Archbishop of Canterbury welcomes 'controversial' Anglican Covenant

From The London Telegraph-

Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has hailed the publication of a set of guidelines for the Anglican Communion that could see it acquire new members.

Dr Williams also admitted that parts of the long-awaited Anglican Covenant which deal with sanctions against churches that break traditions or established boundaries are "controversial".
But he insisted it would not be used to punish either conservatives or liberals in the bitter dispute over sexuality within the 80 million-strong worldwide church.

The Covenant has been developed as a way for the national churches that make up the Communion to remain linked, despite the tensions over the ordination of openly homosexual bishops that have driven it to the brink of collapse over the past decade.

If the provinces sign up to the document, whose final draft has been published online, they agree not to carry out any contentious actions such as putting their clergy in another country without its agreement, electing openly homosexual priests or blessing same-sex unions in church.
The Covenant allows a body called the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion to resolve disputes and to suspend the membership of provinces that break the rules from gatherings of worldwide leaders such as the Lambeth Conference.

Outside groups are also allowed to sign up to the Covenant, and although their membership of the Communion is not automatic the move could lead to official recognition of new orthodox groups that have been formed in opposition to the liberal Episcopal Church of the USA, such as the Anglican Church of North America.

Dr Williams, the spiritual head of the world's third-largest Christian denomination, said in a video message: "After several years of work, the proposed covenant for the Anglican Communion has now reached its final form and is being distributed to the provinces for discussion, and I hope it will be adopted by as many provinces as possible.

"It’s quite important in this process to remember what the Covenant is and what it isn’t, what it’s meant to achieve, and what it’s not going to achieve. It’s not going to solve all our problems, it’s not going to be a constitution, and it’s certainly not going to be a penal code for punishing people who don’t comply.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/6843879/Archbishop-of-Canterbury-welcomes-controversial-Anglican-Covenant.html