LAMBETH HYPOCRISY: Disinviting the Spouses

Feb 17, 2019 by

by Stephen Noll, Contending Anglican:

“Now then make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples of the land and from the foreign wives.” (Ezra 10:11)

So the same-sex spouses of Anglican bishops are not welcome to Lambeth 2020, according to an announcement by ACC General Secretary Josiah Idowu-Fearon on 15 February.

I need to clarify a misunderstanding that has arisen. Invitations have been sent to every active bishop. That is how it should be – we are recognising that all those consecrated into the office of bishop should be able to attend. But the invitation process has also needed to take account of the Anglican Communion’s position on marriage which is that it is the lifelong union of a man and a woman. That is the position as set out in Resolution I.10 of the 1998 Lambeth Conference. Given this, it would be inappropriate for same-sex spouses to be invited to the conference. The Archbishop of Canterbury has had a series of private conversations by phone or by exchanges of letter with the few individuals to whom this applies.

This is shameful even as it is shameless.

It’s shameful that the Archbishop of Canterbury was content to send Bishop Fearon as his surrogate to announce the bad news. Fearon himself never reveals who decided that it would be “inappropriate” to invite the spouses, but ultimately it is his boss who is responsible. The “misunderstanding that has arisen” derives not from Fearon but from Justin Welby himself, who extended the invitation to all active bishops and spouses (see the video that follows the announcement at 3:51).

What caused the hiccup between the making of the video and the issue of the press release? I think it had something to do with another news release and photo from Toronto about a wedding there.

Read here

 

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