ENS: Nigerian bishop’s appointment as Anglican Communion secretary general celebrated

A report from the Episcopal News Service quotes several American bishops’ opinions on the recent appointment of Josiah Idowu-Fearon, a Nigerian bishop, as Secretary General of the Anglican Communion Office:

“Josiah is, above all, a man of communion, a careful listener, and a respecter of the different ways in which we are called to articulate and live the good news of God in Jesus Christ,” former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold told Episcopal News Service following the appointment.

Connecticut Bishop Ian Douglas, a member of the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion, said he has known Idowu-Fearon for more than a decade through a variety of inter-Anglican bodies and responsibilities and finds him “committed to God’s mission of reconciliation, both between people of different faiths and between the churches of the Anglican Communion.”

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, also a member of the Anglican Communion Standing Committee, said Idowu-Fearon “has worked hard to keep the conversation going among people who would often not want to talk to one another.”

And, in the comments to the ENS report, Bishop Pierre Whalon writes in response to other comments to the article:

It seems that people haven’t read the article. I have known Bishop Josiah for many years, having served together on the Network for Interfaith Concerns for seven years. I can corroborate what the others quoted say: this is a fine choice, because he has shown over and over again his commitment to the gospel imperative that all are welcome. What is not evident perhaps to some commentators is the situation of being a leader in Nigeria and in the Church of Nigeria. He has navigated that brilliantly. Give the man a chance!

Responding to Whalon, Jeremy Bates, writes, in part,

Bishop Whalon — Actually, before commenting, I read the article very carefully. It smacks of small-e episcopal propaganda–an organized campaign by Bishop Idowu-Fearon’s high-placed friends to soften the abhorrent views that he has publicly expressed.

Since his appointment his views on the criminalization of homosexuality have been scrutinized and he has issued a statement saying the reports are “misleading” and “misrepresent” his views.

Alda Morgan comments,

… I’m heartily sick of this reductionist conversation. Can’t we find any other reasons to try to work together or understand where other Christians are coming from when they don’t agree with us on this issue?

Also commenting on the ENS report, Cynthia Katsarelis writes, in part,

His ideas for the Anglican Communion, expressed in Toronto, includes a much stronger, more authoritative central body of primates, apparently with the power to punish erring provinces.

 


Posted by John B. Chilton


Photo: ACNS

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