican Communion authorities. Instead there are only calls to repent of 'homophobia', a term which is seriously compromised by the way homosexual activists have used it to include any opposition to their agenda."
The inability to recognise that the acceptance of homosexual activity calls for repentance is now "entrenched", he says.
"In these circumstances, some of us have been forced to the conclusion that the best way to make our voices heard is by absence rather than presence. We have no wish to interfere in the juridical authority of other provinces, but we do have a responsibility to ensure that our recognition of one another in the Anglican family is based on a common submission to the authority of God's Word, not simply a shared history."
He was writing in response to a letter to the primates from Archbishop Justin Welby, who pleaded with them to attend the Lusaka meeting next month.
The primates who were present in January had agreed unanimously that the Episcopal Church should face the consequences of its actions in agreeing gay marriage.
Archbishop Welby wrote: "As you will remember, at that crucial moment, we undertook to seek personally to ensure that what we voted, was put into practice."
But he acknowledged that his powers are limited. "It is well recognised that there is no single body within the Anglican Communion that has juridical authority over individual provinces. We are autonomous but interdependent."
The Archbishop wrote: "I hope and pray that every province that is able will be present in Lusaka. The decisions we took in January can only have effect if they gain general ownership amongst the Communion, taking in laity, priests and bishops. Even if a province is not able to be present, I urge you to pray fervently for the outcome of the ACC."
