Same Sex Partnered clergy still hot topic - South African Archbishop

Posted by Kendall Harmon

Division over homosexuality and women bishops does exist "across the spectrum" within the Anglican Church, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba has said - but that is an indication of a church that is facing its challenges.

The archbishop, who returned from the Lambeth Conference in Canterbury, England, this month, said final decisions had not yet been made on contentious issues such as women clergy and the ordination of gay bishops, but they had been thoroughly discussed.

He acknowledged that there were divisions on these matters within all their dioceses across the world. However, it could not be seen as a split between liberals and conservatives as this was an "artificial divide".

"The reality across the spectrum, not just in South Africa, is that some parts of the communion are wrestling with issues such as ordaining women bishops, which we have done for 12 years already.

"I don't see this as a problem, but an indication of a church that is alive, and prepared to face the contextual realities and their challenges," he said.

Read it all.


Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Anglican Provinces • Church of South Africa • Lambeth 2008 • Sexuality Debate (in Anglican Communion) • Same-sex blessings

3 Comments
Posted August 29, 2008 at 8:38 am [Printer Friendly] [Print w/ comments]



1. pastorchuckie wrote:

Is it just me, or is the Archbishop confused?  Or maybe it’s the Independent Online that’s confused.

“...some parts of the communion are wrestling with issues such as ordaining women bishops, which we have done for 12 years already.”

“We?”  Who has been ordaining women bishops for 12 years?  The South African Church?  I dont think so.  Or is he referring to Barbara Harris’s consecration, almost 20 years ago, and consecrations that have taken place since then?  Maybe the point is that the South African Church as been WRESTLING for 12 years with the issue of ordaining women as bishops. 

“...it was also boycotted by a quarter of the world’s bishops, opposed to the ordination of a gay bishop in England.”

Which gay bishop in England?  Could it be New England?  New Hampshire perhaps?

Maybe the article has the facts right, and I’m just out of touch.  Or maybe the article illustrates how our own media sometimes tends toward carelessness with details and oversimplification when reporting things going on in other countries.

If these really are discrepancies, I don’t think they’re big enough to take away from the article’s main points.  But as a reader I find them distracting.

Pax Christi!

Chuck Bradshaw

August 29, 9:53 am | [comment link]
2. Now Orthodox wrote:

Then too the “new journalism” does not seem to be stringent regarding English construction and clarity in sentence structure.  Sorry, but my education came from the 50’s and 60’s era…before the demise of the three R’s in our educational system.

August 29, 7:21 pm | [comment link]
Registered members must log in to comment.



Next entry (above): Maryland Bishop Eugene Sutton’s Statement on the Death Penalty

Previous entry (below): In Sri Lanka Anglican bishop calls attention to civilians caught in crossfire between army and Tamil

Return to blog homepage

Return to Mobile view (headlines)