The consultation document is not a neutral document but instead a piece of advocacy for the new proposal. It argues that many of the issues that the Archbishop of Canterbury addresses are global concerns, calling for a Communion-wide response. – The Church Times
Does the Anglican Communion want to choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury? As we reported, on Friday the Church of England announced consideration of giving the Anglican Communion a greater say in the nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Excerpts from the take by The Church Times:
The rationale behind the proposal is given in a letter by William Nye, secretary-general of the Archbishops’ Council. He writes: “The background purpose of the change is to enable the representation of the Anglican Communion to be increased. In a Communion that is at least 75 per cent from the Global South, at the last Canterbury CNC the entire Communion was represented by the Archbishop of Wales.”
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The consultation document is not a neutral document but instead a piece of advocacy for the new proposal. It argues that many of the issues that the Archbishop of Canterbury addresses are global concerns, calling for a Communion-wide response. …
[The consultation document] points out that the structure of the Anglican Communion, and the position of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is “rooted in England’s colonial history”. It argues, therefore: “The Church of England and the Communion cannot escape asking why a British cleric should always be primus inter pares” [“first among equals”].
Comments on this blog have been negative:
The Rev. Susan L. Russell commented:
This sounds to me like another paragraph in the sad chapter of the ongoing effort to impose some kind of Curial authority on the Anglican Communion — the kind of authority which is contrary to the DNA of Anglican comprehensiveness which is one of its hallmarks. And it is totally on brand with the global surge of patriarchal oligarchy working to diminish diversity and dismantle democracy. Something to pay attention to for sure.
Simon Sarmiento, editor of Thinking Anglicans commented:
This proposal is beyond madness. As the first person on Thinking Anglicans to comment expressed it: “Another move towards the see of Canterbury becoming a Poundland papacy. Lambeth already has notions of its own worth that are well above its demographic station, and this will just encourage it.”
See also the comments at Thinking Anglicans and our Facebook page.