No, not the TV series. France 24 did an extended interview with Bishop Pierre Whalon of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe. +Whalon, as one of the blogging bishops, has written extensively about his impressions about Lambeth. But in this more mainstream media piece, Whalon explains a brief history of the Anglican church and its status as the third-largest body of Christians in the world. And when he’s asked whether he felt the move toward schism at the meeting, Whalon states firmly, “No, actually, I thought we were moving away from it.”
The 12-minute Q&A format interview explores some of the problems that the church has with communications—for instance, Whalon points to the fact that many people don’t know that a moratorium already exists in the Episcopal Church on consecrating gay bishops and creating a liturgy for same-sex blessings. He also notes that there is a moratorium on “sheep-stealing” that requires the same respect. At the same time, he observes that some European and African bishops face the harsh reality that they are being condemned by other fundamentalist religious leaders within their countries as if they had been the ones to consecrate Gene Robinson.
If you’ve been following the Lambeth coverage for the past few weeks, you probably won’t hear anything new in this piece. But what it does provide is a good capsule version for the layperson who may need the “Cliff’s Notes” version, and in a format that’s readily shareable and digestible.