The Telegraph published a report describing speculation that the Archbishop of Canterbury may fine tune his strategy of using the 2008 Lambeth conference to promote Anglican unity. The story is that he may choose not to invite– and even dis-invite– Bishops who have an agenda that is too much at odds with his desire to maintain the unity of the Anglican Communion.
Jonathan Petre writes that
(Dr. Williams) has now indicated that he is prepared to scrutinise controversial bishops he had already invited if there is evidence that they are unwilling to compromise their views.
The Archbishop will seek assurances that they can abide by the broad principles of the Windsor Report, but he has not ruled out barring them from the three-week conference.
The headline says that “pro-gay” bishops are “targetted,” but the body of the report makes it clear that it is not that simple.
Insiders point out, however, that Dr Williams could also target hardliners if he believes they are breaching guidelines against bishops intervening in foreign dioceses, as some Africans have done.
If he decides to take the drastic step of withdrawing the invitation to bishops on either the liberal or conservative wing, he will risk a barrage of criticism and could provoke further damaging boycotts.
The theory is that Williams can deal with the pressure from conservatives to punish wayward provinces by focusing instead on individual bishops. It might be deemed more palatable to exclude individual bishops. He has earlier said that he could withdraw invitations, so it seems he has reserved the right to act in this way. But the approach could backfire if enough invited bishops (or those whose invitations remain valid) decide to stay away in solidarity with an excluded bishop.
Read: The Telegraph: Jonathan Petre- Dr Rowan Williams to target pro-gay bishops