Monday, March 29, 2010

Nigerian Anglican primate speaks out on fear of women


From The London Times-

I'm not sure I ever got round to blogging on this, but readers here may recall the recent presidential address to his diocesan synod by Bishop of Liverpool James Jones, which The Times ran an exclusive on and in which he called for an end to the Anglican wars over sexuality. The Bishop declared himself He declared himself 'in sympathy' with Lord Alli’s amendment to the Equality Bill lifting the ban on civil partnerships taking place in religious buildings, including churches. Peter Ould is among the many who have posted counter arguments.

The latest to comment is the new Primate of Nigeria, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh.

In his sermon at the four-hour installation service, which took place at the Anglican cathedral in Abuja last Thursday, Archbishop Okoh said: 'The present crisis in the Anglican Communion, at the moment huge sums of money are being spent to undermine marriage. We are unable to accept this. The recent presidential address to his diocese by the Bishop of Liverpool is not acceptable to us. He argued that in the past people had to live side by side in the church, who held opposite views on war.

'In the same way he is saying, if some people say that same-sex relationships are okay, they can carry on, and if some say they are not okay, they can carry on too. The danger is of establishing two authorities in the Church, one of the Bible and the other the canon of a deviant subculture. We refuse to accept it. For whom does the Bishop of Liverpool speak? For himself and his diocese, but he does not speak for the Church of Nigeria. He also spoke of a direction for the Anglican Communion. We do not know if he has the authority to speak on that. If the Communion Covenant is intended to carry the spread of the homosexual lifestyle thoughout the communion, it is doomed to fail.

More here-

http://timescolumns.typepad.com/gledhill/2010/03/nigerian-anglican-primate-speaks-out-on-fear-of-women.html

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