Hiltz addresses ‘sharp criticism’ over stance on TEC

Jan 19, 2016 by

By Tali Folkins, Anglican Journal:

It would have been premature and beyond his authority to stand together with The Episcopal Church (TEC) over same-sex marriage at the Primates’ Meeting  in Canterbury last week, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, said in a reflection released Tuesday, January 19.

Hiltz suggested some people have said he should have come out more strongly in defence of TEC.

“I am aware of sharp criticism over what some regard to have been a failure on my part to stand in solidarity with The Episcopal Church in openly rejecting the relational consequences it bears as a result of The Primates’ Meeting, or in accepting similar consequences for our own Church,” Hiltz said.

To have voluntarily accepted the same measures for the Anglican Church of Canada, Hiltz said, would have meant overstepping his authority as primate, since General Synod has not yet voted on the matter. “I was not and am not prepared to take any action that would pre-empt the outcome of our deliberations at General Synod in July,” he said.

TEC was censured by a majority of senior archbishops because of its General Convention’s decision in 2015 to allow same-sex marriages. In a communiqué released at the end of the January 11-15 meeting, the primates said they were “requiring” the temporary banning of TEC from ecumenical and interfaith bodies, internal standing committees and from “decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine or polity.”

In response to this criticism, Hiltz said first that he empathized with U.S. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who, he said, now faces “a firestorm of reaction in the United States.” TEC, Hiltz said, will now need some time to respond to the primates’ statement through its National Executive Council. A response to the statement may also be forthcoming from the Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), Hiltz added.

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