ecumenism" "
“A year of hope and sorrows for the archbishop”. That’s how the Information Service of the Anglican Communion headlined a report on the first anniversary of Rowan Williams as archbishop of Canterbury. The ceremony of installation was in fact held on 27 February 2003. In an interview, Williams traced the most important and demanding stages of this first year, in particular the furious controversy that broke out following the nomination of an openly gay bishop in the USA. Williams said that “the level of expectations in him was very high”. In the interview the archbishop also recalled his audience with the Pope in October. Williams was asked: “Do you think that the Pope has given up any hope of unity between Anglicans and Catholics after the appointment of a gay bishop in the USA?”. “I don’t think that the Pope has given up hope replied the archbishop . And I don’t think anyone in Rome has given up. Undoubtedly, we need to recognize in an honest way that these are serious problems, there’s no doubt. But no door has been shut, none”. Speaking of his meeting with the Pope, Williams said that “it was very moving to meet someone who lives the Christian experience so deeply and who experienced both Nazism and Communism. Of course he added as an Anglican I don’t automatically believe in everything the Pope says but the nobility of his Christianity and his human greatness are undeniable”. Meanwhile, the annual session of the standing Committee, that brings together the Primates of the Anglican Communion from all over the world and the members of the advisory Council, opened in Canterbury with a celebration on 1st March. The meeting ended on 4 March. The Committee had the task of deciding on the programme for the year. In a communiqué, Peter Akinola, archbishop of Nigeria, where some 17 million Anglicans live, announced his decision not to participate in the meeting due to the presence of representatives of the Episcopalian Church of the USA, which had authorised the consecration of the first gay bishop. Accusations on the same score have also been made by the Primate of Central Africa, Archbishop Bernard Malango, though he said he would attend the meeting. The former archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu has adopted a different position: last week he declared that “the Anglican Communion must accept anyone, without taking account of their sexuality”. The work of the “Lambeth Commission”, chaired by Irish Primate Robin Eames, is meanwhile continuing. The archbishop of Canterbury has given it the task of finding a solution to the divisions among Anglicans on the question of homosexuality.
